Okay, I am poor and I live in a small Tokyo apartment. I have a Beosound one and its great I love Mr B he rocks.

I wouldn't do it! Go for some second hand 4000s - much better! The 4 PC have no powerlink sockets and are pretty average speakers.

Agreed! The BeoLab 4s are actually incredibly overpriced considering the sound they produce! You can get something costing £140 which sound considerably better! BeoLab 4000s are hugely better speakers though, and you can't go wrong with a second hand pair!

May take a while to save up for, but it's WELL worth it Believe me .

The only reason why I would do BL4 are the placement options like the wall or ceiling mount. For sound, i think I would upgrade to BL4000. But then also since you are using it with a non B&O TV I would shop around with other brands, read non B&O unless you want to upgrade at some point to a full system by adding a BS4 or BS3000 or so. Did you consider connecting the TV to the BS1? it has an AUX in, a bit hidden but it does.

Why buying b&o speakers if you have a non b&o tv? I would buy a non-b&o speakers to match and cope your current setup, then, if you upgrade the tv or perhaps your audio system i'd think about a full b&o solution.

I have a pair of BeoLab 4 (non pc) attached to my pc and they sound quite good, but i'd recommend, as said before, the beolab 4000.

Did you consider Bowers & Wilkins speakers ? 

 

This is where I pipe in!

I could sing B&W's praises for pages and pages, they really are stunningly good speakers (I own quite a few pairs myself). They aren't active though, and hence a setup can get quite messy if you just want something simple.

A good company also making active speakers is Mission (who have done several active models), and most studio monitors are active.

If you are "poor" and live in a small apartment and have a BeoSound 1, you might consider spending your money on a stand and remote and run your TV output through it?  While our store is new and don't have a lot of history, we have had a few clients do just that.  We provide an extra mains cord and an rca-din cable.  When placed properly, the tv sound is very nice, and you can use the other mains cord when you want to tote it somewhere. 

Ray 

 

I'm not quite as down on the BL4s as everyone else seems to be.  I'm going to give you a balancing opinion here.  Lab 4s really do produce a nice, clear, separated sound; they have a great design and a convenient size.  No, they're not quite as rich as some other speakers, but they are great in certain applications.

Sounds like you are a conscientious neighbor, wearing your headphones when you are gaming at night. (I wish my apartment neighbors had the same attitude!! ) The Lab4s might work well in a small apartment where you don't want to bother your neighbors-- they don't have as much "oomph" as the other speakers in the B&O product line.  Depends on your taste in sound though.  Here in the US many people prefer sound with tons of bass; if that's you, you'll be disappointed with BL4s.  But considering you were impressed by the Form 2s, I'm assuming you like a well-balanced spectrum and you aren't a bass-hog.

I do agree with the above opinions in that you can almost never go wrong with the Lab 4000s.  They sound good almost anywhere you put them, they have a cool design as well, and they are only a bit bigger in size than the Lab 4s.  If you buy used, just make sure you know they had a good home before they get to you.

I also like the above opinions of plugging your TV into your BeoSound 1.  You won't have as much stereo separation, but the sound quality is quite good.

You can never really know for sure how something will sound in your particular space with your particular sound source until you take it home and try it.  If you are serious about your purchase, I would ask your dealer if you can borrow a pair of speakers to try for a few days!  Then let your ears be the judges of whether it's worth the money or not.

We're each entitled to an opinion or two!... 

Good luck!

Aj 

Cheers for the feed back guys and I think I will hang on. I have the stand and remote for the Beosound 1.

I think I disagree with joynsyde, sorry! Yes, they aren't that powerful, which I can live with. I tend to prefer a slightly bass light sound to be honest, but BeoLab 4s don't even have particularly great mids and highs. Sure it's comfortable, but it's not exactly all that 'detailed' (very masking in fact), and they just don't sound at all like £500 worth of active speaker, let alone £900. As I said, a better sound can be found for under £200, almost all studio monitors are active and you can find a decent pair for £150 in the market today, with a much better sound than BeoLab 4s, and they won't be that much bigger either!

A pair of M-Audio Studiophile DX4s will give BeoLab 4s a serious run for their money, and they cost a measly £100. BX5s will easily outperform BeoLab 4s by a fantastic amount and they cost £150. Sure they're studio monitors, and aren't the most pleasant speakers to listen to or look at, but a slightly rolled off hi-end, and nice looks are not worth ~£600 when we're talking about 'budget' equipment.

BeoLab 4000s, however, are a completely different story. They are far more competitive in terms of sound per pound (although not the best on the market), but the all-round improvement in design and build over other speakers IMO far more than offsets the extra cost!