Beolab 5 - Four Questionable Technologies

There was a review on this speaker a couple years ago - I forget which magazine, but I recall it as being reasonably positive.

Technologies 2 and 3 in your list are reasonably well established. Several manufacturers have included #2 in their speaker offerings, though not necessarily so automated, but typically with positive results. #3 is usually done outside the speaker (see Tact Audio for an example) - done properly, it's a great thing, IMO.

Digital amplification (#4) is starting to become more and more common, with varying results. Presumably, the best results would come from embedding the amps in the speakers and match them to the specific drivers, as this model does. But, there are probably as many examples (or more) of bad results as good, which the technology continues to develop.

#1 sounds like typical marketing drivel.

Of course and as always, you need to listen to them in your room if at all possible. If the array of technology presented lives up to its potential, you'll have great sound in a package that is very compact. The downside is that if you ever decided you wanted to upgrade your amps, you can't, but that quite possibly would never be an issue.

What are they asking for these speakers currently? At one point, it was $25K, but it seems like they maybe came down in price.

There was a review on this speaker a couple years ago

Yes, one particulary rave review was in the Audio Critic:
Audio Critic Review

#1 sounds like typical marketing drivel.

I agree, but what if it is real? It sure seems like a good idea in theory. I gather that the research behind the was developed by an American, Dave Moulton. Here is an article by him: High Frequency Dispersion

Of course and as always, you need to listen to them in your room if at all possible.

Yes, I plan to go to a B&O showroom this week to listen. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

What are they asking for these speakers currently?

$18,000 US

Hdomke, there are two pairs on Ebay right now, for considerably less than $18k. FYI.

I always thought of B&O as Bose for those with an additional digit in their tax return. So much r&d $$ spent on style and advertising at the expense of what?
After you audition the 5's track down Wilsons for similar money and I think you will find B&O is not in the same musical universe, they are stunning looking though. BTW there is a new set on EBay for 8k if you are so inclined.

I haven't heard the B&O Beolab 5 yet, but seriously doubt the lenses are mere marketing drivel. They address a problem that most loudspeakers have.

Briefly, very few loudspeakers generate a reverberant field that has approximately the same spectral balance as the first-arrival sound. This matters because the ear derives timbre not only from the first-arrival sound, but also from the reverberant energy. Driver beaming is the main culprit; it affects more than just the high treble. For example, in a typical loudspeaker when we cross over from the midwoofer (which is beaming) to a small tweeter, the radiation pattern flares out again and we have excess reverberant field energy in the lower treble region compared to the rest of the spectrum. Under most listening conditions, such off-axis response anomalies are audible and detrimental.

The lenses used in the Beolab 5 address this issue by reflecting the midrange and tweeter's outputs uniformly over a 180 degree horizontal angle. As a result, the reverberant energy has very nearly the same spectral balance as the first-arrival sound. This contributes to natural timbre and long-term fatigue-free listening.

Now I might quibble about the width of the radiation pattern used in the Beolab 5, but imho getting the reverberant field right is a fundamental requirement for natural timbre and something that relatively few loudspeakers do well.

Note also that DSP correction works best with a loudspeaker having a uniform radiation pattern. You see, DSP corrects for the microphone location only; if your speaker has an on-axis dip but an off-axis peak at a certain frequency, boosting that frequency to equalize the on-axis response would be a step in the wrong direction. DSP cannot correct the radiation pattern - it works best when uniform radiation pattern is an innate characteristic of the loudspeaker.

I would expect the Beolab 5 to sound very natural when set up correctly, and not be fatiguing over the long haul. In my opinion it's not the only speaker likely to have these characteristics.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer