[Sandyb]

oh man, are the 28s and Theatre not bassy enough!

I mean, yeah why not add a 19 I guess, but I’d be very surprised if your current setup is not already on the bass heavy side.

Am I missing something?

[Sandyb]

nice – that is what I’m having done in a few weeks, albeit with a very low slung cabinet below the Theatre.

If you dont mind me asking, what height is your Theatre from floor level?

[Sandyb]

The theatre will not ensure multi-room speakers stay in sync with TV sources.

That capability ended with the Eclipse / Harmony generation of TVs – so yes, other multi room speakers could join the audio from video sources playing on a BV Eclipse (for ex), but the joined speaker would be out of sync.   The previous generation (BS4 platform of BV’s) did allow the audio sync to be managed, but as I say, that capability has gone. And I dont believe it has returned with the Theatre.

As / If the Theatre gains the ability in the future (as seems likely) for Mozart enabled B&O speakers to be used as part of a theatre based setup, it would seem logical perhaps then that the syncing issues may get sorted out. But until then, assume no.,

not sure if that is exactly the question / scenario you are asking about though – so perhaps it might be worth clarifying from your side?

[Sandyb]

Christian today posted a bunch of articles / links on the Discord server, explaining all the changes to functionality (explains change in my Buttons, alarms, one touch operation etc etc)

Here are a few of them, though its probably easier to read his long Discord post.

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/8716445177745

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/9940012232081

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/9940005580689

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/10855168034833

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/10275507993489

 

 

[Sandyb]

not hating on the WISA issue – havent gone that route yet, so just a bit cautious etc.

Glad to see / hear that it seems to work well enough with the Theatre.

 

[Sandyb]

Nice setup – are you 17s hardwired to the Theatre or connected via WISA?

Just asking, as I’m going to add rear 17s to my (upcoming) Theatre, and need to use WISA to connect.  Hoping that it works well with the Theatre (via WISA)!!

[Sandyb]

Bl18s yes, after the cheaper BL17s were discontinued a couple of years ago. That said, they are available used, which is what I have done, and will use them wirelessly / WISA with my Theatre.

Older BL speakers can be used WISA, though a B&O transmitter / receiver needs to be added to the chain.  Definitely some on this forum who have done this, rather than shell out for new WISA capable Beolabs.

 

[Sandyb]

~Certainly more capable as a stand alone than a stand alone Eclipse / Harmony.

For those who added extra speakers to their previous BV’s,  then you’d probably want to still add extra speakers to a Theatre.   The difference with the Theatre is that you first additional extra speakers may be just rear speakers – as opposed to a first addition being front L/R with previous BV’s.

 

[Sandyb]

Different setup, similar experience here.

I feed music to my BL50s directly – via a 3rd party streamer / DAC – and it sounds better than if I route the same streamer through my BV (albeit my BV 12-65 is not one of the newer BVs).

My unit is a Linn streamer/DAC – I just didnt want to use a Core and / or the B&O app for music, nor just rely on Airplaying music to something as capable as 50s (or 90s in your case).

 

[Sandyb]

I’d just get some BL3s for now – they’re not very expensive now, and will do a decent enough job if you dont have space for something bigger.

The update to allow something like the Balance to work as surrounds is (I’d suggest) a good year away.

Unrelated, but if you’re in the UK, I’m selling my BL3’s.

 

[Sandyb]

for clarity, this is not my setup – my Theatre hasn’t arrived yet – its the setup in Selfridges in London, where I have spent 2 decent listening sessions in their listening room.  But that was enough to inform me – and in my case, being a super wide sound stage guy too, I’d definitely be in the camp of wanting fronts with my Theatre, even in my modest lounge (5*5 metres).

My Theatre will sit in between front BL50’s, spread 2.5meters either side of the Theatre.

For rears, I’ll use BL17s, largely because I need to swap out my rear BL3’s (dodge PL wire).

With my setup, I wouldn’t obsess about rears too much – I just dont watch that many films with super special effects, where there are that many rear effects etc.

That all said, like those who have listened to the B&O suggested triangle (Theatre and rear 28s), its definitely very persuasive on its own merits, and more so than (for example) the equivalent of an Eclipse “triangle”.

 

[Sandyb]

same from my listening experiences too – spent a fair bit of time flicking between 2 speaker groups : (A) Theatre with rear 28s (the triangle), and (B) Theatre, rear 28s, and front 18s (triangle plus front l/r)…..and while there is little doubt that the triangle on its own (A) is really really good, and will be plenty immersive for many modest living rooms, when it changed to (B) with the added front l/r’s, I did prefer the wider soundstage.

Adding the front 18s to the triangle was not a binary, black / white, night and day difference though, and hence I can see why B&O are suggesting the triangle (with 28s rears) as a more than enough immersive setup for many.

But for those a bit soundstage width sensitive (I’m in that camp), adding fronts does make an appreciable width improvement.

[Sandyb]

Thanks – and that pretty much fits what my dealer told me, and what others have said.

So, the official line is that it doesn’t work, but we know it does but just not with proper sync’ing. And not an issue of environmental delay – its a shame, as it used to work well enough in the previous generation of BV’s.

 

[Sandyb]

isn’t this going to be down just as much to looks / ease of placement than it is by sound?

The rears, even with the Theatre, are only going to be doing so much work a lot of the time.

One could very easily argue that both 18s and 9s as rears are already well into overkill territory as it is.

If it were me, I’d be much more driven by looks / ease of placement considerations. I’ll be using 17s as rears with my Theatre (and Bl50s fronts) setup.

[Sandyb]

Think this all comes down to how many 5ghz networks are in / around your space in question.

As Mike I think has said numerous times, lots of such congestion and WISA may be sketchy, very few of them and it seems all fine.

[Sandyb]

Thanks Simon, thats pretty reassuring.

Guessing I will be all good – my dealer generally tells me that it’s only really SKY Q (when involving multiple boxes and its mesh networking), that WISA can be a bit problematic. In my case, no mesh network, so hopefully ok.

I would just have my 17s hard wired Powerlink, but the PL cable (under the floor) to my BL3’s (being swapped for 17s) has somehow gone bad. The power connection is fine, so when the 3s go, the 17s will just have to work on WISA. Hopefully all will be fine.

[Sandyb]

are your 17s wired to WISA to your Theatre?

just checking how reliable or flaky the WISA 17S to Theatre connection is – as I will be going down that route.

[Sandyb]

oh no, and oh really?!

Part of my upcoming instal involves swapping my wired BL3s for BL17s to e used wirelessly (the hidden PL cable to my BL3 has gone bad).

I am assuming the 17s will work happily with the Theatre over WISA.

will be very unhappy if they dont.

[Sandyb]

bit concerned that the Theatre is having issues with BL17s connected wirelessly, as I am planning on doing exactly the same!

Do keep us posted if they start playing nice coin forward though.

And thanks for the write up.

[Sandyb]

There is very little difference in “ease of use” between the services.

If you’re really interested in Hi-Res / MQA quality, as opposed to just CD quality streams, then Tidal or Qobuz. (though to be honest, unless you have invested big money in BL50s/90s setup, I’d forget about HiRes music).  Remember, Spotify dont do CD quality streams, the others do, including Apple Music.

Again, Spotify’s 320k streams are more than enough more many people.

With Spotify connect in so many products, B&O and other brands, why not just stick with Spotify?

To me this is a question that periodically gets asked, but there isn’t really a clear answer.

At least Deezer is integrated in the B&O app, and thats enough for many B&O users to stick with Deezer.

 

 

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