I have a pair of Beolab 3 and am thinking to purchase the Beovision 7-40 without the centre speaker (Beolab 7-2 or Beolab 7-4). So what are your recommendations ? Do I really need the centre speaker ? The Beolab 3 will mainly be used for TV, DVD and to play music through the Beovision 7-40.

You can sure buy a BV7 without centerspeaker, but I think that the sound of TV and DVD will be very strange. I would not recommand you to do that. If you have a budget and need/ want the TV right now, why not go for the 32" model WITH a center??

I think for TV it will be all right since it is broadcasted mostly in stereo to begin with. For DVD, speech may be a bit muddy and definilty not as clear as it would be with a center.

 What would bother me more is that most (all I know) mounting options are designed to have a center speaker below the TV so you might be staring at a clamp or the hole for the cable.

 

Cheers

JK

I'd recommend that you get the 32" with a beolab 7.4! How far away will you be sitting from the television?

I am not 100% sure but if recall it right the Beosystem 3 build in the new 7-40 does not allow to run without a center speaker. I think there is no "none" speaker available for the center.

Please check this out before you are disappointed if you consider the new 7-40

Karsten 

jk1002:

I think for TV it will be all right since it is broadcasted mostly in stereo to begin with. For DVD, speech may be a bit muddy and definilty not as clear as it would be with a center.

 

 The speach will definitely not be muddy with Bl3!! The definition of these speakers is incredible!! With 2 beolab 3, you will get a better sound that a lot of other 3.1 systems on the market. The real difference will be in sound positionning and clarity of voice at very high volume. I always listen to my (non-B&O) TV with only the beolab 3 in stereo, and watch movies with my beamer also in stereo, and all my friends agreed to say that my stereo was way better than their 5.1. Of course a beolab 7.4 will improve the sound, but not a lot with TV, which is broadcasted in stereo, just with DVDs. 

You can plug the sound output of a dvd player to the input of your stereo, and just listen what you get, that's really good. You can always buy a bl7.4 later. 

My thought are only correct if you can set the BV7 center channel to "none", or set it to speaker 2 option, this was possible with the BV7 MkI and II, I hope it's still possible with the new one "bs3 based".

I have read that Beo retailers would not be allowed to sell a BV7 without a speaker.

Although I am sure they would.

I'd still recommand you get the speakers, as you'd be able to enjoy a nice surround sound.

 p.

If I remember rightly (it's been a while since I've crawled behind the back of a 7-40), there are two PowerLink outputs for the Centre speaker, as well as an extra centre speaker output on the Dolby Board.

If you use a pair of BeoLab 3's, you'll need to plug them into the centre speaker outputs, as you will not get any sound at all without a centre speaker activated.