[syrianos82]

Not completely related ro no screen from an HDMI source but I’m wondering if apple music would be better quality if not streamed through airplay but directly from a Mac mini to the BS Theatre.

My intention is as follows:

Mac Mini M4 Pro (with HDMI 2.1) and link the HDMI into one of the Theatre ports.

The playback would be then sent digitally to the Theatre I assume? The Question is, weather this signal is better quality when the Theatre streams to BL28 and BL8 without the Airplay conversion to AAC 256kbps before sending it to the receiving speakers.

So in the end I hope the Mac mini can output a signal that is one on one received by the BS Theatre over HDMI and sent ‘clean’ in 24/48 or 24/96 (B&O removed the bitrate fro the website specs)

 

Thanks for any advice or sharing your own experiences

[syrianos82]

Where are you from I have new store purchased 17’s from 2 years ago in silver.

considering to sell them second life?

[syrianos82]

Congrats on the thorough review.

I must say let’s agree to disagree on the near identical comparison to the 28’s.

when I first got the 8’s I would have made similar statements, after having them in the home for two months I am hearing more and more difference in the sound and I always go back to the 28’s for clarity and stereo image. I know Geoff said the narrow beam is super tight on the 8’s but they don’t have the same ease of 28’s to my ears.

Love them for theatre night and web radio. Personally Music listening is much preferred on the bigger brothers

[syrianos82]

you might be able to find a pair of 28’s second life with fabric covers… for a tad bit more than a8’s with a sub

[syrianos82]

I don’t think there is an automated way to have a sub added to the room compensation.

The closest is having the Beosound Theatre handle all speakers and measuring the room by sweeping with the microphone for creating listening positions.

A Wisa streamer connected to a TV with smart apps or Apple TV can send the signal to all Wisa speakers like the soundsend wisa transmitter or axiim link, but those remain very manual equalizers. tried playing around with them before the Theatre was available but it’s no comparison to the Theatre’s flexibility and capability.

Maybe just go for the 8’s for now, who knows B&O will develop a new streaming hub or device in the future to handle wisa speakers / wireless power link without integrating this functionality in a full sized soundbar…

 

[syrianos82]

As you mentioned: every room is different.

With the BL28’s set up in the back there is enough bass, in my room it’s better to have the BL19 in the front to complement the Theatre and the BL8’s.

This spreads the larger woofers over the room in a triangle.

Also set the crossover point to 95hz rather than the 120 standard setting to push enough of the lower end to the speakers with bass management set to ON

 

[syrianos82]

I can’t say I was impressed with stereo imaging of the 17’s next to the theatre as front L and R. The 8’s do this job much better. I honestly was surprised since beo remeasured all their speakers and coded their capabilities into the theatre. Either the tech has evolved or they tuned it more intensely.

I have my old pair of 17’s and seriously considering to sell them. Even though they were purchased brand new two years ago. The reason I got them was wisa connection. The 8’s can be configured as stereo setup just like the 28’s and with the preset buttons you have radio channels at your fingertips for quick access. I have different stations programmed on the 4 presets of the 28’s and the 8’s and depending on the time of day or where I sit I will switch between the paired sets.

the theatre has only one radio preset and all others to listening positions with Apple TV or ps5 or switch. And i like the physical quick access to presets I know.
you can group at will with beolink or airplay without getting the theatre involved.
with 17’s you have less options and are always streaming through the theatre…

i would suggest getting the 8’s but maybe as back if the output is stronger than the 18’s. The woofer size is bigger so I assume a punchier bass that would be good in the back as surrounds. Pitty beo doesn’t publish the frequency range (yet)

[syrianos82]

In general very pleased with the performance. The BL8 is better matched to the theatre and 28’s than the 17’s. Without much effort or tweaking they are much more present to give front L and R channels a big upgrade. Beam width is different from the 28’s. Wide setting is a more open and room filling experience but I still mostly prefer narrow for music as I do with th 28’s.

the possibilities in modifying listening positions and speaker role assignment is endless and you can lose yourself trying different things. Like using the front L/R speaker groups as front is nice but you lose stereo imaging from the front BL8 as well as clarity and spaciousness without using the app to open the sound field.

for music listening with 8 +28+19 it’s a great combo too.

[syrianos82]

Not exactly the same but simulate I use the BL28 as surround behind the sofa. As mention by Geoff Martin the subs in the 28’s help distribute the lower frequencies better across the space.

I’m very happy with BS Theatre as center, BL 8’s as front L/R and the BL28’s in back.
I added a BL19 that makes the sound much easier on the ears for me in general. Placement of the sub is in front rather than the back as usually suggested since the two BL28 provide low frequencies in the back.

the Theatre can deliver some decent bass so I would definitely try switching the 18’s to the front.

trial and error as well as personal preference …

[syrianos82]

Have never had a stage so I can’t compare. You can’t just hook up a BL19 to a pair of 8’s I think?

I might be missing something.  Everything is controlled through wisa by th BS Theatre here

[syrianos82]

I personally prefer to keep the BL19 with any of the recent products.

BL28 is better with BL19 across the room (streamed through Beosound Theatre as stereo + sub)

BS Theatre is better with added BL19

BL8 is better with BL19 without surprise. Even though they are punchy. It remains a small speaker but with admirable clarity. Loving them so far and much improved balance in a full setup for movie watching compared to the BL17’s I replaced

[syrianos82]

Very curious to test this.

tomorrow I’m collecting the 8’s to replace the 17’s as front L/R with BST as center, BL19 for sub and BL28’s as surrounds. Pity the ultra wide band feature is not ready yet.

haven’t read anything about 17’s trumping the 18’s. Was this about woofer size and bass output!

maybe I need to try and integrate the 17’s as height channels from the ceiling ?

[syrianos82]

Hehe.
Nice you mixed in my setup layout into the video.

Still waiting on the 8’s though till dec 6 and hoping the light oak will Mach the BL 28.

also interesting to play with speaker/driver roll from the BST with front side speaker. Was already trying out with the current BL17’s.

maybe those van be added as height speakers after… TBD

[syrianos82]

Thank you again, made me understand the room sense a bit better now.

The initial measurement that is ‘pushed’ to make a listening position might be confusing because the flow of the process is somewhat different. It would make (more) sense to have the BST play a beep and the user defines the speaker position on the app(since BST can’t really tell if sound is coming from above or more Left Front rather than Lift Side for instance). Then next step you would do the sweep for the actual speaker role rather then redoing it.

I will recalibrate to make sure, and to have the test of calibrating with the new beta.

When al speakers are positioned and angled properly it should only require 2 calibration positions, a sweet spot(perfect middle) and an off center lounge corner to watch TV.

Does it make a difference if you calibrate with narrow or wide beam width? I would expect the sound being reflected different with or without the sideways mounted drivers being used, or does the BL28 not use the side mounted drivers during calibration (either direct or through BST)?

This feels like a rabbit hole, keep digging deeper the more you know ;D

[syrianos82]

Thanks for the reply, I think I understand that the BST will not automatically assign double speaker roles to two different drivers. But this can be done manually if desired

Would the BST calculate the timing of the back speaker role assigned to the side firing speakers instead of putting physical satellites (BL8 or BL28 or BL17) in the back?

To clarify: You calibrate a position and the mic measures the room. Then after you assign the back channel (not surround) to the side firing to have it reflect from side walls. Will this result in a timed output to reach the position and experience a virtual back sound?

 

As for the suggestion it’s quite simple: relocating the mic port to the base of the BST to have free access not to break the delicate knobs on the back of the cover that you push into the rubber fittings in the soundbar itself.

 

[syrianos82]

Question about this suggestion:

Set the external loudspeakers to Left- and Right-Front
Set the centre output on the television to Centre Front
Set the Left and Right internal outputs of the television to Left- and Right-Surround

when calibrating the theatre with multiple speakers some speaker roles (and I believe woofers) are left out. Does the theatre still use these woofers for other channels or not?

The side firing are left out most.

I could imagine the sides supporting a surround or even back speaker roll and keep the BL28 behind the sofa as surrounds for most effect/usage.

With the added BL8’s should the L and R woofer group of 3 be left as L/R  channels with added 8’s further out in line with BST or all configured as centre?

BST gives a master control and balanced calibration but the assignment ment of channels is a bit unclear when having built in and external speakers competing the same position they are built for

regards

 

[syrianos82]

Absolutely true about BST making tryouts easier.

the one thing I dislike as a designer is the fact NoTo put the mic port behind the curtain/wooden cover. The plastic pins break easily as I experienced with a BL17. That fixing hasn’t changed for newer speakers.

the shadow joint between the two sheets of aluminium would have hidden that mic port perfectly at the bottom.
I find myself being afraid of unmounting the front too often when beta testing and when repositioning or experimenting with alternative speaker layouts in the room.

another idea is we would be able to make a backup of the listening positions and room measurements. Now when updating it sometimes loses the calibration. Loading a backup file would at least take the hassle out of reinstalling and calibrating a setup with many speakers.
?

will have to redo the process next week when the BL8’s arrive…

want to test some different layouts

[syrianos82]

I can imagine someone must have designed a ‘woofer chair’ at some point like the iron throne, thanks for the visualization of space complexity though.

 

have a great Halloween 😉

 

[syrianos82]

Thank you so much for the reply / confirmation.

Just came back from the dealer and ordered a pair of BL8’s when finding your message 😀

 

I was a little against moving the BL28 back to the front. Reading your advice solves my doubts and can’t wait to play around with the new setup.

 

Altogether I’ll take the BL17’s out of the new setup and work with just a mix of BS TH / BL8 / BL 28 / BL19

I notice some more comfort to the sound when offloading the BL28 from the lowest frequencies, correct me if I’m imagining things.

Kind Regards

[syrianos82]

What would the impact be of having two BL8 as left and right for a BS TH and a pair of BL28 as surround?

 

my BL28 are setup behind the sofa since they project sound better into my living space driven by the BS TH with an additional BL19 for stereo music listening. When watching tv they operate as back or surround speakers depending if I chose a listening position with a pair of BL 17 as surround and the 28 as back.

I feel the BL28 performs better when used as surrounds. So I’m thinking adding a pair of 8’s as front L and R. The lack of bass is covered by the BL 19 I think.

any advice ?

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