Balance or Beosound 2 ?

[Oisans]

Hello, french newbie here – I have been looking as much as I could over the net but I struggle to find out how to compare Beosound 2 and Balance. They are into my budget and I already use a pair or emerges. How would it be possible to describe the difference between them ? Thanks 🙂

[Lavie]

Wow that is a difference. The sound of the BS2 is very, very clear and the acoustic lens makes a nice and very wide sound dispersion. And although the balance also does that –  though in a technically different way – , I find the BS2 openness more pleasing.

[Rolf2]

I guess you are referring to the comparison between their sound reproduction?

Soundwise, I agree with Lavie that the BS2 has a very clear sound and that it is so compared to the BS Balance. It appears to be a tad more transparent and defined to my ears. Whereas the Balance sound seems to have a bit more volume, be a little more enclosing. Both have a strong bass with good, warm sound reproduction. The Balance is even more powerful than the BS2. Having said this, the BS2 is also capable of shaking the boards and porcelain in a room. Try both, e. g. at a dealer outlet, listening to Freya Ridings „Lost without you“ when the deep bass sets in (guess that is at 1:27; generally for me a good reference for testing speakers). I use mine with loudness on and more bass over treble.

Comparing the design, you look at two totally different concepts. One is all metal and cone-shaped, the other is textil and wood or metal, being in the form of a vase. And the decision could also be influenced by the colors available.

Compared by size, the Balance appears  massive, where the BS2 is slender of built and a couple of centimeters taller. The base diameter is 20 cm for both.

Technically there will be most likely differences, but Im no expert in this field, apart from what the B&O website is providing (including a speaker comparison function). The Balance offers the – as far as I know – unique function of setting the sound direction to omni, left, right and front which is not included in the BS2.

Also, there may be differences, once you pair two of the devices as a stereo system. And, having not heard of making a difference in sound, but there have been different generations and variations of the BS2 in the past. I run a BS 2, gen 2, of 2019, and a Balance of the production year 2023.

I have been a fan of the BS2 design since it’s first appearance. But, seeing the Balance in flesh and having it in the right spot in our home, the design is very well fitting and catching the eye of the beholder like the BS2 does.

Hope that helps! (Best decision support will be to hear the units by yourself before buying.)

Kind regards,

Rolf

P.S.: And welcome to the forum!

[Stan]

I have a 1st Gen BS2 and a pair of Balances (non-GVA).  They both sound quite nice.  When I tested like-for-like, my BS2 vs single Balance (in my office, centered directly behind me, about 4 feet away), I slightly preferred the BS2.  However, when I added a 2nd Balance, the Balances were much better – hard to beat a stereo image.  I never tested a stereo pair of BS2s because my model of the BS2 doesn’t support that, and I didn’t want to buy 2 additional more current models.

While I’ve never heard a stereo pair of BS2s, I’ve always questioned how the BS2’s side firing midrange speakers might interfere with one another in a stereo pair configuration.  Not exactly fair criticism since I’ve never actually heard them, but I have to believe the BS2s were never designed with stereo pairing in mind whereas it’s possible the Balances were.

I’ve since moved the BS2 to a bedroom, and it creates very nice room filling sound.

My advice is if you have no plans to eventually stereo pair them, buy the one you like the looks of best – their sound and functional differences are minimal, and you will most likely enjoy either one.  If you think you might stereo pair them one day and don’t hate the look of the Balance (many on here seem to, at least when it was first released), I’d go for the Balance.

I don’t see a huge difference between Mozart and the older BS2.  Yes, Mozart has room compensation, but I always felt the BS2’s corner/wall/free switch worked fairly well. They also recently added support for Beosonic (B&O’s take on an equalizer).  On the other hand, my BS2 will play multiple WMA lossless tracks from my NAS whereas the Balance will only play one and then stop.  It does play multiple MP3s and Flacs, just a problem with WMAs which, unfortunately, is most of my collection.  Therefore, when I want to listen to an “album”, I’ll play it on the BS2 (or one of my other older Beosounds) and join my Balances to it.

I guess one could argue that the Balance wins on longevity because Mozart is newer and will most likely see new features that the BS2 will not.  However, it’s hard for me to make purchase decisions based on futures.  Best to have what works the best for you today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

One other gotcha is that the GVA Balance cannot distribute line-in audio via NL.

They’re both good.  No wrong choices.

[sk8man]

Beosound 2 is great for on-the-go with its all-around sound, while Balance gives you that classic stereo setup. Just decide if you want portability or a more focused sound.

[matteventu]

Very difficult decision, luckily I can’t afford either of them ?

 

I personally love the design of BS2, but one other thing worth keeping into consideration is the wired input options: Balance is quite unique in this, as it’s the first Mozart device that was released and it still features a set of inputs which is similar to that of the best older ASE products. On the other hand, more recent Mozart and Mozart “2.0” products (including the BS2 3rd Gen, which by the way with Mozart 2.0 upgrades Bluetooth from 5.0 to 5.3 and Wi-Fi from 5/AC to 6/AX) have fewer options for wired inputs.

• Balance: 2x Ethernet, 1x combo 3.5mm analogue line-in and digital (optical) Mini-Toslink, 1x USB-C (“for service only”, but there’s the chance this changes with updates, if they haven’t already)
• BS2 3rd Gen: 1x Ethernet, 1x USB-C with 3.5mm analogue line-in via adaptor (no optical/digital input)

Let us know what you end up going with ?

[Oisans]

Hello – thank you for all the replies already, these post are very useful – sincerely a big thank you. I will make my decision soon and let you know 🙂

[Hiort]

Very nice responses to the OP:s questions and very well formulated “reviews” of your  setups. Kudos to you who replied 🙂

[Oisans]

Hello, so I got…the BS2 !

And the why’s are not going to be very impressive unfortunately.

In terms of looks I prefer BS2 except that Balance (marble) was winking at me so much. From what I have read on the forum, have heard from my 2 emerges, and since I do not think I will need to stereo pair in an immediate future and finaly am not a specialist, I realized they were both going to be great in terms of sound. The argument of clarity (BS2) versus warm (Balance) seemed OK also.

Then i stumbled upon that offer online with 20% off for both products, which happens to be quite a good decrease in price. Since i could not find a way to go quickly to a store to check things out, i had to figure it out based on where to put which color in the flat before the sale was unavailable.

It happens that BS in grey fits better, so that is what i chose.

I have received it this morning, the sound is terrific for my taste (the bass : wow), and the look is quite satisfying as well.

I will really have to learn much more about sound in the years to come to make a more educated choice.

Thank you again for all the insights.

 

 

[Rolf2]

Congrats to your excellent purchase and for letting us know about your choice! Have fun with your BS2 and enjoy listening to beautiful, brilliant and at the same time powerful sound each day.

Eventually, you will think about your next B&O purchase – consider the Balance ?.

[Author]

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