General Forum

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

MARTINHINDLE — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:58:39 GMT

Hello

I had a pair of Beolab 3's in a small room, with no Beolab 2, and they were certainly clear, but no matter how I changewd bass, loudness, adjusted speaker setting, I was not happy with the sound. Even adding a Beolab 2 didn't help, as they sounded muffled, and I was struggling to hear the midrange. i swapped the Beolab 3's for 8000's and am really happy with the result.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Martin

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:54:18 GMT

I am now happy that the BM5000 will provide a suitable signal to drive active speakers via the line in connection (BL8000 or BL3) after having found this diagram in the Service Manual (Oh the joys of being a Gold Member)

However the question regarding introducing hum over a 5 mtr cable length remains. Has anyone any knowledge/experience driving these speakers from their line in connection??

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:04:40 GMT

I will probably bring a 'scope home on Monday and measure what comes out while using test tones.

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Craig — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:11:14 GMT

Andy have you not got a amp you could connect to the Pre Out's to try them? On my old BC9000 I had them connected to a BM2000 in the bedroom as I had no MCL software fitted.

Craig

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Peter — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:16:59 GMT

It shouldn't do - it was designed so you could fit a graphic equaliser to the set up - should that be something one should want! However the pre-amp out should be the ticket.

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:46:31 GMT

Peter:
Worth a try! I seem to recall that the 5000 does have proper pre-amp out sockets whereas some of the later ones simply had an attenuated power amp out - which was not the same at all! I see the picture now - is it the Line in and out that are connected?

I'm hoping the pair marked "preamp" will work, the point being that they need to be volume controlled. I believe the remainder of the line level connections are constant amplitude. I did discuss breaking into the "equaliser/line out" sockets (u-shaped links) with the installation engineer yesterday and he seemed to think that as well as losing some functionality (as you highlighted previously) he seemed to recall that it also skewed the frequency response in some way (although he couldn't remeber exactly).

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Peter — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:37:12 GMT

Worth a try! I seem to recall that the 5000 does have proper pre-amp out sockets whereas some of the later ones simply had an attenuated power amp out - which was not the same at all! I see the picture now - is it the Line in and out that are connected?

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:36:41 GMT

Peter:
Are those the ones with a pair of metal U links in them. The problem with these are that you lose any power amplifier output and MCL . may not be a problem.

No ................... these are a pair of phono sockets at the top right of the connection part of the rear panel.

(whoops attached the wrong picture in the previous post and we still can't edit posts - Moderator please delete previous post)

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Peter — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:34:17 GMT

Are those the ones with a pair of metal U links in them. The problem with these are that you lose any power amplifier output and MCL . may not be a problem.

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Craig — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:08:36 GMT

If they are like the ones on the Beocenter 9000 then they are controlled by the Volume.

Craig

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:58:02 GMT

Using my new found Jedi powers I have downloaded the manual for my BM5000 (the original is up in the loft somewhere) and it appears there are a pair of phono sockets on the rear panel labelled "pre amp out" , apparently for use feeding a remote power amp. Does anyone know if these are controlled by the volume control or are they constant line level?

Alternatively would a B&O code convertor solve my problem (if I could find one)?

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Peter — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:48:29 GMT

I wouldn't use BL3s in this situation - they will definitely hum! I didn't realise you still had a 5000. Not sure what I would do!

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Jandyt — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:17:04 GMT

Puncher:
Peter:

If you wanted, I could lend you the 3s for a long week end - I use them as computer speakers but have CX100s as back up.

Thanks for the offer I think we're off to look at speakers "up close and personal" this weekend and so I'll wait to hear the preferences of the light of my life before deciding whether to take you up on your kind offer.

Just out of curiosity, does SWMBO know about the light of your life and vice-versa?

Andy T.

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

mobeyone — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:10:47 GMT

I would try and use this as an excuse to upgrade the beomaster if possible??!!?

Re: BL8000's or BL3's

Puncher — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:31:08 GMT

Right - just got back from my dealers and after a short listen (20 mins or so) with unfamliar CD (Dire Straits) my initial prefernece was for the BL8000's (seemd to have somewhat more "sparkle" - a technical term I know). Will undoubtedly have to return with my own tunes for a better listen but a potential problem was highlighted during my visit, namely how to get a volume cotrolled line line signal from the Beomaster 5000 since speakerlink was introduced until the BM5500. After speaking to the installation Engineer it seems there is a cable available from B&O (B&O part no. 6270595) to accomplish just this by tapping a signal from the main speaker outs but it is only 1.65m long and the engineer believes increasing the length of this cable is problematic and introduces hum into the system. I would need one lead to be ~ 5m long.

Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of this that could help me (I assume I will have the same issue with the BL3's).

If I can solve the cable issue then they are willing to bring the speakers to me to try in situ in order to decide properly.