Disappointed with Beolab 8000…

[matador]

Hi alls,

I recently got a pair of Beolab 8000 from 1997 – Serial 12xxxxx – and was excited to plug them.
But honestly it is a disappointment. They really sound average without details, I would’nt say muddy but definitely very common. (I may exagerate a little bit…)

My references are:
BL4000 MK1 with digital sources: defined, punching, detailed.
S45-2 with analog sources: all the same with even more round bass.
Beolab 2500 with digital sources: definetly not 4000’s but they sound better since thay are against a wall.

The 8000 have more bass when connected to analog sources but the trebles are a little bit cloudy or muddy. With digital sources they remind me the 2500 whe they were free standing: no punching bass, I can’t hear anything B&O in those. Night and day compared with the 4000’s playing the same stream and this is the most unpleasant surprise.

All drivers are fine and sounding. I’ve read the different articles on the evolution of the design : I’ve concluded they are MK1 with woofer in parallel and ABL so less bassy than MK2 (that I suppose are closer to BL4000’s) but more than the original design that is said to be more transparent (from Beocentral).

All that said:

1 – Do anyone have the same feeling or am I missing something (like placement or something)?

2 – Can this be a fault from the speaker?

3 – Can this be “tuned” or compensated by any way?

Thanks.

PS: spelling question – you turn up the BASS button to crank up the BASSES, right?

– Edited for grammar: thank you Trackbeo –

 

[Valve1]

Hi , I have had these from new and while I loved the design I was not too impressed with the sound. I added a BL 2000 and it was imo a different experience.

To be fair to the speakers you have they are 25 years old and might have been well used, so you are probably not getting any thing  like the original sound.  The Mk ll version I believe was better but I have not personally listened to them.

If possible  try to listen to another set of 8000’s to see if its a sound you like before considering refurbishing them .

 

[BeoWave]

Ive recently acquired a pair of 8000’s and a pair 0f 6000’s   Driving with a Marantz sr5007–preamp outs only obviously.  I’ll say they bring me joy.  I’ll also say they are accurate in the sense a bad recording will sound bad and a great recording will sound great.   I listen to spotify in high quality, all kinds of music from progressive rock new and old, nylon string guitarists, classic rock, tribal drums—-pretty much everything.  I’m truly amazed at the sonic design and what B&O have accomplished with tiny drivers and tweeters!   I do have a 10″ sub below each 8000 and crossover the 8000’s and 6000’s at 100hz.

[NQVHNWI]

Ive never had the 8000’s or derivatives but I have had 6000’s and 4000’s. I’m currently listening to BL3s in my office.

I think what you are describing is what was good in the 1990’s i.e. nice, sleek column speakers, great for background sound but were always lacking for enthusiastic listening.

Even the BL3’s – which I was playing around with in terms of parametric tuning (graphic equaliser in Richer Sounds speak) sound a little flat. They are great as monitors on the desk, but not so much when they are not literally like desk-mounted headphones.

What did offer an improvement as I recollect was adding a BL2 to my BL6000’s. They take a lot of that Bass (as in tone) from the 6000’s and add significantly extra bass (additional bass to the bass) not by “boosting” the bass, but allowing more of the bass hidden in the music to be revealed – which the 6000 bass/woofers could not reveal.

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Ive always heard the the MK1 are light on the bass and don’t sound the best so I don’t think its just you.

[Stan]

I also have mk1s, and thought they were much improved with a BS2.  In fact, the BS2 was my favorite B&O purchase for quite some years – as in sound improvement for $ spent.

I haven’t used them in a few years because I replaced them with a pair of Balances because they allowed more optimal placement (and sound better).

[chartz]

I had the same impression. A bit dull.
The tweeter output can be weak, but you can boost treble, as it’s adjustable. All the way up as far as I’m concerned.
Perhaps the tweeter goes bad, I don’t know, does it have ferrofluid?

[francoisvl]

Another reason why the sound isn’t great is that if it still has the original dampening foam inside, it would have turned to mush by now and that effects the sound greatly. When I changed the foam in mine the sound changed dramatically. Was like a totally different speaker.

[Valve1]

When I had the MK1 from new I used a BL2000 and I enjoyed them.

[ajames]

I read that the foam deteriorates in them and this might what’s causing you problems, coupled with the fact that the electronics are 25 years ago – i don’t know enough about the electronics in them but wonder if there are capacitors in the amps that need replacing.

I bought 8000s brand new in 97 and to start off with I didn’t think much of them compared to RL60.2. But then after a few weeks they must have broken in or I forgot what the RLs sounded like as I thought they were superb. I bought a second hair pair a couple of years ago and was really disappointed but I was comparing them to passive speakers.

Maybe yours just need refurbishing – I wish I’d known about the foam problem before I sold mine on.

[drmichi]

Since my subwoofer amplifier is broken and needs to be replaced, how did you manage to do this? I was thinking to take the subwoofer signal from Powerlink cables, and then loop back the modified sound signal through Powerlink to the loudspeakers? (BeoLab 4000)

“I do have a 10″ sub below each 8000 and crossover the 8000’s and 6000’s at 100hz.”

[Jaffrey]

I have Beolab 8002, so probably similar to 8000s. However, I use mine with a Beolab 2 subwoofer connected to a Beosound Core. Without the Beolab 2 subs, I found a pair of Apple HomePods outperformed my Beolab 8002 for music in general – which is kind of surprising. I also use Beolab 600 + Beolab 9 subwoofer (Tulip subs), and even this combination seemed better than just the Beolab 8002 on its own.

However, other than the bass, I don’t have issues with the treble or mid-levels.

My 2 cents worth…

[health]

IMO… any, all BO equipment needs a powered sub of some type and a graphic equalizer. Since i dont listen to music at very high volume.. the distortion factor due to dB boost is not an issue.. and a set of 8000’s with a 12 band graphic equalizer and a sub. from 12-15″ allow very low level music listening to just awaken.. to a level that is so awesome..

[Author]

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