Millemissen wrote:

Happy sweet-spotting 😉

MM

The only place where this really is an issue would be if you set up speakers with room correction tuned to a sweet spot!

Claiming mono is anything but a curiosity, is simply sad. The Stereo image does NOT necessarily require  a sweet spot, i will be present anywhere in a room.

I anyone doubt this, simply select a music track, and slide the balance to one speaker, and notice what happens, bye bye low range and and welcome pale and dull.

Where mono is king would be the Centre speaker. Reproduce the center channel on a stereo speaker and you will have about on feet of sweet spot!

MM was referring to Quad electrostatic loudspeakers I think, which have a tiny sweet spot.

I have both A9MkII and a pair of Beolab 17s and I can say that while 17s create without a doubt better stereo soundstage - still it depends quite a lot about the recording itself. I am regularly noticing albums that bring little to none audible stereo image (at least to me) even on separate stereo speakers. Maybe it is also my hearing deteriorating with the age. LOL

In other words: if you‘re not very specific on stereo image you expect, I believe A9 (especially new one with extra pair of speakers) should delight you in every sense. And, it is pleasure to look at it. A beautiful sound-sculpture in your home. <3

chartz wrote:

MM was referring to Quad electrostatic loudspeakers I think, which have a tiny sweet spot.

I more inclined to think he is trying to adjust the physical properties of real world to better match the B&O product range. 😁

I have owned a MK1 for a long time. The L/R drivers are mounted on a convex surface that seems to point the more directional drivers slightly outward, with a back-firing woofer. It is a great physical design like a sub-satellite system all-in-one. The soundstage is amazing to me, especially in big space. 

We mainly use it outdoors and play it LOUD. Maybe that is why it is not as appealing in a single room? They could use the design philosophy in smaller and battery versions...

I think it is the greatest B&O value of all. 

Actually, this is not a bad idea. Clearly using one half of an A9 is “wasteful” but then again not completely so, as much of the power goes to the woofer, of which there is only one.

For over 10 years I have used a pair of Red Lines hanging from the ceiling as my bedroom home theater front speakers as well as for music (tried to add a picture but it keeps getting stuck at “loading”). That set up has served me well except the bass is a bit weak. To that end, I was using a subwoofer which recently stopped working. I thought, with second hand A9s getting cheaper, a pair could replace the Red Lines and not require a subwoofer.

But the question still remains: does the A9 process the signal in some way to create a broader soundstage, despite the close proximity of the drivers to each other? Some other single-unit stereo speakers do, meaning, they use psychoacoustics and “ear transfer functions” to modify perception. Some even do the same to simulate back channels. Those do not work well as stand-alone “mono” speakers in a stereo set up.

If I were to do mono on an A9 it would be by converting the source to line outputs (using whatever converter necessary), splitting each, and sending identical channel output to both A9 line inputs. Repeat for the other unit. Not pretty, but simple and effective. Only question is why?

poodleboy wrote:

If I were to do mono on an A9 it would be by converting the source to line outputs (using whatever converter necessary), splitting each, and sending identical channel output to both A9 line inputs. Repeat for the other unit. Not pretty, but simple and effective. Only question is why?

Couple of things:

1. For movies, I think a "truer" separation may be better; and

2. Having grown up with the doctrine of how stereo speakers are to be set up, it is hard to break the habit of thinking that way!

This is how the Red Lines are hung now. I thought two A9s to replace them may look nice:

Login to view image

@toptic

That is a beautiful room and the speakers look fantastic!

toptip wrote:

This is how the Red Lines are hung now. I thought two A9s to replace them may look nice:

They might ‘look nice’, yes.

But why would you want to replace two speakers with two music systems?

MM