New product launch – beosound theatre?

[Sandyb]

just got back from my dealer, and was playing with a Theatre setup – on the BR1, I could see the Control option under the list option. So I think you’re all good.

[beojeff]

Sandyb wrote:

just got back from my dealer, and was playing with a Theatre setup – on the BR1, I could see the Control option under the list option. So I think you’re all good.

But did you see any functions listed in the CONTROL submenu?

I’m curious about this with the Stage, too.

[Sandyb]

I didnt click Control to explore its sub menus I’m afraid.

 

[Mark]

BeoTool wrote:

My install is happening today.  It will be the first motorised wall bracket for the Manchester store.  I am moving from an Eclipse Gen 2 55” to a Theatre with a LG G2 65”.  Interestingly the actual physical size difference is minimal due to the protruding beyond the screen soundcenter on the Eclipse.  Hoping the increase in screen size will be epic for movies but not too overwhelming for general TV. I will add pictures once it is up and running.

Did the install happen?!?  How is it?  You will be the first here to report getting the Theatre.

I’m hoping mine comes next week.

 

[SimonWeir]

It is up on the wall, and the motorised bracket is much beefier and quieter than the Eclipse.  We are having some teething problems and so the Manchester stores is back to me on Monday AM to finish.

It is not calibrated yet but I can confirm the step up from 55” to 65” is great for viewing and even better doesn’t seem to fill the wall much more because of the Eclipse’s over hanging Soundcenter.

I won’t lie I was upset last night because it didn’t get finished in a day, more so that it won’t be until Monday; but it was a day of learning for the installers and a learn for me to never agree a Friday install again.

A little nugget for you I went to see John today in the Manchester store and he had his filming equipment out so whilst he didn’t confirm he was making a video, I expect a posting soon.

I will also offer John to film mine as the bracket mechanism is a joy also good for people to understand what to do when your room is not the perfect shape.  The mic calibration was not assigning all my speakers to the roles I expected.

…Long story short, please have patience and I will reveal my setup very soon.

[Mark]

Just out of curiosity, is the teething problems related to the installation or to the setup and configuration of the Theatre?  I’m asking because I don’t think my dealer will actually set mine up (along with the Beolab 18’s) I think they are just delivering them and it is up to me to set up everything.

 

[Sandyb]

My dealer had the same problems with the setup – the app setup process + mic calibration process allocated the speakers to the wrong roles.

In the end, he had to accept that imperfectly created profile, and then fix it by editing the group and overwriting the settings of each individual speaker.

There seems to be a broader issue, as this seems to have been seen a lot.

[BeoMedia]

I have heard several times that B&O seem to recommend BeoLab 28 as rear speakers and the BeoSound Theatre alone in the front.

Do they also have recommendations for other speaker combinations, if so where can one find these?

E.g. BeoLab 1 and BeoLab 2, would B&O recommend these in the back (like they seem to do with BeoLab 28) with smaller speakers up front at the side of BeoSound Theatre like BeoLab 4000’s?

[Millemissen]

There aren’t many speakers from the current collection to be offered.
Sure they could have recommended the 18’s (many shops use these).

They probably would have used the Mozart-based speakers, if the SW had already been finished for this – and the component supply would be better.

One should not expect B&O to showcase a new product with older, EOL speakers. Of course they want to show the speakers that they actually sell.

I guess the reason why the let the Theatre do the front alone is, 1: it is capable and 2: adding front speaker would draw the attention from the soundbar, when showcasing.
They know what the Theatre is capable of and want to sell it this way.

I am pretty sure that any of the older speaker will perform excellent when added to the Theatre – probably even better that now.
For my part I plan to keep my setup/speaker layout as is, when I move to the Theatre. I guess many with a current setup will do the same.

So, just wait for some real life user reviews here, when people get their Theatres delievered……and the first SW quirks are over.

MM

[NQVHNWI]

My guess from the last few posts and other sources….is its sounding very much like the BS Theatre (or its control app) is another unfinished product.

I’ve got a feeling were going through the Bl90/BL50/BS Moment/BV/etc…..product software beta testing and development all over again?

[beojeff]

@BeoMedia

I’m really glad you raised this topic. I’ve been wondering myself about the best placement and roles of various beolabs.

My current plan is to use the Theatre for the center and front L and R. Use Beolab 9s for front wides. Have a BL2 in the front area. Use Beolab 1s for the surrounds. Use Beolab 6000s for rears, and use a total of x4 Beolab 4000s for front hight and rear hight speakers.

My condo is a New York-style loft with very high ceilings. Therefore, placing the height speakers on the actual ceiling is not possible. I’m attaching 4000s to a mezzanine in the front and 4000s near the top of a partial wall in the rear. Something nice about the 4000s is the flexibility of positioning the speakers to be directed toward the seating area.

I’ve wondered if the front wide position and role is the best use for my 9s.

I’ve also wondered if the BL2 should be moved to the back since the Theatre and 9s have such low bass.

I think that the surround position is good for the BL1 speakers. I recall some discussions suggesting that BL1s are nice for rear speakers due to their very height. However, now that we can have actual height speakers, I think that the height of the BL1s might make them unsuitable for rear speakers that would be so close to the seating area.

I’ve also wondered if replacing my Beolab 6000s as rear speakers with BL3s as the rears might be better — especially considering that the sofa blocks the lower half of the 6000s.

Finally, I’ve wondered if using certain speakers could downgrade the performance of the rest of the speakers if the Theatre somewhat adjusts other speakers’ performance down to accommodate the lower common denominator of weaker speakers. For example, I have an unused pair of BL4s, but I don’t know if I would want to use those for ANY role.

I hope this subject brings up some interesting discussion.

[Mark]

I can certainly understand the initial issues for a product like the Theatre that is supposed to work with so many different sets of speakers.  The real world cases vastly outnumber what they are able to test in-house I image. I think it is great that B&O Manchester is going to support the installation as best as they can and not let the responsibility fall solely on the new owner.

My dealer is in another state and I was suprised to hear “they” were going to deliver it and not FedEx or UPS.  They did not mention setting it up so I’m guessing it’s all on me.  Right now it sounds like the issues are with the mic calibration not assigning roles correctly. I don’t mind modifying the results as that shouldn’t be too hard.  I can survive initial software issues because I have lived with it before with the Level.

[Sandyb]

Yeah, that issue it seems can be overwritten once the profile is created from the mic calibration process.  That said, its both highly bizarre and disappointing that the mic calibration (I was there when it was done) runs through its process ok, but then you’ll find (something like) a ceiling speaker allocated the centre front role, and so on and so on……all pretty basic stuff, so its puzzling why this is going wrong.

 

[Mark]

beojeff wrote:

My current plan is to use the Theatre for the center and front L and R. Use Beolab 9s for front wides. Have a BL2 in the front area. Use Beolab 1s for the surrounds. Use Beolab 6000s for rears, and use a total of x4 Beolab 4000s for front hight and rear hight speakers.

That’s a lot of wired speakers.  I count 6 pairs and the Theatre only has 4 powerlink ports.  Are you planning to use some of them wirelessly with the wireless receiver?

I’m sure this setup will sound absolutely amazing!

 

[beojeff]

Mark wrote:

beojeff wrote:

My current plan is to use the Theatre for the center and front L and R. Use Beolab 9s for front wides. Have a BL2 in the front area. Use Beolab 1s for the surrounds. Use Beolab 6000s for rears, and use a total of x4 Beolab 4000s for front hight and rear hight speakers.

That’s a lot of wired speakers. I count 6 pairs and the Theatre only has 4 powerlink ports. Are you planning to use some of them wirelessly with the wireless receiver? I’m sure this setup will sound absolutely amazing!

I sure am! I actually already have all of these speakers with my Beosystem 4. It has 6 PL sockets which provides 12 channels for speakers. With my Beosystem 4, I’m using a Transmitter 1 to send the BL10 (center) and BL2 via WISA using x2 Receiver 1 units. This is because the wired PL cannot isolate the center channel and the subwoofer channels from each other in one socket. However, the Receiver 1 units will isolate just one channel so that I can connect both the center and the sub to one of the 6 PL sockets of the Beosystem 4.

So far, I really don’t feel that I’ve been benefitting from the height speakers. I’ve been waiting for YEARS for something like the Theatre to be able to truly benefit from Dolby Atmos. I’ve had this infrastructure ready for years just waiting for the Theatre! I feel like I’m the ideal target customer for the Beosound Theatre. I have a huge variety of Beolabs ready to be upgraded to Dolby Atmos.

[NQVHNWI]

From what I remember hearing at my stand-alone Theatre demo is that it had plenty of bass for LFE. I would be surprised if the BL2 (aka not the quickest sub in the world) would really be a positive contributor to your eventual setup?

Not sure if that frees up another speaker port or not…but something to experiment with.

[beojeff]

Mr10Percent wrote:

From what I remember hearing at my stand-alone Theatre demo is that it had plenty of bass for LFE. I would be surprised if the BL2 (aka not the quickest sub in the world) would really be a positive contributor to your eventual setup? Not sure if that frees up another speaker port or not…but something to experiment with.

This brings up an interesting issue with the new bass management of the Theatre. Prior to the Theatre, the bass management would have sent the LFE to the most capable speaker. However, my understanding of the new bass management of the Theatre is that the LFE would get dispersed among multiple speakers. Therefore, it might be beneficial to have a BL2 in the rear to balance the low bass of the Theatre speaker.

[Sandyb]

Exciting stuff!

Just out of interest, what screen are you planning on using with your Theatre? And what is the mounting scenario / situation. (unless you are using a projector, I cant quite remember)

 

[beojeff]

For me, I’m using an LG C2 77″ screen wall-mounted with the Theatre also wall-mounted separately. I didn’t really like the G2 because of its box frame — which is truly meant to be flush with the wall. I’m using a wall-mount that will allow me to pull the screen away from the wall to have access to the sockets when I need that access.

In the past, I’ve had a dual screen/projector setup for when I want to use the CINEMA mode. However, I’ve found that with the large and bright TVs now available (I’ve currently been using a Samsung 75″ 4k) that I no longer ever use the CINEMA mode with a projector. I might move the projector to use with the jacuzzi bathtub with the now available Beosystem 4.

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

beojeff wrote:

That’s a lot of wired speakers. I count 6 pairs and the Theatre only has 4 powerlink ports.

Each port accepts 2 channels.  So you get 8 wired.

[Author]

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