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I think you need to talk to your dealer. I used a dealer on the other side of my country and I got the first order they got straight from Denmark to NY then NY to Toronto and a private delivery company dropped it off in my place all before halloween.
Location: Toronto, CanadaI was in a similar situation as you where I had a Marantz 6011 receiver with pre-outs powering my BL18’s and BL3’s for about 7 years and I was rather happy with it. Marantz is really the best sounding receivers I have ever used.
But I just replaced it all with the Beosound theatre and reported my issues with it here. But to be honest once you get used to the sub menus of the app and get it set up it works very well. Better than I was expecting but I had low expectations based on previous experiences. I’m quite sure they will update the software to make things better.
In terms of experience and setup the Theatre kills the marantz. You don’t have to worry about what you plug into what speaker port. You don’t have to set crossover levels per speaker you don’t have to go through a long setup etc. The Theatre basically does the hard work for you.
In terms of sound it’s complicated. The marantz really made the speakers transparent and filled the room maybe more than was intended, but I loved that. The bass was clean and not boomy and the 5.1 surround was flawless. My only complaint is that the centre channel never sounded clear or loud enough despite a high end B&W speaker.
The theatre accomplishes a lot considering I no longer have an external sub hooked up. 90% of the time I feel like I don’t need one but there is a bit of impact at some levels I feel are missing. The theatre doesn’t seem to make quite as much use of my rears as my marantz did so I usually feel like it’s a forward stage unless something bold happens in the rear speakers. On the plus side the centre channel is always perfect. I don’t know if it’s the processing or the speaker or both. The bass is also there but it’s very clean but I feel like even if I add the sub this is just a typical B&O non-offensive level of bass. I feel it does a great job with movie audio when I throw it an atmos track but not as good at up converting older 3.1 or 2.0.
So in terms of sound difference there is a HUGE price difference between the two but I don’t see the value in that difference. The value for me is more the experience with the theatre as its more Apple like. Everything detects each other and works well with one another. It finds all the other B&O equipment in my house and will unify everything. And of course I no longer have a huge box just to process the sound, its all hidden within the theatre.
So if you just care about sound go with an external system. If you care about overall experience and design all for much more money go for the B&O.
Location: Toronto, CanadaSo, just ordered my Theatre!
Just a quick question, is the B&O app better on IOS or Android, or is it the same? Just wanting to set up a user hub in advanced. ThanksTypically most apps are better on iOS. Basically even Android enthusiasts recommend and iPad over any android tablet. Yes that will be debatable.
Location: Toronto, CanadaSo good news… the buzzing sound I was hearing in my front right BL18 speaker was being caused by the cable. It was a brand new Cat7 cable but that didn’t cut it somehow. My dealer sent me a cable and the problem went away.
Location: Toronto, CanadaIt is my understanding the only way to update the software of the Beolab 17 is with the wireless transmitter? It would be nice if you could do it through the Theatre.
I was thinking the same. Its totally baffling that we cannot.
Location: Toronto, CanadaYes they have their fans for sure. The Mark II’s are more valued.
Location: Toronto, CanadaDo the 18’s up front widen the width of the soundstage?
By a ton. I mentioned in my day 1 post that on its own the theatre sounds very much like a soundbar. A good one but still very central front.
Using the 18’s as the fronts made a huge difference in the sound stage making it much wider.
Location: Toronto, CanadaRoom is about 15 feet by 17 feet. Seating is one end of room. Speakers just to the side and slightly behind the seating.
I would say if the 9’s are too close to the couch they are firing too low right into the back/sides of the seating which isn’t good.
The 18’s are taller and can overcome that but honestly 18’s as rears are a bit of a waste.
I have 18’s as fronts with my theatre and a pair of BL3’s mounted to the wall just slightly above ear level and it fills the sound space really well.
Location: Toronto, CanadaIt’s not great. Tunein has way more options.
Location: Toronto, Canadahow big is your room and how far would the speakers be from your couch?
Location: Toronto, CanadaI ordered a receiver to experiment with. Will help me decide if I want the 18s or not.
The 18’s are amazing they just don’t have much bass. The 17’s have more bass.
Location: Toronto, CanadaNothing new in video but here it is:
Location: Toronto, CanadaI would strongly suggest you move away from wireless if you can. Its sketchy, the speaker uses more power and the quality is lowered a bit.
Wire should always work.
Location: Toronto, CanadaMy A9 Mark II also got an update today.
Location: Toronto, CanadaSo when connecting front L and R speakers to the Theatre the L and R firing speakers of the Theatre are disabled. Is that the intention of B&O or a software glitch?
I don’t’ think its a glitch as it allows me to “virtualize” the up firing speakers when no audio is included in the source.
Location: Toronto, CanadaJust a disappointing note to add. It seems after I connected my front LR speakers the Theatres LR speakers are totally disabled and I cannot assign them to work as centre channel speakers. This is counter to what was being said on here leading to the launch.
I don’t really need those speakers it just seems like a huge waste to have 2 speakers dormant all the time.
Location: Toronto, CanadaWith a BLI, the Halo becomes even more useful in the living room. You can control the lights, thermostat, etc. I can even push a button to make the Roomba vacuum start cleaning.
All true. The problem is I can do all that by voice with a $30 Google home, every iOS device around me, my applewatch, my logitech remote or my $60 hue tap wireless switch (looks like a plastic eclipse). So every time I look at jumping on the Intelligence I can’t throw $1500 CAN at it just to make the Halo less useless. All these features should be built into the halo. I might seriously consider it IF the halo’s battery lasted more than 2 days or if it didn’t constantly drop off the network and not respond. It’s a shame it has so much potential and 2 years ago they said more features were coming but it’s still basically fancy volume controller unless you more than double the price.
P.S. there is a new version of the Intelligence coming out I hear but no idea on whats new.
Location: Toronto, CanadaJust some notes on my experience so far.
- As a soundbar it sounds great on its own. But it is very much a soundbar. I got no real sense of being on a sound stage or a ton of width, I was always aware that the sound is coming from infront of me. I never got a sense of sounds behind me, above me etc.
- If you are a theatre buff you will not be thrilled with JUST the theatre on its own. It’s good soundbar but it does not sound close to a real 5.1 speaker setup.
- I 100% do NOT agree with having just the theatre in the front and 2 rear speakers of 28’s or anything else. The front width it creates is not wide enough even in my small room (Pictured above). For music I’m sure it’s fine but not for movies.
- As soon as I connected my BL18’s as front LR and my BL3’s are rears everything sounded much much better. Actual stage width and depth. I don’t think you need BL18’s as front even something like a BL3 as front LR would make a difference.
- The software is buggy as hell. Crashing, bad UX, missing options etc. And I’m even using the beta version of the B&O app which is supposed to have better support for the theatre. The non beta app is just as buggy.
- The motorized stand is dead silent. If you move it manually it makes a bit of a sound though. (just overpriced and looks like old iMac)
- the cable management in the mount is great.
- The B&O app often shows the theatre offline (connected though ethernet) and in the first 24h it didn’t even list it at all and it even showed it as a new unit that needed to be setup with no speakers connected. Then I tried it again later and it remembered everything that I had set on its own.
- The only major design flaw I would say is that you have to take off the front cover to plug in the mic or flip the mic switch
- The touch panel on the front top is too glossy and the plastic makes it look sorta cheap. They should have made it brushed black aluminum.
- The touch panel reflects the images off the tv and can be distracting
- When you turn on the theatre it takes a while to react and doesn’t make an immediate startup sound. I hit Power and I have to wait 10 seconds before I can tell if it even noticed.
- I have a 3rd party sub but it won’t recognize it. So for now I am not using the sub and I feel that I MIGHT not even need one. The bass coming from the theatre is much better than I thought it would be. It doesn’t have that kick I really like in movies so one day I Might get a BL19 to fill it in.
- The Halo is basically useless with the theatre for anything other than music/volume control.
- It looks amazing with the wood panel next to my matching BL18’s.
- The whole thing looks absolutely amazing. It looks like a TV from the 1950 that jumped into the future.
- I replaced my Sony 2016 AE1 OLED for the LG G2 and Im really not impressed with the G2. Its good for 4K but anything that’s 480p – 720p looks terrible.
- Getting the TV mounted on the theatre was awful. The stand is plastic and feels cheap and it’s not really flush with my tv. I also can’t get it level with the theatre properly. I will have to tinker with it more but its a 2 person job.
- I haven’t had the chance to watch a movie on it yet, I will watch Top Gun tonight to get a good sense of how it performs.
- It doesn’t seem to have tuneIn radio built in. My other B&O products do.
- Not to repeat myself but I could look at it all day even if the TV is off. It’s one of the nicest products Ive ever seen from them.
I’ll provide more feedback as I have more time to play with it more
Location: Toronto, CanadaHave you tried switching to WISA on the 18’s? might rule out a wired connection issue as a test, or even just switch to WISA permanently if it fixes the problem?
I did test it yes and the issue went away. But I also switched cables and speaker positions etc and it seems the theatre is sending out some sound to the right front when you change inputs and volume. Its rather annoying but I’m going to pursue it with support.
Location: Toronto, CanadaI got my theatre yesterday and somehow set it all up on my own 😀
Overall pretty positive experience but I am having some very serious problems with it which I hope can be ironed out with software. The 2 biggest ones are my 3rd party sub isn’t recognized at all by the setup, even with adapters it has no idea its plugged in.
Even worse is that when I change volume or switch input it puts out some Buzz buzz sound to the right front BL18. I swapped cabled, how its connected etc but it doesn’t help. I’m really hoping its a software issue and my BL18’s are 5 years old and never had a problem with the Marantz receiver they were connected to.
Not fully set up but here are some pics:
Location: Toronto, Canada -
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Just a quick question, is the B&O app better on IOS or Android, or is it the same? Just wanting to set up a user hub in advanced. Thanks
