[Sandyb]

I am curious as to whether there was any reason for the installers to have set up the whole set (theatre, 18s and 28s) as a group called TrueImage though?!? Assuming it wasnt random, and they are possibly following some guidance?

Raises the broader question about how Atmos and TrueImage play together / work with or around each other.

Pretty sure Geoff has been anticipating (fearing perhaps!) having to explain some of this, with all the best will in the world.

[Sandyb]

I dont know why, but it may have been more store specific in this case. In their small listening room I think they possibly already had the 18s wired in (their other 18s are not connected), so I wouldn’t read too much into that (I think).

Moreover one point of marketing emphasis is, as you infer, on the capability of a Theatre alone with 28s as rears ( I call it the triangle, for brevity!).   It did sound pretty persuasive to me, especially for a modest living space. Personal preferences often override these considerations of course.

That said, for some perhaps like myself, who are. sticklers for a massive wide soundstage, my impression (from listening to the Theatre alone) was that (again for fusspots like myself), I would still want / need dedicated front left / rights.

I cant account for whether the Theatre and other speakers were perfectly setup / calibrated, as the sales team didnt do it – a team of installers (assuming from B&O?) came in and did it overnight last Thursday, so none of the salesman were around.

[Sandyb]

Hi there Geoff, yes in some respects the setup (having literally just been done on Thursday night at Selfridges) wasn’t ideal. In the sense that it was hard to find out to what extent the installers had set it up properly. Were all the various calibrations done, and done properly? One can only assume.

So my thoughts, caveated more fully on my Discord post, were initial impressions only. My usual dealer in London has a much more conducive listening environment, so I will revisit.

Initial impressions were pretty damn good though, and this is the product I’ve been waiting for. While I will certainly retain my BL50s as left / right fronts, and hence the following comment is less applicable to my setup, I did think the Theatre front / BL28s rears was indeed a very very good overall experience, and not one where the absence of dedicated front l/r’s was felt.

Anyway, my finger is poised to buy 2 Theatres – but I need Matrix integration to e implemented, as I (as some others still do) have a separate room / space with sources / HDMI matrix and cabling infrastructure to serve multiple BV’s in different rooms. (not your domain I strongly suspect, but mention it I must!)

Thanks, and look forward to the blog post.

[Sandyb]

OK, I’ve just come back from spending 40 minutes listening to the Theatre.

The B&O area in Selfridges, London has had a Theatre installed in their small listening room, with BL18s as front l/r, and BL28s as rears.

I posted the below on Discord:

Their set up is Theatre, BL 18s left / right front, and BL28s rears, all in the relatively small room that was shown in the photos yesterday……
We’ve all seen enough photos of the Theatre now, so in real life, nothing will change vis a vis your visual appreciation……if you liked it from the pictures, you’ll like it in real…..if you dont, then you probably wont…….they had the 65 Theatre on the floor stand…

Sound wise – i listened to the Theatre on its own (speaker group 1 in their setup), the Theatre in a group called TrueImage (Theatre, 18s fronts, 28s rears), and a 3rd speaker group Theatre + rear 28s (i.e no front left / right 18s)……

I wanted to gauge how good the Theatre was on its own – speak group 1 above….And its a pretty big sound, certainly more voluminous (width / depth / height) than the Eclipse. Was it mnd blowing on its own? Not to me, no. In simple terms, if i had a Harmony, its broadly similar, and i wouldnt feel compelled to change (on sound considerations)

I also wanted to gauge whether i (and this is just me) the Theatre alone would remove the need for front speakers (L/R) – and to me, no…i’d definitely still retain a dedicated set of front l/r speakers…..for context i like a massive wide soundstage, and my lounge is 3-4 times the size of the listening room.

Flicking between their group 1 (Theatre on its own) to group 2 (adding BL18s fronts) was reasonably different to me – there’s just quite a bit of extra width with dedicated fronts…..

Speaker group 3 – the B&O triangle lets call it – Theatre + 28s rears, was extremely good….oddly enough, i can see why they recommend this…..in this configuration, i didnt really miss the BL18s front l/r……..for a decent but not large livign room, i can see why that will be a very good setup…..

[Sandyb]

I believe, reading between the lines, that B&O are trying to get some (perhaps the same?) level of integration with other brands (Sony and Samsung would achieve a lot). But that is not a very near term likelihood. Not sure the impact of the LG/B&O partnership on that project / aim, but regardless, I do believe that other brand integration is something they are aiming at.

[Sandyb]

app setup / settings looks decent enough to my eyes.

I wonder if that means there is no / very little B&O menu section that shows up / can be shown on the LG panel itself. (I’m not overly familiar with the Eclipse / Harmony generations to be honest).

Anyway, I dont especially mind doing most of the settings on the app.

not sure if that way will appeal to everyone though.

Guess we’ll find out in a few weeks.

[Sandyb]

Guessing yes – there was after all a reason that the Eclipse was modified to a v3.

At the same time, the Eclipse is very close to being discontinued.

 

[Sandyb]

yeah, I sort of expected a few years ago for PUC to be de emphasised.

That said, higher end installations with sources in a rack hidden in separate room, and serving one or more rooms with BVs (and therefore the clean installations they often show in their own photos) will not work with the Theatre.

Unless Matrix support is added.

But I am very doubtful – as we can see, the one port is clearly a de-prioritization of PUC / IR.

 

[Sandyb]

Thanks for the video.

Looks like this is not coming with HDMI matrix support. Only 1 PUC socket (enabling control of 2 units) is clearly a weakening commitment to PUC.

And while software updates may bring Matrix support, I’m not optimistic at all that it will come.

On the Discord today, while Christian K wasn’t quite sure, and was non committal on this issue, reading between the lines I dont think my conclusion is wrong, especially given his brief comments.

I know many have reduced their use of external sources, but there are surely still a good number who do continue to use them.  Matrix integration on all the previous BVs allowed super clean installations, with source boxes etc hidden / out of the room, and just fed to various BVs in various rooms.

Unless that support is added to the Theatre, its a no go for me.

Anyway, lovely product otherwise.

[Sandyb]

Halo works with the Theatre.

Says so in the product sheet.

[Sandyb]

in the product spec sheet….

PERIPHERAL UNIT CONTROL

Integrated Peripheral Unit/Set-top Box Controllerfortwounits,allowingyou to control set-top boxes with the
Bang & Olufsen remote control

[Sandyb]

I agree a fully framed single unit, like the BV11 / 14 and even Contour, look super coherent and elegant, in a way that is tough to achieve with a two piece.

That said, I think they’ve done a pretty good job.

If the speaker part also got wider with 65 and 77 inch panel sizes, the whole (wider) theatre would just be so very huge – remember, in the centre speaker array part, the Theatre is 6 inches deep.   Continuing that depth for 65 or 77 inches would be so so chunky, I woudl have (for me ) tipped over into unwieldy and inelegant.

Otherwise, I also a intrigued as to how TrueImage and Atmos will co-exist. Having remained firmly stuck in the 5.1 era, it makes me rather apprehensive – but I suspect it will all be fine.

 

[Sandyb]

I think thats right, its the product many have been wanting.

And glad to see they have gone with a full solution, and not made any big compromises and left important stuff out.  Only 2 PUC controls is interesting though. Fine for me (I need 1 to talk to my matrix)….but there may be a few wanting >2 PUC controls.

Waiting to understand matrix integration, and then I’ll replace my lounge BV12 with the Theatre plus LG, and next year my Avant with the same again.

 

[Sandyb]

both motorised brackets / stands (wall or floor) are 2800 euro.

Yes, the wood cover is 1000 euro – same as for current BV’s I believe.

There is no static floor stand yet – maybe STB later.

[Sandyb]

the dark oak looks very nice – at least in the AR Experience app.

Though yes, the images are not super high quality

[Sandyb]

the motorise wall bracket setup places an aluminium arm underneath the Theatre – thats probably what you were seeing.

So that is different from previous motorised wall mounted BVs, where the motorised bracket / arm was all behind the screen…..

In this setup, the bracket / arm wraps underneath the Theatre….makes the whole thing a bit bigger

[Sandyb]

from the spec sheet…

WIRED CONNECTIVITY

3xHDMIinputwithCECinput
1 x HDMI eARC with passthrough 4K 120FPS / 8K 60FPS / 40Gbit
Analogue audio in via USB-C
(3.5 mm passive jack adaptor required. B&O partno. 6271374 )
Ethernet switch with 4 x 1Gbit ports.
One port assigned for LG OLED TV connection for integrated control via Beoremote One and Bang & Olufsen App

[Sandyb]

just saw that – nice touch

[Sandyb]

I’m told that the wings to extend / widen the Theatre to 65 / 77 inch also come with in the box for the one price…i.e you dont have to pay extra for those.

Dont take that as gospel, but I think that is the case – which if true, is fantastic.

[Sandyb]

Indeed – 5400/6400 (wood) is a lot, but around the same price as the existing Eclipse sound centre, so should have been expected. They couldn’t just slide in the extra surround processing board and extra connections into the Stage form factor…that was never going to work either.

I think about it like this – 5400/6400 GBP will get you something flexible (the attachable wings mean various TV sizes can be used with it), and something that will e good for 10-15 years….over that time many will go through 2 BVs…..and the Theatre price plus 2 (during that 10-15 yr period) panels will be less than the price of 2 BVs.

Its also a beast power wise, with all sorts of connectivity.

Deposit about to go down.

[Author]

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