Hi all,

I currently have an Avant in the living room (16ft x 13ft) and intend to buy a stereo at some point (BS3000 or 9000).

I'm very happy with the sound from the Avant but I know with a pair of B&O speakers it will be much better + more suitable for music once I buy a stereo.

My dealer has some 2008 BL8000's (demo units) which he's prepared to let go for £1900:

1. Is this a good price? The resellers seem to be charging almost that much yet these are from an official dealer.

2. Would you guys recommend them as front speakers with an Avant and as speakers for when I get a stereo? I listen to all kinds of music (Classical, Hip-Hop, Pop) but tend to lean towards the more bassy music as a favourite. I still want the bass to be balanced though...I'm not looking to have a night club in my living room!

3. Would the Avant speakers revert to being a centre channel and sub (if indeed it does contain a sub!) when I'm watching TV and/or using the forthcoming stereo?

Overall, I'm on a budget so I really need to know I'm getting the best I can from B&O for my money as I'm unlikely to be able to replace or upgrade whatever I get for some time. I've read that the 8000's lack a little bass and that there is some compromise in sound quality to get the elegant appearance (for me they are all beautiful so I'd want the best performance for my money). Perhaps the BL3's are actually better?

 Any advice would be great!

Thanks

 

I think £1900 is a good price for a 2008 pair of speakers, if they are in good condition. (no scratches...)

As you have the Avant already, you can connect the speakers to the TV right now. When you get the Music-System, you can connect that one to the Avant. The TV would then be the master-unit. (I'm no expert on that one, but I think that is the way it works). You should then be able to use the speakers with the TV and the BS.

If bass is what you are after, the BL3 might be a better choice. Before buying my BL8000, I compared them to the BL3, and the BL3's bass is more present, but IMO, they sound a little to aggressive. The BL8000 has a rounder sound in my ears.

I will suggest to go for BL8000, actually for 1900e it is fantastic bargain.

Recently I bought BL8000 year 1999 for 1700 e with the shipping cost  !

 

 

You´ll be very happy with the BL8000. They are design icons, and will never loose their attractivity. They sound better than the BL6000 I used to own, which also sounded terrific (for their size).

 

Agree; I would go for the BL8000; looks great and impressing output. For some future more oomph you can always add BeoLab 2.

Personally I would check the serial numbers on those speakers - they should be 20xxxxxx if they are 2008 ex-demos - however if they are sold with a 5 year warranty it doesn't really matter about age (so long as they are MK2).  IMHO.

What a bargain! If it doesn't work for you in the long run, you can either use them in a secondary system or just think of it as owning iconic B&O pieces. 

Sounds like a great deal!

-Go for it. 

Thanks for all your input guys!

 

I was almost there with my decision to buy, but now I think I'm there thanks to all of your comments!

I was just wondering if anyone had the answer to my question about whether the Avant will revert to a centre channel only, and if the Avant has a sub that will help fill out the sound (since the 8000's appear to lack bass)?

 

Hello!

The bass in the Avant is OK, but it is no sub. I think the speaker is more or less like BL4000, so no more bass than the 8000.

I used to have BL6000 connected to a KEF sub and the Avant, and it worked very well, escpecially music.

£1900 is a cracking deal on a pair of 2008 ex-demo BeoLab 8000's. Honestly - pull his arm off!

thavn:

Hello!

The bass in the Avant is OK, but it is no sub. I think the speaker is more or less like BL4000, so no more bass than the 8000.

I used to have BL6000 connected to a KEF sub and the Avant, and it worked very well, escpecially music.

BL8000's have less bass sound than BL4000 and AVANT. If you like warm sound stay away from 8000's, they have a very clean and light sound and imho really need a sub

Hi all

 

Looks like the deal is off!

On enquiry the dealer decided to come clean and tell me the 8000's were in fact 4 years old (not 2008's) and had some fairly major scuffs to the aluminium (not mint!). Just to add insult to injury, he went on to tell me he would only give a 3 month warranty and would not deliver or courier them to me!!

Needless to say, I'm not going ahead with the purchase! I just can't believe a dealer would misslead a customer so badly, and not even apologise or offer any explanation.

I decided against eBay (and the associated cost savings) because I wanted the customer service, warranty, and trustworthyness of a dealer. Clearly these attributes just aren't there so I'm not really sure what to do.

I'm now of the opinion that 'let the credit crunch roll on'. Maybe it'll weed out some of these bad dealers and bring the customer experience back up to what it should be!

Or buy 4 PentaLabs for less money and crank it up.....

And then attach an Overture via ML.

It's what I did

 

What a dodgy dealer!! Get some speakers from Lifestyle AV you can trust them!

Dave:

What a dodgy dealer!! Get some speakers from Lifestyle AV you can trust them!

I'm agree with Dave. Try LifeStyle-av or Iconic-av realy great sevice !

Dave:

thavn:

Hello!

The bass in the Avant is OK, but it is no sub. I think the speaker is more or less like BL4000, so no more bass than the 8000.

I used to have BL6000 connected to a KEF sub and the Avant, and it worked very well, escpecially music.

BL8000's have less bass sound than BL4000 and AVANT. If you like warm sound stay away from 8000's, they have a very clean and light sound and imho really need a sub

Dave I need to disagree with you on this issue. Bl8000 IMO just sound different, not less bass. For me they sound really warm, only when you go loud impression is that you need more bass this is because they are really loud and in that case on some type of music you need more deep bass.

For me adding sub would be good only for movies and surround setup.

BTW speakers on BC1 are the same speakers like in BL4000, and my BC1 sound just fantastic, but with BL8000..... uh .... magic

 

 

 

BL4000 sound nothing like the BC1.

Dave:

BL4000 sound nothing like the BC1.

 

sorry I didnt unederstand?

You ment better than BC1 or BC1 better than BL4000 ?

Sorry english is not my native language ....