I used to find the BeoLab 1 shouty too, but actually when positioned correctly, they're rather stunning. Huuuuuuuuuuuge open midrange, and yes the top-end is 'in-your-face', but as long as you don't have too many hard surfaces, it's actually just very forward - not over-the-top. BeoLab 1s seem to play louder than the 9s! You may

[quote user="Chris"] Can you connect Airport express to BS8 via optical? [/quote] No, as the BeoSound 8 doesn't have an optical input. If you really want to use a better DAC than the one built into the AirPort Express by utilising the optical output, then you want to buy a decent DAC with optical input! I don't think you're going

[quote user="Chrisreunion"] I recently came accross a French review of the BeoSound 8, and the conclusion was that it wasn't worth the money, simply because the sound was good only at low to medium levels, and that things got really bad & with a muffled sound at loud volumes. I must say I find this typical of most BeoLabs, especially

[quote user="soundproof"] It really does wonders for the sound when the BL5s get space to work - I find that the bass becomes particularly involving and distinct. Here's a picture showing the setup with more light. [/quote] Interesting, I've never really considered the vertical dispersion BELOW the BeoLab 5's acoustic lenses, although

[quote user="redfresnel"] I don't work for any of the companies, sorry. I was going to add about the sound being thin that i have listened to other docks with the same mp3 files. They are 192kbps/44kHz and some people may say i should use lossless or 256kbps+ bitrate or something else but these files are for an mp3 player which is portable

[quote user="Puncher"] I'm curious! While everything you say makes perfect sense, when transferring a digital signal to the BL5 is there really a sound quality benefit in having the intermediate soundcard stage, as it is the clocking of the DAC (internal to the BL5) which dictates the quality/jitter performance rather than the quality

I feel I can trump that! I have a Beomaster 4400 which had sat in it's box as un-sold stock until the day I opened it up a few years ago! Complete with a U70 leaflet, the original instructions and service manual (and the little plastic tuner preset clip! Hope you get the 3000-2 up and running properly. I have one which has been sat in pieces since

You'll need the Beo 4 to enter the PIN codes and set them up correctly. If you were to have a power cut, or un-plug the BeoLab 5s, you'd need to call out a B&O engineer which would be a little silly! To be honest, I'm not 100% sure if the BeoLab 5s turn themselves on and off according to whether they receive a line-level signal, but

They connect to the 'Pre-Outs'...

Also make sure you use good quality, well shielded cables! Sounds Heavenly (Google them) can supply you with whatever lengths you need. You may want to ask for semi-balanced connections for all the speakers to reject a little more interference...