Hi George

I use a pair of M70 with new caps inside and I must say that they surprise me all the time. This is a really good speaker imo. They will play deep in bass without the need of a subwoofer too. When positioned right they will do a great job for you, esp for your kind of music.

I would like a set of bl3s and a bl11 too - they sound surprisingly massive to their size, but I would recommend you to first give the M70s a chance to perform.

/Fredrik

Doesn't it depend on what source you'll be using? For example you may use an old Beomaster and a CDX to listen to CDs through the M70s, yet you might have a more modern set up such as a Beosound 9000 to use the BL3s. We get these questions all the time, yet no one seems to take into account the source and where the amp is actually located (in the speaker or in a Beomaster)!!!

Currently using a beocenter 9500, so that doesn't help making a choice as it can handle both. The modern speakers are smaller (exept the beolab 5) which is an advantage, but do they deliver the same sound quality? Just can't believe reasonable sound is coming from such a small speaker.

jc wrote:

Currently using a beocenter 9500, so that doesn't help making a choice as it can handle both. The modern speakers are smaller (exept the beolab 5) which is an advantage, but do they deliver the same sound quality? Just can't believe reasonable sound is coming from such a small speaker.

The amp in the Beocenter 9500 is ill-equipped to deal with a big speaker like an M70. You're comparing apples with oranges really.

A decent Beomaster such as the 80s 6000 or 8000s, or a 4400 would be the prefered choice for an M70. These big amps blow the 9500 out of the water sonically I'm afraid.

If you're stuck with the 9500, I'd say go with the Beolab 3s as their internal amp is loads better than the internal 9500 one.

I agree - I once owned the Beovox M70 many years ago together with Beomaster 4400. Beocenter 9000/9500 only has a little power. Beovox MC-120.2 would play just about fine togeher with Beocenter 9500. MC120 is a very fine and clear loudspeaker and can go deep if needed.

George,

I agree wholeheartedly with John's comments about comparing  a passive and an active loudspeaker and the totally different pre- amp/power amp considerations that introduces.  In addition,  one other crucial factor to consider and which you don't mention is room size. 

The M70s are fine loudspeakers but in a fairly small room could introduce all sorts of problems with the bass and lower midrange reproduction.   The BL3s are easier to accommodate in a small room with both shelf, stand and wall mountig options and are not nearly so room size dependent. The M70s have integrated stands (I think) and that really is the only mounting option available if you want them to sound their best.

Cleve  

Returned from a weekend-off; the room is aprox 50 m2. Is the 80-s/90-s stacking system like a beomaster 6500 better in handling a larger beovox than my beocenter 9500 or isn't it that much of a difference. ( to make things easier I could  change my current 9500 to a 6500 with for example a RL7000 beovox.) In the end it's all about soundquality to me.  

jc wrote:

Returned from a weekend-off; the room is aprox 50 m2. Is the 80-s/90-s stacking system like a beomaster 6500 better in handling a larger beovox than my beocenter 9500 or isn't it that much of a difference. ( to make things easier I could  change my current 9500 to a 6500 with for example a RL7000 beovox.) In the end it's all about soundquality to me.  

Hi jc

The short answer is no.

The high-water mark for B&O amplifiers inside a Beomaster was probably the 8000 of the 1980s. After that the Beomaster 5500, 6500, 7000 and Beocenter 8000, 8500, 9000 and 9500 ranges were more geared around the Beolab speakers if you were looking for a bigger sound. Those amps are great with something like CX100s, but you can forget about them for serious listening with a big speaker like M70s or RL 7000s.

I get the feeling from your postings though that you prefer the looks of the stacking Beosystems or the Beocenter 9000 range. Unfortunately you can ask the question in as many different ways as you want, but the answer will always be that Beolab 5000, Beomaster 4000/4400 and Beomaster 6000 or 8000 are the best amps for big passive speakers without exception.

Dont forget there is also an option to use 2 beolab 200 poweramp to power your M70s from the BC9500 through powerlink.

/Fredrik