Not the exact answer you are looking for but here is my experience.  I had Beolab 9s.  Wanted 5s. Dealer brought a pair to my house and let me try them out for a couple weeks. I heard a difference, but not necessarily an improvement.  Even with the great deal I was offered, I sent them back. I then got 20s, that were traded for 50s, and then replaced the 50s with 28s.  I absolutely love the 28s.

I love your “B&O path”, RAZ. This is amazing. 9 > 5 > 9 > 20 > 50 > 28

Need to add 6000s and then 1s to the beginning of the list.  Also a couple pairs of 4000s and a pair of 12-3s as rears and/or link rooms.

I went from the Beolab 20 to the Beolab 5, It is a completely other speaker, and I would never settle for Beolab 28 after having the Beolab 5. I do like to hear with a good volume where the difference is massive. If you just look at the size of the drivers, you will have the answer, physics applies.

Beolab 5 all the way ... one of the best speakers for music listening. I own a pair since 12 years and also had BL9 ... no comparison for my liking, especially with a 55 swm room size. BL28 are o.k for TV as long as you don't play them loud. Personally i don't like them for music too much, because they make all recordings sound the same ... and that takes away the character and the finesse of recordings.

Thank guys for sharing your valuable experiences! Beo911, Emilos88, how would you describe the sound character of the BL5? I prefer neutral and transparent sound and don’t like gimmicky sound  with overpovering bass or sibilance. Would BL5 fit my preference?

I would say so, the Beolab 5 do not have a boomi bass. Surprising considering it have 15" woofer.

My comments (bias) is based on ownership rather than critical listening comparison. I had the BL5 for approx 13years. They were solid and only fault was an upper tweeter replacement. The sound to my ears was rich and tonally “thick”. I never thought of the BL5 bass as boomy but it is certainly not as detailed and layered as the BL90 bass. When finally upgrading from the BL5 to 90’s, my original thoughts were that the sound was different - not better and not initially preferred. As I grew into the 90’s, the bass was recognised as superior, detailed etc… The imaging from the 90s is in another league. And so it should be. I had a decent listening session of the BL28s when finalising the deal on the Theatre. It is a nice sounding loudspeaker and leagues away in sound from the gen1 and gen2 column speakers.. For me, I don’t care for the looks, I don’t care for the gimmicky curtains but most of all, the BL28s don’t have the same sound presentation and ease as the wide-body Beolabs (5, 50, 90). However, lIke  all BLs, you get used to the sound and adapt to it. I don’t think it is absolute sound quality you can pitch between the BL5 or 28. It’s personal preference. The BL5’s are getting on a bit now. My old BL5, somewhere, loved in a new home are getting on for 20yrs old now. That has to present owners with a serviceability issue going forward. I think B&O are servicing them for the foreseeable future as it has to be seen to “support” its first mega-expensive loudspeaker. However, that only holds if they can get the parts so you better make enquiries as to what is what.

To me the BL5 can sound quite analogue with a rich and warm timbre, but still very authentic. They have lots of power and grunt from down below and grest mids. I also like the ALT-Tweater and find it to be silky and natural, not harsh at all. But i would not call them neutral in the sense of lean and extremely transparent. If that's the priority, i'd tend towards the BL50 .... very good speaker in terms of transparency and more neutral in my opinion.