I noticed this some time ago when I was looking at the official pictures of the Lab 5s and there was a picture of a BoVision 4 with a pair of BL4000s like you describe right underneath the BV. I thought this was odd and more of an audiophile kind of idea. I guess it could be for regular day-to-day stereo listening, especially on a speakerless panel like the BV4.

In the old days, before B&O had a center speaker BL4000 were commonly used because they were the smallest speaker and could be mounted easily under a flat screen. They could also be placed close together to give the appearance of a single speaker. Also dealers were reluctant to break up a pair of speakers and sell just one. They were dasiy chained together and were sent the same signal from the center  output of a Beosystem 1, or 2, or 3.

Can a dealer order singles?

I've done a bit of reading since my post and it looks like there *may* be some issues with comb filtering,  wave cancelling, etc.  However, one article suggested it is not as big of a deal:  http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/572305.html

I had the opportunity to get a couple of BL3s at a great deal to compliment my 4 BL6000s and I think I'll experiment with placing one or two as a center and see what kind of difference it makes.

Although a pair of BeoLab's connected to the centre output daisy chained off the DTS module will play in mono as the centre it still has big advantages to using a pair.

First is matching the power output of the other speakers in the setup, a single BL4000 will not match the power output of most other BeoLab's and therefore be drowned out by the left / right front and rears.

Second is the dispersion of the centre sound, as an example, if you go to a cinema there is a sequence of centre channels all playing the mono centre so the people to the left and right get the same response in sound as the people in the centre.

If you are looking at a single speaker centre an acoustic lens speaker is a better option. 5 BeoLab 5's anyone!

So it sounds like it may be actually an advantage to use a pair of BL4000s or in my case BL3s for the center?  I guess I'll soon find out when I get a chance to procur these and do some testing!

macjonny1 wrote:

So it sounds like it may be actually an advantage to use a pair of BL4000s or in my case BL3s for the center?  I guess I'll soon find out when I get a chance to procur these and do some testing!

 

 

I would think a single Lab3 would suffice, because of the lens - I would definitely try it first before mounting a pair for the centre channel.

I know someone who has 7 Beolab 5s......and a speaker with acoustic lens on the ceiling!! 👍

I seem to remember being told that the Avant had basically 2 4000s built into it for the center channel, or stereo if no other speakers were connected.