Beolab 18s + 19 vs 28s

[Ravi Shah]

So I went to a couple of B&O stores in London and listened to a pair of Beolab18 combined with the Beolab 19 subwoofer and also listened to a pair of Beolab 28s.

The sound was different between the two with the 28s having a wider and more immersive soundstage whilst the 18s + 19 having noticeably more clarity in the high frequencies up top but also that thumping bass from the dedicated woofer.

I just couldn’t decide what sounded better? B&O have a promotion going on now with the 18s and a 19 and a Beocore Connect for £7500, which is almost half of the price of the 28s. At that price it sounds like a no brainer.

I don’t listen to classical or jazz, I’ll mainly use it for home cinema. What shall I go for??

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

People generally think the 18’s look nicer than the 28’s but that’s up to you. Many think the acoustic lens on the 18’s give highs a wider sound stage too.

It also really depends what kind of floor you are putting the speakers on as the 28’s fire bass DOWN into the floor and a lot of people with wood floors have negative experiences with vibrations and distortion.  If you have a solid concrete floor or something like it it should be fine though.

The 19 is fine on many floor types however and you have more flexibility to move it around.

Personally I would do the 18’s and 19 if I was you.

I have a theatre and 18’s with no 19 for bass and I have never complained about the bass level. I use them 90% for TV and movie and it absolutely kills it.

Location: Toronto, Canada

[Ravi Shah]

Thanks for the response.

You have an incredible setup! I currently have the Eclipse so that will act as my centre speaker (pales in comparison to the Theatre but hopefully one day I will upagrade).

So I have engineered wooden oak flooring so that maybe an issue it seems? Surely if you wall mount the 28s, the subwoofer will be firing against the walls? Well, I think I have breeze blocks and plasterboards so isn’t as hard as concrete?

 

 

[Rolf2]

Together with my wall mounted Eclipse 65 I am using a pair of BL 18 (same as Severed_hand_of_skywalker in his great setup). I cannot compare to a pair of BL 28 and what you like is mostly related to your hearing habits. Personally, I do not like it too much, when the bass in a movie shakes my furniture. Having used my combo until recently without a sub as well, I agree that I do not miss any bass listening to movies or music.

Out of curiosity I added a S8. This should be power wise a close match to the BL 19. It is also a downfiring sub and I have a wooden floor, having had no complaints about it when in use. I rarely use it, because the bass of the BL 18 usually is completely satisfying for me.

When checking the sound, I use the same songs with the different speaker set ups. E. g. you can compare the treble really well when listening to the first tunes of Pink Floyd’s „High Hopes (Early Version 1994)“. For bass there are many choices, a good one for me is Freya Ridings „Lost without you“. In between 1:25 and 1:30 a deep bass sets in. For a movie I would take e. g. Transformers sequels.

Whatever your decision will be, have fun and enjoy!

Kind regards

Rolf

Location: Germany
Favourite Product: It is obvious ….
My B&O Icons:

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