I have a Theatre with 28s in the front. Since getting the Theatre and 28s, I have used various speakers as rears…..I have used my 1s, 9s, and 4000s.
The 1s provide the best overall sound, but don’t look great in the room as rears. The 9s provide the best bass, but also don’t look great. The 4000s look great but obviously do not match the sound of the other two.
I am considering a pair of 8s as rears. They would look the best and match the Theatre and the 28s. I have never heard 8s and do not have a dealer near me.
Of the three I have, considering sound quality only, the 1s come in first, the 9s second, and the 4000s third. Any opinions of where the 8s would rank in the list? I would be mounting them on the floor stands.
Thanks for any and all opinions.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Rear Speaker Opinions?
8 replies
Everyone loves the 8's so im sure you will be happy with them too.
Location: Toronto, Canada
I can't do a direct comparison, but I recently switched to a Theatre from an Avant 75. I had 18's in the front and Passives driving rear speakers. I moved things around and now have the 18's for rear speakers and put 8's in the front, with a BL19. So far, I really love this setup. Still getting used to the Theatre and trying to use the passive speakers as ceiling / height speakers, but have a little work to do on that.
The 8's are impressive for their size, and look amazing.
I do have some 4000's laying around and thought about adding them to the setup, but will probably leave it as is. The Theater, 18's, and 8's look so great together (silver with oak on all). Now the BL19 looks a little out of place :)
Location: USA / Denmark
My B&O Icons:
Can’t comment on a comparison with 1/9/4000’s as I do not own them. I do have the exact setup (Theatre/28/8’s on floorstands) you looking at. 8’s are very capable speakers. Especially for surround or rear channels, they pack more then enough punch. They would do pretty good fronts as well, with an extra sub. Mini-28’s in terms of sound signature in my opinion, especially in narrow mode.
pretty sure you won’t regret them and I love the look of the entire set as well.
My B&O Icons:
Thanks!
I have the 8s as rears.
This is how I look at it.
- The Sound. Any of your existing speakers will be great for filling in those rear-channels. I dont get too upset when people demand "all the speakers should be the same.....to balance the sound,,,yah dee yah dee dah"
- The Sound of the BL8s is very good. I listened to them recently without being tied to the Theatre and though they were exceptional for the size.
- The Aesthetic. They are the modern B&O book speaker / Stand speaker. There is coherency between the BL28s, the Theatre and/or any modern B&O TV
- If with the Theatre, the integration is now very good with DPL and the BL8s become an extension of the Theatre rather than a satellite.
Thanks!
What do you mean an extension rather than a satellite?
In DPL, they go "off " your wifi network and don't transmit an IP address like they would if they were in Standalone mode.
Not sure what what that really means technically but I read it as the Theatre and the BL8s have their own hotspot and the Theatre takes care of BL8 updates etc...
Please Log In to Reply
You must be logged in as a BeoWorld member to post replies to forum threads.
or
Join BeoWorld
Register to access the forums, reference material, and exclusive member benefits — including our monthly prize draw.
Become a MemberDecember 2026 Prize Draw
Gold Members OnlyAs a Gold member you're automatically entered into our exclusive prize draw — your chance to win iconic Bang & Olufsen products. A unique benefit of BeoWorld Gold membership, every draw brings a new opportunity to win something special.
1st Prize
2nd Prize
3rd Prize