Beosound Theatre + 2 Beolab 8

[yan-kai.cheng]

Hello everyone, ever since I got my Theatre, I’ve been actively following this forum.

Recently, I added a pair of Beolab 8s as front speakers for my setup, and I have a few questions I’d like to ask the experts here.

According to the official specs, the Theatre has 12 speaker drivers.

Now that I’ve added the two Beolab 8s as front speakers, should I disable the left and right channels of the Beosound Theatre?<br data-start=”476″ data-end=”479″ />Or should I assign them to take on the role of the center channel?

My main concern is whether disabling them would be a bit of a waste.<br data-start=”615″ data-end=”618″ />And if I don’t disable them—whether keeping them as left/right or assigning them to the center channel—would that cause any conflict with the Beolab 8s, possibly affecting the overall sound quality and performance?

These are my questions, and I’d appreciate any insights you can share. Thank you!

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[jacope]

The official answer from B&O is to disable L/R speakers in the Theatre. You’ll get muddy separation otherwise.

However, play with it both ways and see how it sounds. Nothing stopping you from experimenting.

My B&O Icons:

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Change the theatres L/R to act as Sub centre. I did and works great.

Location: Toronto, Canada

[yan-kai.cheng]

First of all, thank you all for your professional responses.I’ll try out different configurations and see which one best fits my preferences.

I have one more question:In my current setup, the three-piece system is centered around the Theatre.How can I tell whether the Beolab 8s are operating in “wide” or “narrow” sound mode when they are working in sync with the Theatre?

Also, if I adjust the sound settings of the Beolab 8s individually, will that affect the overall settings of the main three-piece setup?

Thank you

[brian.lillo]

Sorry for the delayed response to this old post.  I just picked up a Theatre about a month ago and only found this forum recently.

I understand that you’re using your BeoLab 8’s as front speakers.  I think you could get much better use out of your pair of BeoLab 8’s if you set them up as side or rear speakers.

I purchased a BeoAmp2 and have been playing around with testing a pair of speaker in different positions.  With just one set of speakers to add to the Theatre, I really feel that adding them as sides or rears provides the most immersive sound.  I currently have a pair of speakers positioned just to the sides and slightly behind my viewing/listening positions.  After positioning those speakers and running the room setup routine, the sound seems to just seamlessly wrap around you.

I just purchased two pairs of in-ceiling speakers and a couple more BeoAmp2’s that I will be setting up as front and rear height speakers.  I’m hoping those height speakers will greatly improve the overall sound in my home theater.

I’m not sure if I will ever purchase front speakers.  The Theatre’s left and right front channels seem to do a great job.  It seems the only benefit that I’d get from adding front speakers would be just to widen that front sound stage.  Personally it’s going to be hard for me to add front speakers, because at that point I’d only be using 2 of the 12 speakers in the Theatre and I’d end have a very expensive 2-speaker center channel system whose primary function would just be surround sound processing.

The picture you shared of your setup looks very nice.  I’m in the process of building out something similar in the front of my home theater.

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

I have a similar setup and I recommend the above OR get some older B&O speakers like the BL3 or BL12.3 to use as rears.  The 8’s are amazing but they won’t be used to their full potential as a rear so its a slight waste.

Location: Toronto, Canada

[brian.lillo]

I haven’t heard the BeoLab 8’s in person.  Do the 8’s used as front speakers provide significantly better sound quality than the Theatre on it’s own?  On paper, the left/right front speakers in the Theatre seem pretty comparable to the 8’s.  I’ve been assuming that I would need to jump up to the 28’s to significantly improve the sound quality for my front channels.

I love the looks of the BeoLab 8’s, but I’m having a hard time justifying $9K for side speakers.  B&O is running a surround sound sale right now that would knock about 15% off of a pair of 8’s which makes it a little more palatable.  Not having heard the 8’s, I just can’t pull the trigger on this purchase and I’m not willing to fly across the country to visit my closest B&O reseller to give them a listen.  I find myself missing the 80’s and 90’s where there were B&O dealers in most decent sized cities.

 

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

It’s not that the BL8’s sound better than the theatre. It’s just the theatre sounds better if you made the stage wider with really any B&O Speakers.  It’s easy to think the front LR speakers are just making the stage “wider” but its really just adding more of an immersive environment over all.

So really what people are recommending is that with your current setup the 8s in the back will make things sound more immersive but adding anything to the front of the theatre would also help a lot.

Location: Toronto, Canada

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