Having been an avid home cinema type person I decided to tidy it all up.

So I ended up selling all my kit and go for something equally high end but in a stereo format. 

I looked about and decided on a Bang and Olufsen system as the facts and opinions speak for themselves.

I know have a Beosound 3000 with Beolab 4000 all beit second hand but in excellent condition.

Once home , connected and well..........it's OK but not what I hoped for......it just sounded a bit smothered not the clarity I had expected.

I Knew that the speakers temporary on the floor was a significant factor but will it sort it all out with stands ( expensive if it doesn't work).

The amount of praise these speakers get I know mine are not right........I know good sound when I hear it.

I mean my Harmon Kardon system in the car is much better than this.

I now ask you guys do you think stands are my solution?

Do you think changing the speaker cables will give a significant improvement.

Thank you in advance

Stuart.

 

Hey Stuart,

Welcome to B&O and Beoworld!

I know this sounds silly, but have the speakers been set properly? Is one set to left and one set to right?

The sound you describe, is it distorted? maybe the cables need replacing?

The Beolab 4000s are a great speaker...

Hi

Welcome to the forum.

I know people here like the BL4000 a lot. When I bought B&O, I already had other HiFi kit at home. I listened to BL 4000 and simply did not think it was up to the price tag at all compared to other manufacturers speakers. I did not find anything interesting among the B&O speakers below BL 3. On the other hand, they were really good. I thought BL 4000 was OK, but maybee for a third of the price.

I am not convinced that you will find BL 4000 very good, even if they are connected right. Specially if you come from the outside and have listened to other HiFi kits.

Good luck with the connections

Clakke

Thanks for the wecome Jonathan.

Yes the L & R are correct.

I feel that there is no clarity to the sound and that bass and treble are more mixed together rather than a precise separation . I'm expecting much more from these little treasures, I hope I can and soon as it will completely do my head in lol.

Stuart.

Thanks Clakke, Yes that is my fear TBH I had an Onkyo amp high up the range with Cyrus CD with XTZ speakers PV1 Sub! Spendor C9 centre with Kef rears, top ranger Marantz Blu-Ray and at the moment wish it was back.

i mean if this is as good as it gets then oh no how could I buy without a demo.

Anyone want to buy a system lol.

Stuart.

Since your Beosound is second hand. have you been through the sound settings on it? you should try turning your bass up a bit and your treble. but if these settings are ok there is deffinetly something not right. i heard a pair of BL 4000's the other day and i found them to be very clear and detailed for their size. 

Stuartk1164:

Thanks Clakke, Yes that is my fear TBH I had an Onkyo amp high up the range with Cyrus CD with XTZ speakers PV1 Sub! Spendor C9 centre with Kef rears, top ranger Marantz Blu-Ray and at the moment wish it was back.

i mean if this is as good as it gets then oh no how could I buy without a demo.

Anyone want to buy a system lol.

Stuart.

Hi

I do not exactly know the setup you had before. If it is what I think, I am afraid that BL 4000 is no match for that equipment (soundwise). Have a listen to BL 3 or BL 8000. If you can spare a lot of money, you should of course listen to BL 9 or 5. After that your old equipment will be out matched

The advantage with B&O is that you can trade in to some extent.

Clakke 

Inspect the drivers by lifting off the grills from the center.  Perhaps they're damaged.

Good suggestion, no I haven't as I don't know how and looks like you have to pay for that privilege. That I feel would help but not solve it totally. A service , replace the laser, renew cables and speaker stands are some ways to go but the cost for those alone OMG.

Ibelieve what you are saying very clear and that's what I should get.

Cheers for that

Stuart.

Thank you, I tried that first they are perfect. I must admit the cables do look A bit tired so maybe they are cracked in places and not giving the proper signal.

Stuart

Clakke:

Stuartk1164:

Thanks Clakke, Yes that is my fear TBH I had an Onkyo amp high up the range with Cyrus CD with XTZ speakers PV1 Sub! Spendor C9 centre with Kef rears, top ranger Marantz Blu-Ray and at the moment wish it was back.

i mean if this is as good as it gets then oh no how could I buy without a demo.

Anyone want to buy a system lol.

Stuart.

Hi

I do not exactly know the setup you had before. If it is what I think, I am afraid that BL 4000 is no match for that equipment (soundwise). Have a listen to BL 3 or BL 8000. If you can spare a lot of money, you should of course listen to BL 9 or 5. After that your old equipment will be out matched

The advantage with B&O is that you can trade in to some extent.

Clakke 

Hi there, 

No I don't suppose it will match it but should be close to the XTZ sound.

Yes they do trade ins. 

will they take my house you think lol.

I love hifi mainly for the sound then the looks and I like things neat and tidy B&O should and I think will be perfect but if this is what you get for the money (talking at full price not my second hand price) then it is over priced and I would not go to the Beolab 5 level as that to me is mad but I would love to listen to such a sound as it must produce.

Oh the joy of being loaded

Stuart.

Stuart,

Where are you located? maybe a local person could offer some help?

Get them off the floor but close to the wall. They were designed for wall or shelf mounting, it doesn't surprise me they would sound bad on the floor. Any small speaker will. Your ears should be at the same height as the drivers or slightly lower IMO.

I have BL4000 and BL3, in comparison the BL3 is much more clear. I think that the 4000 is a nice speaker, but not as clear as a BL3! It is a bit "damped"? I think it has more bass than the BL3 but that is about it.. Go and listen to BL3 and compare it. It is a small good looking and affordable speaker with more clearity. Then make up your mind about the B&O setup :) 

A good combo in my opinion is to have them both - more bass from the 4000 and clarity from the 3s :) I have the 4000 as rears for my tv. Quite often I set the speakers to 4 and listen to both speakers in stereo - great for music. Now someone will probably say that using the BL9 will be even better, probably and not as affordable... :)

Thanks for all the replys so far.

Jeff,

Yes definately as in the original post they are on the floor on a temp basis but wall / bookshelf is a good suggestion as this I suppose that is what their designed for.

Would I be right in saying that stands will reduce Bass if not positioned near a wall?

I live in Paisley Scotland and there is a dealer in Glasgow and I have priced stands for them, they were £60 more than another store I phoned which does annoy me.

Interesting was the suggestion of the BL3 as this is the wifes first choice she loves the way they look I went for the 4000 as I thought the Bass would have been much more so a possability would be BL3 + a Subwoofer but again the B&O Subs are pricey, I have owned the B&W PV1 for which it's price is  a 3rd less.

I have been reading about the different connections to accomadate non B&O products but for me that is kind of defeating the objective, the B&O set up was supposed to tidy it all up one unit and speakers and I know what I'm like if I start to buy thing I will get carried away ( probably like most on here I would imagine).

Stuart.

Stuartk1164:

Thanks for all the replys so far.

Jeff,

Yes definately as in the original post they are on the floor on a temp basis but wall / bookshelf is a good suggestion as this I suppose that is what their designed for.

Would I be right in saying that stands will reduce Bass if not positioned near a wall?

I live in Paisley Scotland and there is a dealer in Glasgow and I have priced stands for them, they were £60 more than another store I phoned which does annoy me.

Interesting was the suggestion of the BL3 as this is the wifes first choice she loves the way they look I went for the 4000 as I thought the Bass would have been much more so a possability would be BL3 + a Subwoofer but again the B&O Subs are pricey, I have owned the B&W PV1 for which it's price is  a 3rd less.

I have been reading about the different connections to accomadate non B&O products but for me that is kind of defeating the objective, the B&O set up was supposed to tidy it all up one unit and speakers and I know what I'm like if I start to buy thing I will get carried away ( probably like most on here I would imagine).

Stuart.

Hi again

I suggest you first go and listen to BL 3 without a sub. I have BL 3 myself and I do not think they need any sub for music. They will probably be even better with a sub of some kind. It is a total different speaker, in my opinion, than BL 4000. Not in the same league. It is more expensive yes, but most people will not miss anything with this speaker. There is simply not enough power in BL 4000 for real HiFi sound. BL 3 is just as tidy as BL 4000 and it seems that your wife is with you.

However, make sure there is a store that allows you to listen seriously. Most B&O stores have their speakers placed just to look good. Most often the left and right speaker are too close to each other in the stores. Try to move around them.

Good luck

Clakke

Thanks Clakke,

That sounds like a plan.

The BL3's IMO are more tidier and thats why the wife likes them.

I have just noticed I have been getting mixed up between BL 3 & BL4. ( thr BL 4's would need a sub thats more like what I was thinking)

It's the BL4 the wife likes, not acctually shown her the 3's, oh the confusion lol lol.

Stuart.

Maybe we will get some more information from guys using/have used both speakers (BL4000 vs BL3) regarding the difference.

Every day I see my polished BL4000 (placed as rear speaker behind my sofa), I say to myself what a beautuful speaker it is, but always ask myself if the BL3 would deliver a much better sound.

Hi Hotknife,

They do look good

How would you describe your sound?, ie Bass and Treble?

Stuart.

Stuartk1164:

Thanks Clakke,

That sounds like a plan.

The BL3's IMO are more tidier and thats why the wife likes them.

I have just noticed I have been getting mixed up between BL 3 & BL4. ( thr BL 4's would need a sub thats more like what I was thinking)

It's the BL4 the wife likes, not acctually shown her the 3's, oh the confusion lol lol.

Stuart.

 

BL4 : http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beolab4

BL 4000 : http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beolab4000

BL3 : http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beolab3

 

I have the BL4000 and the BL3.

I listened to the BL4, they look pretty nice, but in my opinion they sound terrible.. They work out as computer speakers, but not as hifi speakers.. 

Listening to music the BL4000 have better bass. Less treble, not as crisp sound as the BL3. 

Listening to music with my BL3, light, crisp, great sounding speaker, not as much bass as I would like, but I perfer this infront of my BL4000. 

My advice is to listen to the different speakers in a store, I think you will find the BL3 are the best between these three speakers.

 

Hi

I see. Well I have listened to BL 4 and from my memory of that session was that I doubted they would beat my iMac in sound performance.  BL 3 are about the same in size, but the sound...

Show your wife BL 3.

Clakke

hotknife:

Maybe we will get some more information from guys using/have used both speakers (BL4000 vs BL3) regarding the difference.

Every day I see my polished BL4000 (placed as rear speaker behind my sofa), I say to myself what a beautuful speaker it is, but always ask myself if the BL3 would deliver a much better sound.

Hi Hotknife

I think the BL 4000 would be excellent as rear speakers, probably even overkill. The problem is that I think the performance as a stereo speaker is not what could be expected from the price. They look good, no doubt.

Clakke

Guys,

on the label of the BL4000 speaker is always the mark l for left and right for right. But I have placed each speaker visa versa and have switched the small key of the backside of the speaker to its right/left position. Thats because otherwise the speaker would "blast" not proper to my head.

Do you think it makes a difference regarding sound quality, if my right BL4000 is not placed right? We should there otherwise the switcher left/right?

Take care

Hi Stuart

Sorry you don't seem to be impressed.  I can not offer an opinion on the BL4000, but I do have a Beosound 3000 and love the looks and quality of the BS3000.  However, the reason I'm replying is because I wanted to mention another option for you.  I have a Detoma power amp (D102) which drives some budget Eltax speakers.  The Detoma is incredibly sweet and has B & O friendly plug sockets.  This way I enjoy the best of both worlds - the beauty of the BS3000 and benefits of another manufacturers speakers which would mean spending £1000's to replicate with B & O ones.  I have auditioned Beolab 8000's and Beolab 3's, 9's and 5's.  I thought the 3's were very good (but the design didn't agree with me), the 9's were disappointing, the 5's STUPENDOUS (I can still remember the tingles that went through me when Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon played through them!!!) and the BL8000 distintly average.  I went with the intention of buying either BL3 or BL8000 but came away with nothing - my £150 1999 Eltax liberty 3+ surpassed them.

Hope you find the above useful - and I point out that speaker choice is VERY personal!

Regards

Jonathan

Rikarde,

Thanks for that and I have studied these speakers at all angles.

Tech wise the BL3 would be better because of the hardware it has and it does look better, the BL4 is advertised a lot beside a laptop so we know what market that's for.

Thing is if I'm disappointed at the 4000 I have a dread that the others will disappoint too and as the money goes up it gets stupid.

I don't like going to hifi places as I have a lot of knowledge on the subject but some how It disappears and I listen to a lot of rubbish from the sales people and I of course I say nothing.

At a B&O place I think I would be worse in that I would feel intimidated (but that's me not the sales people) I mean knowing I could not afford what I really or what my ears really wanted and buying something I could afford but not to my satisfaction. 

think it may have struck me that the B & O's are probably out my league.

Stuart.