One for Peter, I think!

I have a Quad 405-2 driving my MS150s and I love their sound - deep (bit not over-exaggerated) bass & very flat frequency response (is that the same as a neutral sound??).  

Cheers

Nigel

I'm sure you would be happy with the Pentas, but remember that at this age they would also audibly benefit from a crossover overhaul (plenty of caps, so not cheap with better than average components!) and the midranges will be on the replacement/refoam list sooner or later as well.

Somebody once said that upgrading the Penta crossovers sounds like you took the speakers out of their packaging material... with my passive Pentas it wasn't nearly that dramatic, but definitely noticeable. I'm actually running them with a 6500 and I'm completely happy with that combination since I live in a flat, but of course the amp would run out of oomph at large volumes.

Thank you both for your input, it's much appreciated! Sounds like both alternatives are good. Anyone with experience of both, how do they compare?

I've read that some people find the Penta treble a bit muddy. Could this be a problem? I like how the treble in my M150s used to sound, but I'm not a big fan of the treble in the S45-2s that I have here in my bedroom/office since i find a bit gritty. Before my b&o-days, I had various 80's jbl speakers with their titanium tweeters and I liked how they sounded. I also like the treble in my Sennheiser HD 650s, but that's a different story. :-)

I have had both Pentas (still do) and MS150s and have used both with a BM7000. I like Pentas - they sound effortless and go very loud easily. The treble is not their strong point - it is less lively compared to say 8000s and certainly less that the ALT speakers, but part of this is the positioning of the tweeter half way up the speaker. They sound better when you sit down!

MS150s have better more accurate bass but shriek at high volumes - part of this will be the amp struggling I imagine. The better speaker per se will be the MS150s and for all but the highest volumes, the 7000 is perfectly capable of driving them.

Given the choice, which would I have - Pentas - smaller and effortless sound. I no longer have the MS150s - I do have M100s - but that is another story!

Which are my very favourite speakers? BBC LS3/5As and AB1 sub woofers! 1970s speakers which simply reproduce the human voice better than anything else I have heard bar Quad ESL63s. Useless low bass, and rolls off at the top end (so do my ears!). I like my Sennheisser HD600s as well!

Peter wrote:

 

MS150s have better more accurate bass but shriek at high volumes - part of this will be the amp struggling I imagine. The better speaker per se will be the MS150s and for all but the highest volumes, the 7000 is perfectly capable of driving them.

 

😉 shriek at high volumes?? Not with the Quad (2 X 100W) they don't! A Beomaster 8000 (2 x 150W) would be even better!

CHeers

Nigel

I find my BeoLab 5000s are very even and natural sounding, at least compared to the rest of my kit - JBL included! 😕 The 5000 is very clear and accurate - very easy and fun to listen to.

All of the aforementioned speakers have loads more bass than the 5000. On a nice solid wall with a more distant than average seating position, one can experience quite deep and very smooth bass from the 5000.

The BeoLab 5000 is definitely one to think about.

henrik wrote:

I've read that some people find the Penta treble a bit muddy. Could this be a problem?

It'll definitely move to that direction when the caps age. Elsewhere on the forum, one of Die_Bogener's excellent workshops goes over the Penta crossovers. He describes a couple of small mods that will make them sound brighter. I went with all original component values, and I wouldn't call them muddy - unless you compare to some other speakers that are purposedly bright. A matter of taste of course.

I'm constantly happily surprised at how good the Pentas sound at low volumes, where many other speakers would have you cranking up the volume or engaging loudness. I believe it is the four smallish bass drivers instead of one big.

Thank you all for your input! It was interesting to read vour opinions on Penta vs MS150! I would like to buy a pair of MS150s some day to complete my beolab/system 8000, but like Peter says I think the Pentas will be nicer in my livingroom. I'm not worried anymore regarding the treble response of the Penta, thanks to you lot :-) ...but this has also made me more curious of the MS150s, but despite Peter's experiences I think I would like to use an external power amp (instead of the one in my bm7000), based on my experience with my current M150s (they sound quite a lot better when used with a bm8000). This could be due to the acoustics of my livingroom. I'll go for the Pentas ...this time :-)

Evan: Yes, I've recently realised that the 5000 sounds much better than I thought. They're not really practical in this particular situation (due to my livingroom arangement), but I'll definitely check them out as they would be ideal speakers for my summerhouse.

Mika: ah, thanks! I'll check die_bogeners thread! Also, nice to hear that you like how the Pentas performs at low sound level! That's important to me.

Once again, thank you!

h1npw wrote:

Peter wrote:

 

MS150s have better more accurate bass but shriek at high volumes - part of this will be the amp struggling I imagine. The better speaker per se will be the MS150s and for all but the highest volumes, the 7000 is perfectly capable of driving them.

 

😉 shriek at high volumes?? Not with the Quad (2 X 100W) they don't! A Beomaster 8000 (2 x 150W) would be even better!

CHeers

Nigel

I think it is the tweeter in this range of speakers - all the range have a sharp top end at volume in my experience - interesting the comment about the S45-2s - I like their top end in comparison. Just shows that speakers are a very individual choice!