Just got my new Beolab 2..... plugged it in and convincing myself how much I love it - so far that is not too difficult.

A few questions -

Does it matter how the Powerlink cables are plugged in/out (i.e. I have my left BL8K plugged directly into my BS3200 and the right BL8K is plugged into the BL2 which is then plugged into the BS3200).  

Any advice on placement and setting.... obviously this will probably be personal preference, but suggestions are appreciated.

any other comments?

Thank B&O at Easton, Columbus Ohio for putting up with me on this - GREAT store if anyone is every in the area  

-michael 

Dear Michael:

Congrats!!

Key with subs is to be 'playful' with placement.  What I mean is move it around the room, experimenting, until you get a satisfying bass response.  I try to avoid corners or placing it too close to a wall.

Enjoy the experimenting,

Dario 

Powerlink cable from BS3200 to BL2 input, then a powerlink cable from the two outputs on BL2 to BL8000's. The crossover in the BL2 will then send the correct response to the BL8000's.

Make sure the correct switches are in place at the back of BL2. From memory I think setting 2 is for BL8000's but it should be in the manual. However all it does is set the correct level of bass to suit the type of speaker so it doesn't over or under power it. What ever sound best for you I say. Then of course the placement switch is easy, place it as far out from the wall as you can and put it on freestanding. However if that is not an option then use the appropriate setting.

Put the BL2 where you usually sit and listen, watch. Really. Put it in your couch, for instance, or in your listening chair. But at the height of your head.

Then move around in front of it, close to where you were thinking of placing it, until you find where the bass sounds the best. Here your head has to be down on the floor, at the height of the BL2.

Find where you like the bass best. 

That's where you want to have the BL2. The long sound waves of the bass spectrum means that there will be places where you will have little impact, and others where the bass seems to descend upon you. The above trick is somewhat influenced by proximity to walls - but when placing a sub you have to do some moving about to find where it has the best impact.

Both 8000s must be connected to the BL2, as the BL2 filters out the deepest bass it's handling so the main speakers (in this case, 8000s) don't need to handle deep sounds etc...

We too have a BL2 in our setup. The first days I tried out a lot of different places and settings.

Our final BL2 setup is under the BV7 (BL7.1), tilted 10 degrees upwards. 

soundproof:

Put the BL2 where you usually sit and listen, watch. Really. Put it in your couch, for instance, or in your listening chair. But at the height of your head.

Then move around in front of it, close to where you were thinking of placing it, until you find where the bass sounds the best. Here your head has to be down on the floor, at the height of the BL2.

Find where you like the bass best. 

That's where you want to have the BL2. The long sound waves of the bass spectrum means that there will be places where you will have little impact, and others where the bass seems to descend upon you. The above trick is somewhat influenced by proximity to walls - but when placing a sub you have to do some moving about to find where it has the best impact.

Now that's an image which is going to stay with me....

very clever though & makes perfect sense.

Chris.

A friend thought I'd gone mad when I set up his BL2 in this manner, until he heard what it could do when positioned correctly. Which means you can't go for cosmetics - for best possible bass performance you have to "go with the waves."

With my BL5s I spent quite a bit of time finding the best place in the room to get the best bass performance relative to my listening position. And it made a big difference when I moved the speakers as little as 40cm. I finally managed to get a performance that closely matches the measurement that the Audio Critic made of the BL5s bass.

(The bass calibration on the BL5s adjusts the weight of the bass along the spectrum, but can't - of course - influence the behaviour of the bass sound waves in the room beyond adjusting for optimum output. The bass waves obey physical laws. With the BL5s in the "wrong" position I got a significant dip in the 60-70Hz range - 40 cm away, I got a nice ridge profile. This illustration is from the Audio Critic's review of the BL5s. http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=6&blogId=1)