I now have beolab 4000's connected to my B&O avant. At the moment I'm not satisfied with the sound quality of my current B&O set. I used to have penta's (passive). Buying active penta's is not an option. My wife now wants something else in the room :-( and I like a good sound. So I'm either thinking of buying beolab 8000's or change to high end electrostatic non B&O speakers. At the moment I'm not sure the beolab 8000 will do sound wise (the looks are ok). Does somebody know if it is possible to upgrade the sound of a 8000?

In case I go for the other option: change to non B&O speakers. I have to put an power amp in between the speaker and the avant. Does somebody know if the output in voltage of an B&O is the same as an normal pre-amp? With other words can I feed a regular hifi power amp with the speaker line out from the avant?

Have you considered BeoLab 3s? I personally find them to be quite a leap ahead of the BeoLab 8000 sonically, and they're much smaller!

If not, then yes it is possible to connect a power amp to your Avant, but you *may* get a pop when switching the Avant on and off.

Does somebody know if it is possible to upgrade the sound of a 8000?

Go for beolab 9's. Beovox pentas sound great and only with lab 9's you will hear a big difference. If money matters, BL8000 or BL3s should also do the job.

I have heard different views on the sound. But to honest a good pair of 8000 you can buy second hand for < 2K. The beolabs 3 are > 3K :-) and is the difference a value of > 1K ?

but have you heard about upgrade possibilities (different speaker or tecnical)

The answer is yes, you can attach a power amp to the Avant - I would consider a Quad.

You can't upgrade the sound quality of the 8000 really and if you are not happy with the 4000s, I doubt 8000s will set you on fire. The other suggestions are getting much more expensive!

One possible option however is to add a Beolab 2 if you don't have one. That will boost the lower frequencies massively and will add to the film experience a lot. You might find the 4000s sound better as well.

It has been a while since you have posted this question and sure you have moved on but I still wanted to post this in this forum having chosen a Loewe TV and successfully integrated it with the rest of my B&O set up.

The reson that this maybe of interest to a Avant user is that at some stage, like I have done so, you will forced to move into a flat panel. If that is a B&O, that is fine, but in case you do consider other options this could be useful for you.

Odd enough, with BeoLab6000s at front and 4000s at the back, I was also struggling about the sound quality. Now with the new set up I am using still the same speakers but with the addition of a (Loewe) subwoofer and also possibly a better decoder on the Loewe TV than Avant, the sound has changed dramatically. I would suggest you keep your b&o speakers, they are good.

As for Avant, it is still with us. It is now on its own, without any surrond speakers and is still working great.

Rather long story, so attach a link rather than the text itself. Hope you may find it useful.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36715224/Loewe%20Individual%20TV%20with%20B%26O%20Speakers.pdf

Regards,