[SimonWeir]

Scroll down.  If you are not using the FL & FR of the Theatre you can try the virtual wide & elevated.

[SimonWeir]

Please add a snapshot of your listening position.

You may find that not all speakers are assigned a role.  I am thinking the mic setup has assigned the BL90 as FL & FR, the BL3 as SL & SR.  Also the Theatre is only using the CF and Front Left & Right Height… which will give you 5.0.2 the rest are not turned on.

If you go into the advance menu you can use the Side Speakers as Surround Height to give you 5.0.4.  Or turn on the Front Theatre to virtual.  Both sound excellent and are much more immersive.  Purest will say the side speakers should not be assigned height roles but to my ears having a x.x.4 vs a x.x.2 is more realistic.  My normal TV viewing is 5.1.4 (Theatre plus a pair of BL17s) and for movies I bring in my rear speakers (another set of BL17s) to get 7.1.4

Re Apple TV, remember it outputs via LPCM as the codec.  I use the latest 2022 model, and Atmos is shown in the channel allocation whatever number of speakers you have assigned, as long as you are playing from any of the Apps eg. Netflix, Prime, Disney, Apple Music etc.  I only get codec Dolby TrueHD when I play a UHD Blu-ray, on my connected Panasonic UB820.

[SimonWeir]

I have ATV boxes on both my TVs (connected to LG G2 and BeoSound Theatre, as well as to a LG C9 and BeoSound Stage).  When I got my Theatre I upgraded my ATV 4K to the 2022 model and it is quicker than the older 4K box.  As MM has said, it is how you use the device.  I have them all synchronised so I can start a movie in the Kitchen and finish in the Lounge.  The real win with the Theatre for me is the quality of Apple Music, especially as most of the new music is in Atmos.  In fact I have created a new music group of 7.1.4 as an alternative to my normal music of 4.1 using 4 x BL17 + BL19, as I find using the Theatre as well makes the sound so much more engaging.  For the money (£149.00 – £169.00) a new APT 4K 2022 is a no regret choice.  I recommend the Lan variant.  If only because every Apple reviewer has said this is better than their TV app, and I can say mine using PUC and with the box integration is part of how I like to live in my home, plus with the A15 chip and HDMI 2.1 and all the onboard memory it must be more capable in the decoding than a download app.

[SimonWeir]

Hdmi needs to go into the Theatre.  Also set the PUC to “Apple TV 4”.  The BeoRemote / Theatre combo removes the inbuilt TV hdmi-cec capabilities so you cannot control any devices connected to the TV.  I questioned this with support because you can get it to work on the Stage in the LG device manager.

If you use your OEM TV remote any devices connected via hdmi direct into the TV which are enabled for hdmi-cec will work through the TV’s OEM remote.  I have considered re wiring my Theatre and put everything direct into my LG G2 and use the LG’s OEM remote and bin off the BeoRemote.

This is what I sent to Support…

I have a Panasonic DP-UB820 connected to the LG G2 not the Theatre. Is there a way to enable hdmi-cec so the Beoremote One can operate it as I am using the PUCs for my Sky Q and Apple TV 4K (2022). I found this video on the Beosound Stage support website will this work for the Theatre?

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041729011

Their response…

We would like to inform you our Beoremote One won’t be able to work along the device you are looking forward to control, not even with the HDMI-CEC options.

[SimonWeir]

Short version = stop the hating on 17s on WiSA.  It is your surroundings not the speaker reception than causes interference.

Long version = I have used WiSA with BL17s for 6 years… on Avant 55 Gen 1, Eclipse 55 Gen 1, Eclipse 55 Gen 2 and now Theatre with G2 65.  The 17s are rock solid in their connection.  I have 3 sets of 17s connected.  My shortest distance to a 17 is 0.6m and my furthest is 6.4m (in another room).  The connection quality is better since my dealer arrange for all to have the latest software update.  It is my BL19 that was problematic on WiSA and had this wired, but in truth I prefer WiSA because always on, rather than me looking each time I change listening position to see if the green light appears.

[SimonWeir]

Does anyone recall what the specific settings for a Sport sound preset are?

This preset was a default option with the Eclipse but not for the Theatre and Stage.  I am looking to recreate and save as a user created sound mode, for my Theatre.

I did feel this was a great preset for Football and F1, and with the World Cup, felt I wanted to hear more of the stands and the echo of the stadium.

I am after the specific numbers for: frequency tilt, sound enhancement, speech enhancement plus the bass management, compression etc, as well as surround, height, stage width and envelopment, so I may copy these.

Thank you in advance.

*** update – started a separate post directed at Eclipse/Harmony owners ****

[SimonWeir]

I have a Panasonic DP-UB820EB and when I was using my Eclipse with PUC I had it set to the Panasonic Generic Blu-ray.  Now using the Theatre my Apple TV 4K (2022) & Sky Q use the PUCs.  My 820 goes into my LG G2 directly in hdmi 1 not the Theatre; and I need to use the LG remote for the hdmi-cec, or the 820s own remote, as the BR1 does not to my knowledge do cec.

FYI I use my Nintendo Switch as the other hdmi into the Theatre.  My feeling is the PUCs are best saved for the devices I use most often.

Of note for the Apple TV 4K (2022) the only PUC that works in the long list is an old “Apple TV 4”.  Strange because there is a new Apple TV 4 + 4K but this does nothing.

[SimonWeir]

I have the Theatre with BL17s as the surrounds and a BL19.  I think the mic calibration favours the Theatre’s bass too much and so for all listening positions I have increased the BL19 by +5.  You can tell the difference with the BL19 on or off and I prefer on… the bass is more complete.

All this being said I already had the BL19, but if I didn’t I would not buy one in at full retail of £3,500.00.  If you can source a second hand one in great condition I do not think there is any scenario where it wouldn’t add to your listening to music/watching a movie pleasure.

IMO, the bass in the Theatre is impressive, and is not a compromise.  The 2 x 100 watt is more than most people will ever want… but a dedicated sub with all that extra 2 x 160 watt class D woofer, if you can afford it, go for it, but remember with the new rebalancing bass management it will not be driven like any previous setup, and it has taken me a few weeks to prefer the Theatre over the Eclipse for sound.  For TV ease the Theatre is not as accomplished as the Eclipse.

[SimonWeir]

I have raised with support a bug if you are too quick with the BeoRemote using PUC A (say to control the Sky Q) it sends a signal to PUC B which in my case is Apple TV 4K 2017, which for a second disconnects HDMI 2, a message comes up saying Theatre disconnected, connected by WiSA & Wired speakers flash red.  A moment later it all reconnects and changes source to the Apple TV.  But in doing so in the app, it thinks you have disconnected power so need to recalibrate in my case the motorised wall bracket.  The recalibration is strictly not needed as it does retain all settings, however to remove the calibration icon in the app you need to go through with it.  Support have said they cannot help remotely and to contact my dealer.  I have worked out to have patience… plus ordered the new Apple TV 4K 2022 with HLG HDR support as only £169.00 and my current Apple TV is 5 years old and doesn’t have all the resolutions my LG G2 65” can support.

[SimonWeir]

@steve1977.  Pictures as requested.  All use the standard OEM fitting, rather than STB.  Only reason they are not right up flush to the coving is because of the PIR alarm sensor in the dining-room so B&O installers brought these down by 10 cm on all to have aesthetic consistency.  These work very well with great sound imagery and imo don’t need to be landscape firing down, the BeoSound Theatre’s calibration mic sorted it all out.  Even before with the Eclipse when I was using the one behind the TV as a Centre Height and the Dining room as Rear Surround Hight, sound great with sound coming down from above.  I did consider landscape but it looked weird with the others in portrait around where we sit; especially when I open the doors from the lounge to the dining room when I want to go from 5.1.2 to 7.1.2 with the BeoSound Theatre.

Apologies first 2 pics should be rotated 90 degrees as the speakers are in portrait, as per the last 2 pics.

 

[SimonWeir]

All WiSA, and as I mentioned on a previous post, I have never had an issue in last 7 years with WiSA with the BL17s.  My rears are nearly 7m from the Theatre.

I only had a problem with my BL19 on the Eclipse.  I didn’t have any issue with the Avant 55 Gen 1, before that.  Not sure why but most evenings you could see on the Eclipse in one of the sub menus that the WiSA quality dropped from Excellent to Poor, but a quick rescan solved it for the rest of the evening.

When they first installed the Theatre I did run the BL19 on WiSA for the first few days with no issue, but ultimately decided as they were pulling through new hdmi cables to take the opportunity to wire the sub.  You have to think that the Theatre has the latest radio built in so I am assuming will be better than previous sets.

I feel people have a downer on WiSA (plus a downer on BL17s) but in my experience having lived with it for many years I feel for ease and aesthetics in the room it cannot be discounted as a genuine option.  (Remember vs other BeoLabs the BL17s were seen as cheap and plain looking, but their specs and price vs other manufacturers the BL17s were a proper audiophile speaker, at an astronomical price for their size).

I did tweak my Sky Q router to be fixed on channel 36 for 5ghz rather than it be set to auto, not sure if this did anything or was a placebo effect, but every little tweak to clean the airways near the WiSA frequency.

[SimonWeir]

I have 3 BL17s close to the ceiling (highly recommend for size & output quality) although I have them in portrait angled in to the centre of the room rather than landscape and angled down.  I do however use them as height speakers in my Atmos speaker group and they are more than a match for the Theatre Centre Front.  Equally they sound great in Stereo for music.  Only thing to be aware of they are louder from the same input & db level being close to the ceiling, but the calibration equalises all speakers.

[SimonWeir]

John from the Manchester store came to see my install, video the motorised bracket and hear how it has calibrated my speakers.

We watched scenes from Tenet and also Greatest Showman on UHD 4K Blu-ray as these were films he knows well as they are on B&O demo tracks.

We both were impressed, and agree performing better than storeroom demo.  The bass is so tuneful, balanced, punchy and can be both fast and slow.  Using BL17s as rears or surrounds works very well… more than enough match for the Theatre.  The Theatre has self-calibrated very well (remember to turn the slide off on the mic when you put the grill back on).  Found best calibration was with the room empty and the doors closed ie I was in the hallway with my iPad.

I would highly recommend for those event films you buy a Blu-ray, and for the occasional film stream in UHD.

I have worked out how to bring back in the side-firing Theatre speakers when they are greyed out, by first selecting virtualise, then change their role and then untick virtualise.

I have ordered Topgun Maverick on UHD 4K Blu-ray which is released in the UK in a week or so, so looking forward to a Topgun double film night in a few weekends time.

Lastly I remembered why I have set the Panasonic to PCM not Bitstream, some UHD discs are in Master DTS and not Atmos so I let the player decode and send a 7.1 uncompressed signal in to the Theatre, as DTS is not supported.  In truth not sure it really matters whether it is the player, the TV or the Theatre which does the sound processing… it sounds epic so I am now after a calendar week of tweaking settled with my settings and can enjoy the purchase.

Final nugget, I have realised my G2 65” TV has an annoying whistle from the top right case holes when in YouTube or the LG App… essentially whenever most of the screen background is black.  I assume a fan inside works harder and it pushes more air out.  I have asked the Manchester store to check their demo screens and if they don’t make this whistle replace my panel under warranty.

[SimonWeir]

I listened to the Edge and it only sounds great when positioned out.  I thought it lacking when positioned against the wall.  It is a big unit! so impractical for most people unless you have a mighty loft space or open plan room.  At the same time I tried an A9, which was well an truly beaten by the Edge in my blind back to back audition.

I considered the Edge for my Study, but I have decided on a small Shape setup.  I just have a bias against single speakers, and I cannot get past the need for 2 units for the stereo sound staging.  For example I have currently in my Study 2 x A1 Gen1 and these are much better than in the same room a single Echo Studio.

I also considered a Level for the Study and a Balance but the room is not big enough plus I go back to needing for my ears a pair of units so a Shape will be my next purchase.

Re the Shape, I also considered adding a Shape to my Lounge speaker setup because a large Shape setup or multiple smaller setups would be amazing in capability and sheer beauty of what is attached to the wall over in my opinion BL17 or BL28 and I suspect cheaper!

[SimonWeir]

I have just changed 6 days ago my Gen 2 Eclipse 55” to a Beosound Theatre on a motorised wall bracket with a LG G2 65” screen.  Movies are my thing with Music secondary.

Everything is run through the TV i.e. music is via an Apple TV 4K using either Apple Music or Amazon Music or YouTube Music (I subscribe to everything!).

To my ears Apple Music on the ATV like for like track/sampling rate etc sounds better than Amazon Music.  Also if you search for a specific track in Apple Music and click to see the sampling rate select the best rate… to my ears when I listen to all versions of Fleetwood Max Everywhere (there are many recordings to stream) you can hear subtle differences through the BL17.

I do not use the apps on the TV.  Also have a Sky Q on UHD 10bit, and a Panasonic UHD Blu-ray… I still buy the 4K disc for those films I except to be epic eg Tenet, Topgun Maverick (waiting for release in the UK in November) and stream from Netflix and Amazon Prime, Disney, Paramount those which I think are a 1 time watch.

[SimonWeir]

As an owner of 3 sets of BL17, I am a big advocate for these often dismissed/overlooked speakers, plus I prefer them to BL18, even though the BL18s outsold the BL17 10 to 1.

BL17 are so tuneful, plus are so accurate, but also versatile, especially for their size.  You can use them for any music or role in a movie surround setup, and they never get close to what they can manage.  Also the build quality is impressive… they are heavy beefy units.

For their size they punch well above their weight.

I use four (2 x FL + 2x FR) for music with a BL19 and would say I prefer this for music than my Beosound Theatre.

I have tried a pair of BL17 in a direct sound comparison with a pair of Levels and a pair of Balance.  To my ears the BL17 sit above the Level and below the Balance in capability and sound quality… but the Balance looks hideous on the wall and the Level’s weakness is the wall mount with power connector is not a strong physical connection to the wall; plus they can distort when played hard.

I can see the Level becoming the new choice for surround speakers (because of cost, size and frankly there is nothing new else out there) but remember you get what you pay for and BL17 are close to 1.5 x the cost of a pair of Levels.  Just look at the specs, their is no comparison… the BL17 are a true BeoLab speaker and the Level is a portable speaker.

Level:
2 x 4” woofer drivers 1 x 2” full range drivers 2 x 0.8” tweeter
2 × 30 W class D for woofer 1 × 30 W class D for full range 1 × 15 W class D for tweeter
39 – 23000 Hz
Maximum Sound Pressure Level @1m 96 dB SPL
Bass Capability 79 dB SPL

 

Beolab 17:
1 x 3/4″ tweeter 1 x 6″ woofer High frequency driver: ¾” dome drivers with off-set placement 1 x 160 watt class D tweeter 1 x 160 watt class D woofer
31 – 24,000 Hz
Maximum Loudness @1m (SPL) 106 dB SPL
Bass Capability 90 dB SPL

 

Balance:

2 x 5,25” woofer drivers 2 x 3” fullrange drivers 2 x 2” full range drivers 1 x ¾” tweeter
2 x 200 watt class D for bass 2ohm 2 x 100 watt class D for fullrange 4ohm 2 x 100 watt class D for fullrange 4ohm 1 x 50 watt class D for tweeters 6ohm
26 – 23,000 Hz
Maximum Sound Pressure Level @1m 104 dB SPL

Bass Capability 88 dB SPL

[SimonWeir]

You can set the guide button in the Sky Q settings to take you to the home menu.  This follows through when using PUC.  Using the Beoremote with Sky Q in your hand is more natural than the OEM Sky remote as the home button is a stretch for your hand being in the centre of a wide remote.

Have no fear in making the change the beoremote is another thing B&O do so well… it just works with every source.  I have it set to Sky Q on PUC A and Apple TV4k on PUC B.  Just a shame only 2 PUCs as HDMI-CEC for my Blu-ray is not as good as PUC, which I had before on the Eclipse, so I will when loading the actual disc use the on the player controls to get the movie playing.

[SimonWeir]

You work with the room you have.  My wife and I sit on a sofa each so with  the Eclipse I followed the TSG instructions of setting distances to the ear of the person sitting closest to each speaker, and the effect worked very well.  Also each speaker was set to 65db.  So the Eclipse worked out the delays and all sound got there correctly.

For general TV and the Saturday night film, the surround works adequately.  I used to set the middle of the 3 BL17 speakers to Surround Left so both seating positions had that close to them, this was better than Centre Back which was a mix of both SL + SR.

When we watch UHD Blu-ray with the doors to the dining room open the Back Left + Right BL17 give good rear sound and we’re calibrated to +6 db, which was the maximum.

When it is just me listening to music I reposition myself so I am more in the middle with the TV in standby position flat against the wall, only using the 4 x BL17 + BL19 and this sound is excellent for Stereo.

My system demands a dedicated cinema/listening room but as I said at the start you work with the room you have.

This is where B&O excel in the room calibration and to my ears and those of the installers we can get a sweet spot, which is mighty impressive.  From the few hours listening I can confirm the Theatre does this better than the Eclipse.

[SimonWeir]

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[SimonWeir]

Photos 6 of 8

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