Thank you Simon and others!
Next to my two Levels I also have a brass Beosound Edge in the same room as written in my “bought an Edge” topic.
I use both my Level Stereo pair and Edge alternately depending on music type and more important volume (time of the day, neighbours etc) . The true stereo effect of 2 paired Levels is a big plus but like written above they really do distort at higher volume levels. The Edge alone also sounds much fuller with much deeper bass obviously.
Like written on my Edge topic I feel there is a general misconception about placement of the Edge. Mine is placed is near the wall and it sounds gorgeous. Simon, when you listened to the Edge did they configure beam control right? Difference when placed near a wall between setting back drivers On and Off is absolutely HUGE! With the back drivers off it sure sounds much thinner then it should considering it’s size. And I am 100 percent sure there are some people in this B&O world out there who got an Edge demo at the dealer with a perhaps ignorant sales assistent or intern with just the two back drivers switched on in beam control setting and ran away 🙂
Edge is still one of the most underrated speakers, even our beloved John prefers it above A9 in his review!
For me the whole “two separate listening areas” with the Edge was a terrible marketing mistake! But they needed to do that to separate it from the A9, only the Active Bass port sure wasn’t enough to justify the launch of the product and price difference.
Marketing people figured out: One intense area (at the side of the big bass driver) and one for easy listening at the opposite side with just midrange and tweeter. Now who is gonna do that?! Nobody! Problem is this marketing story scares off people buying an Edge, and it’s a shame!
Think of the latest MK A9, the rear drivers where added for one reason, to create a much more room filling sound using the wall reflection , nobody has an A9 in the middle of the room….
So much reviewers did not “understand” the Edge, it’s just a more powerful A9 with different (better…) looks and deeper bass. Simple as that.
ok enough about the Edge now 🙂
I did consider the Balance in stereo pair to compensate the bass and volume shortage of the Level but still using Mozart (like it!). I remember there was however an issue with the Balances. In stereo pair only the straight ahead sound profile was possible and not the 360 mode resulting in the fact 2 Levels sound actually better in stereo then Balance. Any info on this??