Patrick Bateman diyAudio Member



Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Diego

Quote: wesayso Originally Posted by Are you going? I bet they will sound awesome. Despite the coloured post above me I do have faith in B&O. They probably won't sound like the usual "Boom and Tizz" of the upper market but to me that's actually a good thing. I bet they sound like music is supposed to sound. Hope to read some reports soon.



I've been going to audio shows for nearly twenty years now. In general, I've found that 80% of the speakers there are about as good as what you'd get at Best Buy, maybe a bit worse. I've noticed that you see a lot of names come and go.



The names that you see year-in-and-year-out tend to sell products that are consistently good. I've never heard a bad demo from Kef, Dynaudio, or Vandersteen. I'm not saying that they're GREAT, but they're consistently good, and once in a while, they're great.



One trend that I've noticed, particularly in the last five years, is that the overall quality of loudspeakers is getting very good. For instance, at the 2005 CES I'd say that most of the speakers I heard were average to mediocre. At the 2016 CES, most speakers sounded good.



I think there's a downside to this consistency though; a LOT of speakers sounded very very similar. For instance, both Kef and Wharfedale were demoing a modestly prices coincident speaker, and if I had a blindfold on I wouldn't be able to tell them apart.



I think what's happening here is that the quality of measurement software, and general knowledge of psychoacoustics is getting so good, even average and inexpensive speakers are light years beyond what we had twenty years ago.





Pioneer's $100 speakers come to mind; back in the 90s something like this would come in a nicer cabinet and it would cost $1000.



In summary:

I listened to dozens of speakers at CES 2016, and many of them were quite good. We're in a bit of a 'golden age' when it comes to loudspeakers, there's a lot of good stuff that doesn't cost a lot.



But I didn't see a lot that pushed any boundaries.



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The Nola Brio Trio really grabbed my attention. It has a lot in common with the LX Mini. I built myself an 'homage' to the LX Mini, and the Brio Trio reminded me a lot of my project, but the Nola sounds better. The speakers produce a soundstage which stretches well beyond their boundaries, and due to the tiny cabinets, they really disappear.



After a few hours of listening to various systems, listening fatigue was really setting in. For instance, I gave the Genesis line arrays a second listen, and though I loved them earlier in the day, I found that they weren't quite as good later in the day. I chalked it up to fatigue.



With less than ninety minutes left in the day, I made the trek over to Bang & Olufsen. My main goal wasn't to hear the Beolab 90s; I actually wanted to hear the Beolab 5s, as I've invested a lot of effort into acoustic lenses based on the Beolab.





By the way, I want to apologize for the length of this post. I wanted to put my experience with the Beolab into perspective. I don't want people thinking that it was the only speaker that I listened to at CES, or that I've only listened to a handful of world-class speakers. I've listened to hundreds, and I even bought a pair based on demos at audio shows. (I bought my Gedlee Summas based on a demo that Earl did at the 2005 RMAF.)







Let's cut to the chase here. The Beolab 90 is an industry-changing speaker. In my life I can count on one hand the speakers that are able to make the room 'disappear.' The first time I experienced it was with Quad Electrostatics. The second time was with Danley SH50s. There are plenty of speakers which throw a nice soundstage, but those two speakers make the boundaries of the room disappear. The listening room in my home is tiny, barely 150', but close your eyes with an SH50 and you're transported to where the recording was made.



I need to stress that this is rather unique, as there ARE speakers which throw a huge stage, no matter what's on the recording. I've heard a lot of line arrays that do that, and you can create that effect electronically using crosstalk cancellation.



But the Quad and the SH50 were different, when the recording was small, the sound was small, and when the recording was great, it was like a window onto the recording venue.



The Beolab 90 does this.



Listening to the Summas back-to-back with the SH50s, I could tell that Geddes is correct when he says that HOMs are obnoxious. The SH50s image like crazy, but the treble isn't silky smooth like it is with the Summas. (And don't take my word for it, you can see it in the measurements of both.)



The Beolab didn't have that problem; there is no waveguide and no horn, and there are no HOMs.



Listening to the Quads, I knew I could never live with them; I'm a horn guy and the Quads lacked the dynamics I'm accustomed to.



The Beolab 90 is a BEAST; I'm surprised Bang & Olufsen wasn't kicked out of CES. I never even got close to the SPL limits of my Summas, but if the Beolab 90 had a limit, I couldn't tell what it was. B&O cranked it up for a couple of tracks, and you could FEEL the bass. Each cabinet basically has four high excursion subs in it, and thousands of watts.







The easiest way for me to describe the demo is this:

I have a pair of really nice headphones, Sennheiser HD380s. The Beolab 90 sounds like my headphones. Except the soundstage is out there in the room, instead of in my head. The sound is clean and dynamic. The soundstage is whatever you give it; give it a good recording and the soundstage is pinpoint and huge, give it a crummy recording and it's crummy.







Another thing that I really appreciated about the Bang & Olufsen demo was their transparency. For instance, the Dynaudio folks ran a demo using a track that appeared to have crosstalk cancellation on the recording. I've messed around a lot with crosstalk cancellation, so I know it when I hear it; it makes the stage insanely wide. The B&O folks weren't doing what most do, they weren't playing a series of "audiophile-approved" recordings carefully curated to wow the crowd. They were basically picking tracks at random from their music server. (80% of the tracks in the demo were tracks I owned, so I feel fairly confident that I wasn't snowed.)



So... Any questions?



If you couldn't tell yet, this is the best speaker I've ever heard, bar none. In fact, I feel a little silly lumping it in with other loudspeakers. It's like comparing a tube amp to a solid state amp. They both amplify the music, but they're completely different animals. Here's a brief review:I've been going to audio shows for nearly twenty years now. In general, I've found that 80% of the speakers there are about as good as what you'd get at Best Buy, maybe a bit worse. I've noticed that you see a lot of names come and go.The names that you see year-in-and-year-out tend to sell products that are consistently good. I've never heard a bad demo from Kef, Dynaudio, or Vandersteen. I'm not saying that they're GREAT, but they're consistently good, and once in a while, they're great.One trend that I've noticed, particularly in the last five years, is thatFor instance, at the 2005 CES I'd say that most of the speakers I heard were average to mediocre. At the 2016 CES,I think there's a downside to this consistency though; a LOT of speakers sounded very very similar. For instance, both Kef and Wharfedale were demoing a modestly prices coincident speaker, and if I had a blindfold on I wouldn't be able to tell them apart.I think what's happening here is that the quality of measurement software, and general knowledge of psychoacoustics is getting so good, even average and inexpensive speakers are light years beyond what we had twenty years ago.Pioneer's $100 speakers come to mind; back in the 90s something like this would come in a nicer cabinet and it would cost $1000.In summary:I listened to dozens of speakers at CES 2016, and many of them were quite good. We're in a bit of a 'golden age' when it comes to loudspeakers, there's a lot of good stuff that doesn't cost a lot.The Nola Brio Trio really grabbed my attention. It has a lot in common with the LX Mini. I built myself an 'homage' to the LX Mini, and the Brio Trio reminded me a lot of my project, but the Nola sounds better. The speakers produce a soundstage which stretches well beyond their boundaries, and due to the tiny cabinets, they really disappear.After a few hours of listening to various systems, listening fatigue was really setting in. For instance, I gave the Genesis line arrays a second listen, and though I loved them earlier in the day, I found that they weren't quite as good later in the day. I chalked it up to fatigue.With less than ninety minutes left in the day, I made the trek over to Bang & Olufsen. My main goal wasn't to hear the Beolab 90s; I actually wanted to hear the Beolab 5s, as I've invested a lot of effort into acoustic lenses based on the Beolab.By the way, I want to apologize for the length of this post. I wanted to put my experience with the Beolab into perspective. I don't want people thinking that it was the only speaker that I listened to at CES, or that I've only listened to a handful of world-class speakers. I've listened to hundreds, and I even bought a pair based on demos at audio shows. (I bought my Gedlee Summas based on a demo that Earl did at the 2005 RMAF.)Let's cut to the chase here. The Beolab 90 is an industry-changing speaker. In my life I can count on one hand the speakers that are able to make the room 'disappear.' The first time I experienced it was with Quad Electrostatics. The second time was with Danley SH50s. There are plenty of speakers which throw a nice soundstage, but those two speakers make the boundaries of the room disappear. The listening room in my home is tiny, barely 150', but close your eyes with an SH50 and you're transported to where the recording was made.I need to stress that this is rather unique, as there ARE speakers which throw a huge stage, no matter what's on the recording. I've heard a lot of line arrays that do that, and you can create that effect electronically using crosstalk cancellation.But the Quad and the SH50 were different, when the recording was small, the sound was small, and when the recording was great, it was like a window onto the recording venue.The Beolab 90 does this.Listening to the Summas back-to-back with the SH50s, I could tell that Geddes is correct when he says that HOMs are obnoxious. The SH50s image like crazy, but the treble isn't silky smooth like it is with the Summas. (And don't take my word for it, you can see it in the measurements of both.)The Beolab didn't have that problem; there is no waveguide and no horn, and there are no HOMs.Listening to the Quads, I knew I could never live with them; I'm a horn guy and the Quads lacked the dynamics I'm accustomed to.The Beolab 90 is a BEAST; I'm surprised Bang & Olufsen wasn't kicked out of CES. I never even got close to the SPL limits of my Summas, but if the Beolab 90 had a limit, I couldn't tell what it was. B&O cranked it up for a couple of tracks, and you could FEEL the bass. Each cabinet basically has four high excursion subs in it, and thousands of watts.The easiest way for me to describe the demo is this:I have a pair of really nice headphones, Sennheiser HD380s. The Beolab 90 sounds like my headphones. Except the soundstage is out there in the room, instead of in my head. The sound is clean and dynamic. The soundstage is whatever you give it; give it a good recording and the soundstage is pinpoint and huge, give it a crummy recording and it's crummy.Another thing that I really appreciated about the Bang & Olufsen demo was their transparency. For instance, the Dynaudio folks ran a demo using a track that appeared to have crosstalk cancellationI've messed around a lot with crosstalk cancellation, so I know it when I hear it; it makes the stage insanely wide. The B&O folks weren't doing what most do, they weren't playing a series of "audiophile-approved" recordings carefully curated to wow the crowd. They were basically picking tracks at random from their music server. (80% of the tracks in the demo were tracks I owned, so I feel fairly confident that I wasn't snowed.)So... Any questions?If you couldn't tell yet, this is the best speaker I've ever heard, bar none. In fact, I feel a little silly lumping it in with other loudspeakers. It's like comparing a tube amp to a solid state amp. They both amplify the music, but they're completely different animals.