Next week a will get a second life Beovision Avant 32" RF with Dolby Digital module. I wnat to connect the Avant to a set of BeoLabs 4000 (front) and a pair of Beolabs 2500 (rear).

These Beolabs 2500 belong to a BeoCenter 2500 (and stand next to it). This BeoCenter 2500 will be linked to the Avant via a BeoLink Converter.

Would you advise this combination of speakers (knowing that I currently have no budget to buy other speakers)? 
Especially the BeoLabs 2500 (rear)?  Do these fulfill in the described set up?

Is there a technical modification required to pump up the volume of these BeoLabs 2500:  I read at the BeoWorld German forum that a restrictor / resistance should be build in so it can recognise it is part of a dolby digital set-up? Or is this incorrect / nonsense?

Looking forward to receive your advises and opinions.

Noelke

Hi,

I am using a pair of BeoLab 2500 speakers connected to my Avant 32 RF DVD. I bought them together with my Overture, but they are now used as front speakers in such a surround set-up with the Overture masterlinked to the Avant. Even if you cant find 2500 in the speaker type menu in the Avant, they work when you select Beolab 4000 as fronts. I didnt know that the 2500 themselves need to "know" they are a part of a Dolby Digital set-up. Though, you can increase the volume of each specific speaker in the speaker level menu of the Avant. Mine are set to +1.

I recognize that the 2500 may be a little bit weaker than the Avant internal/front speaker in the lower frequencies. Maybe 4000 will match better as front speakers? However, I feel that my "sound picture" fits ok to the Avants "picture picture". Also the 2500 need to be placed close to a wall.

In my dreams Im thinking of buying a pair of 4000 as front and then put the 2500 as rear. As the 2500 do not have any selector of right and left speaker like other power link speakers as "they alreaddy know their position" by their design. Hence I have alwas been thinking that I need a powerlink cable that is crossed in a way in order to put the left rear sound in the originally right hand 2500 (and opposite).

 

Hi there, using your Lab 2500 as rears will work fine, I used this combination for years (BL4000+2500) with my Avant, until I bought my Lab 3 & shifted the 4000s as rears and the 2500 were sold.

Setting the Avant menu to "Lab 6000" was the best option, because the 2500 are not listed in the Avant speaker menu.Then you'll probably have to play with the sound settings to get a good balance.

I would say that the 2500 as rears sound good on stereo 4 and Dolby surround (analog), but show some limitations on Dolby Digital (I could clearly hear the difference when I replaced them with the Lab 4000!).

Any idea why the BeoLabs 2500 do show performance limitations when they run as (rear) speakers in a Dolby Digital enviroment ???

 Noelke

The full frequency range sent to the rear speakers in this format versus the frequency response of the 2500s versus other speakers like the 4000s & 6000s probably. 

The limitation I was talking about when in Dolby Digital mode is because the 2500 has a very sweet, soft sound, with treble slightly below the rest of the other frequencies, which is not the case for newer BeoLabs, including the 4000 or 6000.Therefore in "blury" surround sound (Pro Logic), they are quite impressive, but in Dolby Digital, where you are supposed to identify rear left from rear right, the soft sound of the speaker makes it hard to get true channel separation.

Chrisreuninon, did you hook the 2500 directly on the Avant DD-board's rear sockets, or was any "trick" necessary?

Connecting them directly will be fine. Powerlink sockets send both left and righ signal through to the speakers. The 2500's are fixed to being left and right so you need to make sure you have them the right way around, that's all.

i.e. the left and right (rather ugly) blocks should be facing out wards rather facing inwards like they were designed. It isn't going to look pretty... unless you can hide them? Good luck

P.S. use the Beolab 4000 option on the TV menu as it is the closest to the 2500's platform. Not beolab 6000.

Depending on where the rears are placed i don't see how channel separation should be too much of a concern, if a door slams or there's an explosion that comes from the rear right, then that is exactly what you should hear...

I thought of using a pair of lab 2500s as rears, but changed my mind due to a change in circumstances. My plan was to actually make them in-wall speakers. They were to be set at an angle behind the wall so that they would be flush with the wall. This way the ugly side blocks would be hidden behind the wall and all you would see is a rectangle speaker covered by a speaker grill.

Just a suggestion.....

If I would make them in-wall in the position they are right know, I will have to aks my neighbours if they have any problem to see the backside of my BL2500 speakers .....

 

Hi, coming back to this one. I have now bought some 4000's to be used as fronts and moved the 2500's to rear. It works ok and I think it is better than nothing if you can place then in a reasonable way. I have daisy-chained mine with an Y-splitter so I only needed to have one Powerlink cable from the Avant around the room. In order to let the black boxes on the 2500's point inwards (I felt it better that way than outwards), I opened one of the Powerlink cable terminals and switched the right and left conductors.

As it has been a while, please let us know your decision Noelke and your experiences.

 

 

Surely, if you have one powerlink cable from your Avant, and you are using a y splitter and daisy chaining, you are getting 'double' stereo rather than surround sound.

Dave:

i.e. the left and right (rather ugly) blocks should be facing out wards rather facing inwards like they were designed. It isn't going to look pretty... unless you can hide them? Good luck

Good point Dave, just cut open the powerlink and reverse the colours for left and right (green and yellow from memory) this will sort out the problem.