Which CD player? How is it connected?

Your equipment is fine. The 8000s are great speakers. 

In my experience, when good equipment does not sound good, it's usually the acoustics of the room at play. I have a system with BL5 and BL 3 as rears. In my new house I absolutely hated the sound, way too bright. It was only after using my receivers room correction system that fixed the problem. Now I can't get enough  music from that system. I would look at altering the room's acoustics with either physical changes or equalization first. 

Agreed - the room and its size can be the biggest factor in audio reproduction.

I would also advise ditching the BL2 (at least for music). This sub can sound a bit sloppy and is really only recommended for movie/HT/LFE setups. Speaking of stereo vs. surround - make sure you are listening to music program material in stereo only and surround material in its respective multi-channel playback.

Also, how are the speakers placed in relation to the listening position/sweet spot? Try creating the most equilateral triangle possible with your front left and right speakers and your listening position. This will reduce time-delay artifacts that degrade the stereo experience and will definitely improve your listening experience if not already optimized.

Agree with Evan - start with just the 8000's, forget the BL2 and the 6000's (also make sure the option settings are for "fronts only" to ensure the 8000's receive the full bandwidth audio signal). Try and get a reasonable sound on the 8000's in stereo and then you can assess the contribution of the other speakers and whether they add or detract from the basic stereo setup. Personally I don't believe in listening to stereo music using four speaker setups, stereo was never recorded for that and it can cause several problems while giving no positive benefit.

Thanks guys. The CD player is the one built in to the TV. When I first addressed this issue years ago, I asked whether a standalone CD player might give better ound and was laughed out of this forum. I have tried all the things suggested except rebuilding my room!. I'm moving soon so will see if I can get it to work better in my new place.

Thanks again

Yes I've tried it every which way in terms of speaker combinations. Not surprisingly using just the two 8000's sounds best (with a hint of subwoofer). But it's still nowhere near what i'd expect. I've also tried altering speaker positions, distances both physically and using the settings on the TV menu. Would it be worth considering tring to connect a CD player to the 8000's? If so what type would anyone recommend. Don't really want to go the B&O route as I now have no confidence in the brand now.

Thank JR

PhilLondon wrote:

I am not sure the Tv switches to SPEAKER 2 or 4 automatically.

 

 

Do you do that after you've started playing the CD with the DVD player?