This week I acquired a pair of Beolab 20. I already own Beolab 9's and I was planning to replace them with Beolab 20.

I currently have my Beolab 20's set up with WISA to my Beovision Avant 55". They stand next to their siblings, the 9's. The nines act as front speakers and I have a stereo speaker group for music. I made one for the Beolab 20's as well. I've calibrated and checked my settings, both on the speakers and in the settings. 

So far so good. Now, I think they should sound pretty similar. At least that is what I expected. I was dreaming of this surreal emotion of "wow, they sound like Beolab 9s, just BETTER!". Well, was I wrong.

First of, they sound good. The bass is deep, punchy. I think my brain sent around some signals saying huh, these low frequencies has never been heard in this household before. The mids are there and so is the high pitch sounds of the tweeter.

I started listening and I liked what I heard. Then I switched to Beolab 9 and was immediately struck that the sound was extremely different.

I've been listening now a little bit every day. I can't compare and focus listen for too long, my ears start to hurt by all analysing and it feels like shards of glass entering my ears. But, what I feel is that the Beolab 9 has more of everything very pronounced. It feels like what I would define as flat. The mids and especially the higher tweeter sounds is very pronounced. They feel on par with the bass or elevated even. I switch to Beolab 20 and sound changes dramatically. The strong focus on mids and highs disappears, the bass is still tamed but volatile. I sense depth and a stereo image that feels interesting. I had to walk up to my TV and check if the speakers inside was on, I even had to check the settings because I didn't really believe my ears. They were off. But it felt and sounded like some of the sounds was directed just from the middle. Switch back to Beolab 9 and I hear the sounds very easily pushed from both right and left. 

I first, and a little still, feel like the sound is a bit boring in Beolab 20. Music seems 'quieter* and a little more distant than in Beolab 9. At the same time this feels more relaxing to listen to, and more importantly, it feels more real. I switch back to Beolab 9 and I feel like I get hit by something, the music is strong, closer, less vivid, flatter. Its hard to explain. I could argue it feels more energetic, louder, crisper. Good things but it feels like it comes with the flatness and and less dynamic sound as negative side effects. 

It's a weird feeling. On some songs the crispness of the higher notes feels more like mids on Beolab 20 than on Beolab 9, for example this is very evident in Moneys too tight with Simply red". At the same time, I really like the higher sounds in that song and even though they ARE audible in BL20 it feels like they are further away. The drummers hi hat is way and in BL9 he seems to sit just in front of me. The bass packs a punch in the BL20 in this song, I can feel it in my gut, it shakes my couch. The BL9 does not. 

I change to something else, Arvo Pärt, spiegel im spiegel (as performed by Angele dubeau on violin). Again, the tweeter seems to be tuned down a notch compared to BL9. (I must add, when I first got my BL9 I was unhappy with how sharp and strong the tweeter was - now three or four years later I might have adjusted to this perhaps 'imperfection'). This music is harder to compare but I think the depth is greater and that I can form a better map of placement when I close my eyes as I listen to Beolab 20. In this music the high pitch sounds is important and Beolab 9 with its perhaps exaggerated higher notes makes the violin cut through paper. It feels rewarding, going to Beolab 20 the sound drops an octave or so. Yet, still I hear a few very high pitched sounds. Is the width wider here? The slow breaths caught sometimes during the play is easier to make out and I like that. I also like how the microphone caught some wind in the beginning, its so low frequency that I can't hear it on Beolab 9 but on Beolab 20 I notice it, I feel it and I can hear a subtly yet annoyed microphone :). 

Feeling a bit drowsy, so I change to something with more power. What, Dies Irae from Verdis Requiem, of course. Yuri Temirkanov must have had a red bull before, because the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra is on fire. In both Beolab 9 and Beolab 20. But yeez, Beolab 20. My big oil painting a meter away from the right speaker is starting to jump on the wall, creating a scratching noise. It feels like the apartment itself is shaking! Switch to Beolab 9 and the bass is there but not anywhere near as deep. The pronounced mids make the bass feel more like a punchy midtone speaker. The tweeters level, in tandem with the mid I suppose brings the choir closer. I continue through to the next parts of Requiem. Constantly I feel that the sounds are closer on Beolab 9 and further away from me on Beolab 20. There's the casual unintended noice that I hear on Beolab 20 that I don't hear on Beolab 9, funny ones, someones foot on a hollow box or walking by. I thought it was a neighbour first, but after listening three times I can relax, because it wasn't :).

It's confusing. The width of range of which the tweeter, mid and bass speaker can produce sounds SEEMS wider in Beolab 20, at least that is how I try to explain the effect. Beolab 9 is great but it feels like there isn't as much variance in the more detailed frequency jumps on the different scales (high pitched sounds, mids and bass). What I mean to say is that a wider group of frequencies are pushed together into a less detailed and less precise sound on Beolab 9. It gives the immediate impression of a fuller, more powerful and "better" sound if you will. Switching to Beolab 20 after that makes me feel bored at first, because first off the tweeter seems so much less loud. But after a while I feel like the depth and imaging is much better. Sounds surprices me and sudden bass can come like thunder from a clear sky. The sound is more vivid, theres a wider amount of frequencies I can make out and that the speaker can produce individually. I cant hear where the tweeter starts and where the mids take over. I can on Beolab 9. At least I feel like I can. 

Change again, to Jan Garbarek - Vast Plain, Clouds. The Beolab 20 blows the candles out of the candle holders, the choir is immediately swept away and a cold storm is filling the church around me with deep bass and leaves flowing around be. The saxophone playing ever so soft and beautiful. I switch to Beolab 9 and immediately feel how the church changes and everything is louder, closer. Sounds not bad. I switch back to Beolab 20 and immediately miss the sharper brighter sound of the saxophone in Beolab 9. Then he plays a brighter tone and I notice the difference. The difference is wider. Alough its not as loud as in Beolab 9 it has more depth and reality too it. It's easier to listen to. But when switching back and forth it feels like the mids is more pronounced here on Beolab 20 than on Beolab 9. Maybe in a bad way, maybe not. Because when I change to Beolab 9 it feels like I am listening to a wall where all the sounds is pushed straight to me from the same distance. 

I change again, this time to junko nishi trio and the track Caravan. Not surprisingly its sharper in Beolab 9, "louder" and closer. More boomy. Beolab 20 feels different, less catchy. I feel like I am sitting in the band playing along on Beolab 9. Its nice, I like that in jazz, the unexpected and being there in a jam session makes it much more fun. Beolab 20 makes it sound like I a band playing, I walk up to the open door and listen from afar. It sounds good but less catchy, I can easier make out the placement and the softer noises of the pianos pushes on the stiff strings. I can't on Beolab 9. Even though it feels like I'm just next to the piano it simply sounds like "piano". Theres a depth to the pianos pitch on Beolab 20 that isnt there on Beolab 9. 

Lets go on, Keith Jarret - Margot. Surprise here, the sound is elevated on Beolab 20. The piano is loud, the drummer on the side is not interrupting but doing his thing. The buzzing noise from the bad recording is audible. It's audible on Beolab 9 too, perhaps even more. I can easily make out that the bass player is on the right side and the piano is a little bit everywhere. On Beolab 20 the bass players placement is easier to make out and the placement is more detailed overall, Beolab 9 on the other hand has harder contrasts and it feels less real. I hear Keith jarrets typical humming in the background on Beolab 20 but on Beolab 9 they are more direct. I don't think they should be. I think those sounds are barely perceived by the microphones in the piano. Surely they don't wan't to pick up that noise. I think Beolab 20 is more accurate here, with what I feel is its wider depth of sound. 

All right, time for something else again. Johnossi - Man must dance. Same here, wider and more clarity on Beolab 20, but stronger on Beolab 9. The difference is so extreme. It feels like everyone is angry when I listen to Beolab 9, the music feels more rapid. Everything is more in focus. On Beolab 20 its less of that, for both good and bad. But I notice how I catch up on all those small vibrations of the guitar cords. I love that. I imagine how they vibrate against my own fingers. I don't with Beolab 9 because everything is so loud and compressed. It is almost like when you push the contrast up too much on a picture, colors pop but all the hues and details disappear and becomes harsh and ugly. Thats the best way I can think of to describe it for now.

Last song for now: No one ever loved performed by Lykke li. Her voice is brighter, louder on BL9 and it stands out from the rest very much by volume alone. On Beolab 20 it's better blended with the acoustics. I believe they put ambience microphones in the room and mixed it with microphones closer up. It's nice to hear it so strong on BL9 but almost to strong. Its easier to listen to on Beolab 20 where the ambience gets more room. 

Okey, one more. Vi er perfekt men verden er ikke det - Astrid S. The piano is more pronounced on BL20 than on BL9 where instead the viola is louder. Astrids voice is stronger on BL9 and it sounds like she sings into the microphone from to close. It's not like that on BL20. The mids take more place on BL20 than on BL9 where focus in on higher tones. I like her voice on BL9 but its too loud perhaps. It's more evenly balanced with the rest on BL20.

And a bonus song, Fly - Ludovico Einaudi. Its brighter on Beolab 9 but more dynamic on Beolab 20. The mids are obviously more pronounced on Beolab 20 and the bass is clearer. The piano isn't as sharp or high pitched (can't decide if I prefer it more on BL9) but has more depth. It's hard to explain. When I listen to this on Beolab 20 I visualize the width by spreading my arms out and on Beolab 9 I can instead hold my arms to a certain extent and say exactly where the sound stops. Theres a much more interesting width with Beolab 20. As I've said before. It fels more compressed on Beolab 9. 

It's hard to compare these speakers. Beolab 9 feels more engaging due to its more pushy, and direct sound. But it comes at the cost of depth and precision. There's a depth to Beolab 20 in both imaging and lower frequency and air pressure that Beolab 9 simply can't reproduce. This makes Beolab 20 seem a bit bored, it seems do do more effortlessly. But then when you least expect it you'll get a lot of punch, drama and even physical feel of pressure. 

I remember when I first auditioned Beolab 5 in a B&O Store and was a bit surprised it sounded so "boring" compared to my Beolit 12. The Beolit 12 exaggerates, it enhances bass and sounds to make it sound fuller. The Beolab 5 doesn't have to do that, but it plays it all with more clarity and contrast. I believe this is about the same for Beolab 20. But I do not know. I feel it is easier to listen to Beolab 20. 

I'm so curious about how these speakers are toned. It feels like different persons calibrated the 9s and 20s. But taste also change, as do ears, and technology. 9 is more analogue and 20 has more technology to keep it adapting. I want to believe the BL20 is the better. But it is hard to know because I don't know how the sounds SHOULD sound. It is like walking into a TV shop and see all TVs playing vivid video, everyone a bit different, you will like one for one thing, and another one for another. 

I like the deeper bass and detailed sound of Beolab 20. I like the crispness of Beolab 9. I Like the design of Beolab 9 from an aesthetic point of view. It has its hanging head ascew from the rest of it. the belt on its body as a person. Its very soft and almost sad. Subtle, with its zink casted smooth surface ALT lens. Hiding on the floor. 
Beolab 20 is a different person. Its pompous, it has an aluminium ring below (I do not understand why, the bright aluminium is just annoying, it should have been black - you barely see it anyway). And it stands strong with its tighter coat and stiff neck. Polished and straight lines instead of bent ones. It seems less relaxed and more flashy. Its more noticeable. I thought I would prefer Beolab 20 but actually Beolab 9 is very beautiful in another way. I like how soft the lens feels when I touch it and how it stands out forward when I pass it or see it from the side. Beolab 20 has a sharp edge on its lens top and its not soft, its aluminium and with a spinning pattern. Looks nice but its not the same feel. 

A lot of people has commented on my Beolabs 9 thinking they are statues. I think thats fun and great. I do not think people will think the same of Beolab 20. But time will tell. One interesting side effect of the polished aluminium is that I now notice solar reflection in my speakers, which the Beolab 9 did not show. 

So this was my strange, and lengthy review of Beolabs for tonight. It ended with the magic flute (der vogelfänger). Beautiful, on any speaker - almost. 

Conclusion is that both speakers are very same and very different. They seemingly share the same box. The same elements (except for the bass that is now a twin wired one). I could even use the same plastic cover on both models. The height difference is due to the ring below and the higher tweeter (which on BL20 resides on top of the cut out for the BL9 head! - altough not visibly so). The amps are different, from a mix of ICEPower and A+B ams from SHARP to an all in digital ICE powered speaker. BL20 has more options when it comes to inputs and it also dims it's light which BL9 never do. 

I like them both for their perks and I think both are great for what they are. I enjoy both very much. I really do. 

For this comparison I played music over AirPlay (2?) from my iPhone 7 plus, using Spotify in extreme mode and with volume normalization turned off, streamed to my Apple TV 4K, connected over HDMI to the Avant 55" (Not the android model). Beolab 9´s connected over Powerlink. Beolab 20 over WISA. I am sure there might be a difference in sound over WISA and PL but I can not test this since I don't have more BL20s. I could put one in PL mode though... Maybe another day. 

What is your impressions of the speakers? I am curious to hear :).