Beolab 5 - Four Questionable Technologies

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

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

Zenblaster, funny that you should mention the Wilsons. This week I did extensive listening to a pair of Wilson Sophia speakers.

The Wilson Sophia's have the best sound I have had the privilege listening to (so far). I will audition the Beolab 5 this week with my friend that owns the Wilson Sophia's. He remains skeptical, since B&O is not considered an Audiophile brand. Neither of us have heard the Beolab 5 before.

However, if I go with the Wilson's I'm not sure I would save money. With the Beolab 5 I can connect the CD Transport directly to it with no other electronics. With the Wilson's I will need to also buy a Preamp and an Amp and all the cables.

Duke,

In my opinion it's not the only speaker likely to have these characteristics.

What other speakers do you thing would have these characteristics? What other speakers should I be listening to if budget is no limit?

Thanks for your thoughts on reverberant energy. You seem to think it's primary advantage is that the sound would have a more natural timbre. I thought the key advantage was that the "sweet spot" would be a much larger area. This would give the listener(s) room to move around and still hear the music at it's best.

When you go with a system like B&O you are pretty much locked into the brand. You can't change amps, cables or tubes. Many in this hobby enjoy the challenge of upgrading and tweaking their system to their taste. You pay a lot for the B&O look and style. They may perform very well, but there is a lot of other gear out there too. Other speakers with wide radiation patterns you might check out are Ohm, MBL and Gallo. Meridian is another company that builds everything into the speakers. I sold Meridian for years and it performed very well. However, for the same or less money you could build a system that would kill it. The Meridian buyers were usually more interested in the technology and equated that to better sound. Just because it is digital, does not make it better. Digital is an outstanding way to preserve data, but what ultimately comes out of your speakers is analog.

B&O is not an audiophile directed product. It's a high end lifestyle product. It's aimed at a person who wants high quality sound, great looks and ease of operation and setup. I suspect that the typical B&O buyer enjoys music just as much as any audiophile, but unlike the audiophile they keep the same components for years without any changes.