seethroughyou wrote:

Any news on WISA for Beolab 5 from the recent UK dealer meeting or other sources?

BeoLab5 must be near EOL?

Hi Sturrock,

Do you know that BL5 are end of line for a fact or suspecting it from the recent new family of WISA speakers released in the last year?

Perhaps they will not EOL the BL5 but merely WISA it...?

Regards.

seethroughyou wrote:

Hi Sturrock,

Do you know that BL5 are end of line for a fact or suspecting it from the recent new family of WISA speakers released in the last year?

Perhaps they will not EOL the BL5 but merely WISA it...?

Regards.

No previous speaker has been WISA updated without a facelift and a new model number.

BeoLab5 sales have dipped dramatically, time for a change.

StUrrock wrote:

No previous speaker has been WISA updated without a facelift and a new model number.

BeoLab5 sales have dipped dramatically, time for a change.

What has caused the drop off ? Are the bl20s simply too good ?

No WISA update planned - confirmed.

No plans to replace or facelift Lab 5s - why change perfection?

At our store Lab 5s still sell very well - certainly better than Lab 20s...

As unequivocal as you sound about this it just doesn't seem to fit the logical progression of the rest of the product line.

I hear this 'sales talk' a lot and aside from being unoriginal it also makes me a tad suspicious, "It's been selling so well we can't keep up with the orders...our most expensive sells the most...there's a waiting list for this product..." Even if it has, I'd rather not hear it as it so cliched. A good product doesn't need the salesman's patter accompanying it.

Why would they update their other speakers to WISA and leave the BL5 untouched?

The BL5 is a phenomenal speaker but perfect it is not. For a start it could do with modern DACs that accept digital feed at 24 bits and higher sampling frequencies.

The bass adaptation after first calibration changed the sound and not necessarily for the better.

The Darlek like looks could do with softening.

The acoustic lenses in the BL18 and 20s look prettier polished than the brushed look of the BL5.

I'm sure B&O have figured out all sorts of things they could improve over the last 11 years - materials, driver technology, software....

Stereo at HRA rates greater than 24/96 is simply not necessary. BL5's handle these files fine. There is not much true content anyway.

Now, true surround at true 24/96, that's something else,

B

Hello BeoWorlders,

I have been a follower of this passionate and informative forum for some time, thank you for the help in the threads and general knowledge. I am a fortunate owner of many B&O products, in particular two pairs of the fabulous but not perfect BL5.

On a trip to my local dealer to test out BL20 the dealer mentioned a recent trip to Struer and that they had seen an updated prototype BL5. As I recall the updates mentioned were, WISA, no microphone bass processor as it would utilise external processing but most importantly improved sound, updated looks not so cumbersome and bulky at the bottom and a polished and sharp look like the BL20 and BL18. No mention on DAC changes.

My personal experience testing BL20, not far off BL5. BL5 update would have to be more than just minor to survive another decade on the market and that would have to integrate all their technical knowhow, including WISA.

A guess would be that they would wage how BL20 sales compare to BL9 before replacing BL5 against the cost of the new prototype replacement. One thing is for sure B&O would be silly to sit still with their flagship speaker and update/replace the remainder of the range. Lets hope to see the new BL5 with the BeoSound Moment.

beofan5 wrote:

Hello BeoWorlders,

I have been a follower of this passionate and informative forum for some time, thank you for the help in the threads and general knowledge. I am a fortunate owner of many B&O products, in particular two pairs of the fabulous but not perfect BL5.

Welcome to your first post !