Hi SiliconTi,

As already mentioned, I would certainly not waste placing a pair of BL9s as rears in my setup. Have them as your front speakers instead. They have a lot more humfff than the BL3s and they still have the perfect precision of the ALTs when necessary. And unless you want to rumble yourself off the sofa and onto the coffee table without touching the floor, I don't think a BL2 would be necessary in my opinion.

The BV7 sounds great to me, take a wall mounted BC2 (looks so good 😐 As rears I would say a pair of BS4000s wall mounted would look and sound great.

P.S. I like the Boston store too! My BS2 hasn't returned home since.

Thanks for the input.

I am looking at the BL4's for the rears as 1) they are small an unobtrusive 2) surrounds do not need to do any heavy lifting 3) there are inexpensive. 

I may consider BL9s for the front vs the BL-3's+BL-2. In this setting, appearance will be very important.

I am looking at the BS3200 (actually, the BS3000 if I can find some - hard drive is pointless as the system will have an iPod dock integrated into it). The Music BC-2 is coming to the USA soon, but again, I just do not like it. I am also not a fan of the BS-4. I think the BC3000/3200 still has one of the best industrial designs (I still love my BC-2500).

Beo5 - gees, I hate to looks of this thing. The Beo4 is supposed to be able to do zones as well - did I misunderstand this?

The idea with system is that it be excellent out of the box, but allow for future upgrades (to BL-5's or 9'2, or BL-4000's, whatever) down the road.

If you're going to opt with BeoLab 9s as fronts, then I would advise even more strongly against BeoLab 4s as rears. They struggle as it is when other speakers from the range are used as front speakers, but BeoLab 9s or 5s will really push them way beyond what they are realistically capable of.

The BeoLab 9s are a little more forgiving than the 3s (which can be a bit harsh with poorly recorded content). That doesn't mean to say, the BeoLab 9s flatten any detail out of the sound, but they are very comfortable to listen to.

I'd recommend you have a listen to the BeoLab 9s at some point. They are remarkable speakers, some would say preferable to BeoLab 5s (easier to listen to).

I consider the BeoLab 5s superior to the BeoLab 9s, they are much more 'open' sounding and effortless in comparison. Generally a better sound all round. However, they are more revealing, they tend to bring absolutely tiny details in the recordings right to the front of the soundstage, and you might not always want that. For example, one example I always hear quoted is the earlier Stevie Wonder recordings. Incredibly difficult to listen to on BeoLab 5s because all the 'roughness' in the recording is bought right forward with the BeoLab 5s. BeoLab 9s tend to smoothen this out a bit, and make it generally more comfortable to listen to.

That doesn't mean the BeoLab 9s are any better than the BeoLab 5s. The 5s are definitely better speakers. However, a bi-product of how incredibly analytical sounding they are is that they tend to make it really obvious when something is poorly recorded. BeoLab 9s less so, because they aren't as analytical.

I'd still personally prefer BeoLab 5s though, but the 9s are a bit more 'lounge-friendly' for most people.

I'd use the following setup:  

Floor 0:

BV7-40 + BL7-4
BS4 or
BL9 (front) or BL5 (if you have the budget for it)
BL3 (rear)
BL2 (is a plus, not needed in with BL5 or even BL9)

Floor 1:

BL3500

I'll also check the Lutron website in order to control the lights with the Beo4 or the Beo5; do have in mind that you could also control the curtins etc..etc.; like i said before, you budget is the limit, so use it wisely :)

Listen to both BeoLab 5s and BeoLab 9s. If you prefer the 5s, then don't get the rears just yet, and put the money towards BeoLab 5s. It's better buy the right thing in the first place than have to trade it in later.