Beolab 8000

(1992->)

Type numbers: 6801, 6802, 6803, 6804, 6805, 6806, 6809

The Beolab 8000 was one of the most successful B&O loudspeakers ever, remaining in the range for many years without change to its external appearance or basic technical specification. It combined elegant styling and good performance in a perfect balance, and despite being expensive, remained a popular choice for both music and video systems. For the latter the Beolab 8000 really excelled - at the time of its launch multi-channel “surround sound” equipment was becoming available in the form of the Beosystem AV 9000, which required four external loudspeakers. The small floor area required by the Beolab 8000 made it ideal, whilst the built-in amplifier helped minimise the size of the rest of the equipment. Beolab 8000 was also recommended for use with the Beocenter 9500, which was fitted with Powerlink sockets for easy connection. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Technically, the Beolab 8000 continued along similar lines to the pattern set by the Beolab 2500. By using two separate power amplifiers built into the loudspeaker cabinet (one for bass, one for treble), an electronic crossover filter could be used to divide up the sound, allowing for far greater flexibility than was possible with traditional passive designs. Because the crossover worked electronically, its operating points could be varied according to signal level, as could the gain of the amplifiers. This allowed for features such as active bass linearization, loudness compensation and drive unit protection all to be built in. So refined were the electronics that the loudspeaker drivers themselves and the cabinet could be quite compromised in design but a quite reasonable level of performance could still be realised. This is why a passive “Beovox 8000” could never be offered, it would have sounded simply dreadful. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The loudspeaker drivers themselves consisted of two small woofers and a dome tweeter. The cabinet principle was that of bass reflex, with a single port at the top of the column. Despite the drivers being permanently connected to an amplifier of known characteristics, the designers chose them poorly, and during the life of the loudspeaker both had to be modified for satisfactory, reliable operation. The original woofer had a plastic cone which would melt and become detached from the voice coil, whilst the tweeter was insufficiently robust and would fall into permanent silence if the full power of the amplifier was used. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Connections could be made by either Powerlink or at line level via an RCA socket. The connections were hidden at the rear behind a slim hinge-out panel. The whole cabinet was styled so that it could be free-standing in the centre of a room without having an “ugly side” at the rear which would have to be hidden. Unlike some of the other Beolab loudspeakers, the Beolab 8000 did not have the option to alter the bass level to compensate for its positioning. No stands or brackets were available, the Beolab 8000 was for floor standing use only, and was supplied complete with a lead-filled cast iron base. The amplifier operated automatically when a signal was sensed and had no user controls. An LED indicator mounted behind the cloth showed red for standby, green for operation and orange for a fault, such as overheating. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The timeless styling of the Beolab 8000 meant that as new systems were introduced it matched them perfectly. It became the natural choice for use with the BeoSound 9000, and was still in production at the time of writing, nearly 15 years after it was first seen. The only major change to its appearance was the recent introduction of a choice of colours for the metal surfaces. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.