84k speakers... Big disappointment
Hello
Im in Germany for vacations and today I listened for a while for a pair of Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90 on a dealer here, a pair of Spears that cost 70.000 euros (about 84.000 dollars).
Even though I heard a few songs and they were not the best for testing speakers (chill out music selected by the dealer) I was very disappointed. Let me tell you why:
1- They are active speakers, so they have their own DAC and amp inside of them and, as I understand, they shouldnt be influenced by the electronic behind them (amp, pre, DAC, cables, etc).
2- The dealer told me they were voiced to the room, wich I also saw not to bad treated with accoustics (it had a carpet on the floor and the wall next to the speakers had courtains or something similar).
3- Even the kind of music selected was not the best, as I said, the things that were lacking in the sound were so obvious that I think no other music could have changed my mind.
I have a budget, but a very nice, high end system, consisting in Audio-gd R2R-2 DAC, Audio-gd Master 1 preamp, Line Magnetic LM-508IA valve SET amp and a pair of Q Acoustics Concept 500 speakers, voiced to my room and with a LOT of tweaks (fuse, cables, AC filter, Dirac Room Correction, etc).
To be fair, the thing I like the best of the Bang & Olufsen was the punch in the bass, it was very strong, deep and fast, a very good one. In this field, the B&O were better than my system.
I didnt hear the tone in the bass because the music was not the best for that, but I guess it must be also a good toneful bass.
What I didnt like was a really poor soundstage (flat and narrow), a mediocre instrument separation and ping pointing, bright highs and hollow sound.
I was waiting to be blown away (considering the price), but I prefered my system BY FAR.
I dont think the dealer is so stupid to show this very expensive speakers with out voicing them properly or with music that dont make them justice.
Any thoughts? Has anyone heard them? Am I missing something?
Pedro
PS: I sorry for my english, its not my native language.