My neighbor has a pair of Beolab 5000s that have the display and amplifier option and I was just wondering what they are worth. I believe they are 1990s.

Thanks

Depends who you ask and what condition they're in. Apparently B&O couldn't give them away towards the end of the production run, but I've certainly heard of good examples changing hands for nearly £1k - but that is probably the top end of the market.

I think Graham (joeyboygolf) is a big fan and might have something to add to this.

depends on condition (obviously)

functional for 600 - 1000+ usd

i know that is a big range, but i have seen them all over the place...

i saw a flawless pair go for 750 -wish i would have bought them!

Between £700 and £1000 I would say. Easily the best looking pair of speakers B&O have ever made in my opinion.

beaker:

Between £700 and £1000 I would say. Easily the best looking pair of speakers B&O have ever made in my opinion.

Agree with this but a mint pair, and I mean MINT is worth more. I have sold several "near mint" pairs at £1200. I have a pair which you would need to offer me £2k to even think about selling!

Well I have a pair lined up in that "near perfect condition" everyone is talking about, I just wanted to do some research. In my opinion they are magnificent speakers. Ive never heard the passive versions so I cant compare, but I love these. I have never heard them on a B&O system, but I heard them running on an h/k avr reciever in line mode, and they were still great.

Can anyone tell me what and how many drivers are in the Beolab 5000 panel?

evman140:

Can anyone tell me what and how many drivers are in the Beolab 5000 panel?

2 midrange/woofer with rubber surrounds and 1 tweeter

I can understand why people like the design of these - I just cannot understand the price.

They are not much more than a pair of P45 (Beovox 5000) or with a built in amplifier with bass boost (Beolab 5000).  For the £1,000 or more a pair of Pentas produce better sound - or for about £50 (now) you can have the P45s in teak rosewood, white or oak finish! 

Brian

Xseries:

I can understand why people like the design of these - I just cannot understand the price.

They are not much more than a pair of P45 (Beovox 5000) or with a built in amplifier with bass boost (Beolab 5000).  For the £1,000 or more a pair of Pentas produce better sound - or for about £50 (now) you can have the P45s in teak rosewood, white or oak finish! 

Brian

You may think that Pentas produce better sound but I don't like the muffled, laid back Penta sound and prefer the more in your face, brighter sound from the Lab 5000. I could have my choice of speakers (except Lab 5, which I cannot afford and was not impressed with anyway) and I choose to have Lab 5000's in both of my listening rooms!

The reason for the high price of Lab 5000's is that they are as rare as rocking horse sh1t in anything like mint condition while Pentas are cheap and common as muck!

One can have many happy and outrageous debates about the sound of speakers. However some people will prefer one over another. In the great speaker demo in Newcastle, the Beolab Penta and Beolab 5000 were both liked but both scored below the newer Beolan 5 and 9. On the night, the Penta was preferred by a margin for its sound and the 5000 for its looks.

One telling fact however was that the Pentas survived the trip with no scars whereas the 5000s came back badly scratched and dented. Indirectly, this has lead to my being the owner of a mint pair of 5000s! (Thanks Darren!)

As an owner of both, the major problem with 5000s is placement - they are not small and are therefore limited to finding a place on a large wall. Pentas are more flexible. I personally prefer the sound of Pentas and these were the top of the range speaker at the time. One of the reasons for the relative scarcity of 5000s is that not that many were sold and dealers had quite a job disposing of the last pairs. They are however spectacular looking in the right setting and have a very pleasing sound. Would I pay £1000 a pair - well I suppose indirectly, I did! But I did also buy my Pentas new - about £2800!

I'd like some Lab 5000s, but only if I had another room to mount them in as I wouldn't give up my Pentas for them. Pentas are more flexible in that they can be fitted into rooms in a nicely discreet manner, whereas Lab 5000s look a sod unless you start channeling walls out to hide the cable runs. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who takes their looks seriously cannot be happy with visible cable runs unless they're missing the visual impact of these types of speakers and their attendant placement options. Get them in the right setting though and I agree they look fantastic.

It was never my intention to re-ignite a war over speakers - I was simply trying to make the point that the flat panel speakers are overpriced!

They are rare in good condition as they are easily damaged - were not popular (why else were they dropped so soon?) and lived on for a while longer in minature as Beolab 4500s.  Pentas were made for a long time - one of the longest (apart from C75 to CX100 range).  All those purchasers cannot be wrong!

I simply mentioned Pentas as a better value for money option. Many of the Red Line series would outperform the Beovox 5000 too.  To make a fair comparison one should not be using the Lab 5000s bass enhancement as without that  they have a weak bass perfomance - the catalogue specifications take them down to 60 Hz  not even as low as a pair of CX100s!  The internal volume of the speakers is low, they have two woofers and a tweeter - virtually the same set up as a pair of Red Line 60s but a long way behind the RL140s! 

BL BV 5000s

Design - good

Price - inflated!!

Brian

The sound quality of Beolab 5000s is hugely better than RL60s. And the bass is really rather good - much better than CX100s. The design of the amplifier cannot be excluded as it is this that allows them to perform as they do. Whether this is what you want is up to you. I imagine the bass response is measured in free standing mode which is not how they are supposed to be used.

Peter :

The sound quality of Beolab 5000s is hugely better than RL60s. And the bass is really rather good - much better than CX100s. The design of the amplifier cannot be excluded as it is this that allows them to perform as they do. Whether this is what you want is up to you. I imagine the bass response is measured in free standing mode which is not how they are supposed to be used.

On a pure 'you get what you pays for' argument, I agree with Brian. Pentas were top of the range (presumably for a reason) and at the end of the day for £1k you get a nice looking two-way pair of speakers with six drivers that aren't as powerful as a pair of three-way Beolab Pentas with eighteen drivers to move some air! No one cares what the construction type of your internal walls are with a pair of Pentas - you always get low frequencies with them :)

If I get a pair of Beolab 5000s they will be running along side a pair of JBL floorstanding speakers that have an immense low end, so bass is not really a problem. I myself have listened to some Lab 5000s and I agree with the bright sounding comment. It seems to me like the Beolab 5000s and my JBLs would work great together.