Beolab 8

[Mark]

matteventu wrote:

In that case, it would be serious competition for Beosound 2 as a standalone “Beosound-like” speaker.

An advantage of the Beosound 2 over a single (mono) Beolab 8 (if they can be sold separately) is the Beosound 2 has two midranges in a stereo configuration. That can make a difference is some songs.

[NQVHNWI]

I can see this loudspeaker killing-off the Balance completely. I think there is also serious consideration for cannibalising the BL28 sales.

What would you rather do – Buy a Theatre and a pair of BL28s or a Theatre, 2 pairs of BL8s with a BL19? Give or take…..same price.

[Sandyb]

They can be very much bought separately.

After all, the BL8 page on the website says that they have made 3 new speakers – a standalone BL8, a stereo pair, or BL8s for use in a home cinema setup.

 

[Mark]

Although I would probably use the Beolab 8 on table stands, I really like the look of them wall mounted.  To me it has an art-deco feel to it.

The Beolab 17’s that I bought in 2015 did not have a stable WiSA connection in my environment.  I don’t know if a firmware update would fix it, but I can’t do it myself.  I wonder if the Beolab 8 would be more stable for me.  I also wonder how the Beolab 8 compares to the 17 sound-wise.

[Mbee]

Wow, UWB is used to actively adapt the sound to your exact position (iPhone only). Have to hear it!

[Mark]

Mark wrote:

Toward the bottom when it compares the Beolab 8 with the 18 and 28, it shows Apple Airplay 2 along with Chromecast built-in.

Interesting, the mention of Airplay and Chromecast has been removed from the speaker comparison chart for Beolab 8.

[Sandyb]

This feature only applies for 2.0 music, not when they are part of a surround (e.g Theatre) setup. From what i read.

[Sia43]

Will it have the same delay issues as the older mozart-based speakers?

[Sandyb]

It has powerlink connections for TV, so i dont see why there would be any delays.

 

[Mark]

Sandyb wrote:

This feature only applies for 2.0 music, not when they are part of a surround (e.g Theatre) setup. From what i read.

Does this apply to the Beolab 28 also?

I wonder what other Mozart features are not available when used with the Theatre? I think it would be nice to be able to Airplay to my rear Beolab 8 speakers without having to Airplay it to the Theatre and have a speaker group set up and selected for the Beolab 8’s.

[Sia43]

Sandyb wrote:

It has powerlink connections for TV, so i dont see why there would be any delays.

Can we then assume that the mozart system will be updated soon on older mozart beosounds (as been rumored) so it can be mixed and paired with other beolabs in multi room setting without delay issues?

[Sandyb]

So that I understand, what delays are you referring to?

Pretty sure that these 8s will work just like 28s i.e when you stream to them, or use their built in streaming, they work in Beosound mode (i.e independent of any connected BV).

My comment earlier was perhaps not clear – the scanning sweet spot feature (using UWB and your iPhone) is what i was referring to – that capability (on the 8s) only works with 1 or 2 (i.e 2.0) 8s.     When they are part of a broader home cinema setup, that sweet spot UWB scanning feature wont be active.

[Sia43]

I’m not sure if I understand d you correctly but to give an example. I have a mixed system with Beomaster 6500 and Beogram connected through nl/ l converter to a pair of BS-Levels and a Beolab 11. I experience a short delay which someone has explained to me is caused by mozart, processing the BS level signals, while BL11 doesn’t have sound processing.

[Mark]

Sandyb wrote:

My comment earlier was perhaps not clear

I have a tendency to skip over things or they don’t register in my mind completely at first, but thank you for the clarification.

Having Mozart Beolabs looks like it would offer more flexibility in a BV setup, but if they act like regular Beolabs I would be fine with that too.

 

[matteventu]

Mbee wrote:

Wow, UWB is used to actively adapt the sound to your exact position (iPhone only). Have to hear it!

That’s exactly what I guessed it would be when that name came out for the Beosound A5 ?

Sandyb wrote:

This feature only applies for 2.0 music, not when they are part of a surround (e.g Theatre) setup. From what i read.

Which makes sense as Theathre (and all other Beosound and Beolab speakers, except Beosound 8 and Beosound A5) don’t have UWB connectivity.

Sia43 wrote:

Will it have the same delay issues as the older mozart-based speakers?

It won’t have any delay if used “as a Beolab”, i.e. with Powerlink/WiSA connectivity.

But if used as a Beosound speaker (i.e. USB-C line-in, Bluetooth, Chromecast, etc) it will very likely have the same delay.

Mark wrote:

Sandyb wrote:

This feature only applies for 2.0 music, not when they are part of a surround (e.g Theatre) setup. From what i read.

Does this apply to the Beolab 28 also? I wonder what other Mozart features are not available when used with the Theatre? I think it would be nice to be able to Airplay to my rear Beolab 8 speakers without having to Airplay it to the Theatre and have a speaker group set up and selected for the Beolab 8’s.

No, BL28 don’t have Ultra Wide Band connectivity, which is what “Fluid Sweet Spot” requires. That doesn’t mean thought that it can’t come in the future, with a hardware upgrade of the Mozart module to the same version used by A5 and BL8.

Sia43 wrote:

Can we then assume that the mozart system will be updated soon on older mozart beosounds (as been rumored) so it can be mixed and paired with other beolabs in multi room setting without delay issues?

No, we can’t assume that because of the launch of Beolab 8.

Beolab 8 uses the same “legacy” connectivity that (for instance) Beolab 17 use, in order to achieve lag-free sound when used synced in a surround setup (Powerlink/WiSA). So, no, this Beolab 8 being also a Mozart-based speaker doesn’t mean Mozart platform itself has gained lag-free wireless sound capabilities.

However, a the same time, this also doesn’t exclude that in the future B&O may achieve that on all Mozart speakers – but that wouldn’t have anything to do with the tech inside Beolab 8 itself 🙂

That said, the launch of a dedicated speaker (BL8) for surround satellite purpose (one of many purposes…), may strengthen the theory that B&O is not working on releasing a firmware update allowing all Mozart speakers to work as surround channels, as otherwise there would be too much overlap between Beosound 2, Beosound Balance and Beolab 8.

 

[Sandyb]

Agreed, and similarly here i think this has further reduced in my mind the chance of Mozart surround coming to Balance, BS2 etc.

I asked this q on the podcast last week – many / most seem to assume that this capability was coming, but i had already grown sceptical.

 

[NQVHNWI]

I am making a prediction that one of the new products slated over the next 12months will be a Beolink Converter device which will overcome legacy Mozart products which can’t join as a slave Beolab to another Beosound or Beovision

[Sia43]

Sandyb wrote:

Agreed, and similarly here i think this has further reduced in my mind the chance of Mozart surround coming to Balance, BS2 etc. I asked this q on the podcast last week – many / most seem to assume that this capability was coming, but i had already grown sceptical.

Just last month Stephen who is senior sales manager at Selfridges confirmed that the capability of connecting the mozart based beosounds is on its way but the arguments above and matteventu‘s explanation make sense, especially as the new bl8 has powerlink and wisa connections, which tells me that B&O either can’t fix the problem by updating mozart firmware or more likely, they just don’t want to.

[MJH]

Nice little speaker. It seems that the ‘Bang & Olufsen’ logo is lit when turned on. Like it!

 

[Stan]

Agree that this looks like a nice speaker.

With all the talk of VHNWH, they are actually somewhat reasonably priced (on the B&O scale, of course).  Similarly priced to a pair of Balances.  Yes, the Balances have more drivers per speaker and more powerful amps (100W vs 50W for midrange), but they have similar spl levels so chances are they will sound similar… maybe.

Assuming they sound similarly, I may have gone for them instead of the Balances that I bought as I like their style better.  Then again, maybe not, since they don’t have an analog line-in for my turntable.

It also would have allowed me to test pairing with my Eclipse (unsure about stability of WISA or speaker placement in my weirdly shaped room).  I guess I can still do that next time I find ~$7K under the sofa cushions :D.

[Author]

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