There's good design and then there is timeless design. The BeoLab 8000 loudspeaker by famed manufacturer Bang & Olufsen is one such timeless design. In fact, if you've watched television, movies or read a print magazine in the past ten years, you've seen the BeoLab 8000. With its iconic inverted pencil-shape design, the BeoLab 8000 has stood the test of time and remains one of B&O's most successful and longest-running products. Retailing for $3,000 a pair, the BeoLab 8000 can't be labeled as cheap, which is the single greatest knock purists harp on when discussing the BeoLab 8000, or other B&O products, for that matter. Truth be told, you've got to try hard to match the quality, build and sonics of the BeoLab 8000 using traditional means, i.e., loudspeakers powered by an amplifier mated with a preamp, source and cables. While the BeoLab 8000 is far from perfect, it may be just the right fit for today's lifestyle-oriented, on-the-go music lover.

The BeoLab 8000 has a round, spire-like design, with the drivers and amplifiers (yes, the 8000 is powered) encased in an all-aluminum chassis sitting atop a square bass plate. The BeoLab 8000 comes in a variety of standard colors, ranging from silver (aluminum) to bright red and just about everything between. There is a new all-white model coming soon, but not yet available. The BeoLab 8000 has a two-way three-driver design, featuring two four-inch bass drivers mated to a single three-quarter-inch tweeter. The BeoLab 8000 is front-ported, giving it a frequency response of 52-20,000Hz, so for true full-range playback, you'll want to add a sub or two. The BeoLab 8000 utilizes two 143-watt Class AB amplifiers to power each speaker, drawing a typical load of 12 watts and dropping down to two-and-a-half watts at idle, making the BeoLab 8000 very energy and environmentally friendly. The BeoLab 8000 is fully shielded and can be connected to your preamp or variable source via B&O's own Power Link cable or traditional RCA-style phono cable. Whichever connection option you choose, the BeoLab 8000's power and input cable are routed through a single rubber sleeve to simplify and clean up the look of unsightly connections.

Competition and Comparison
If you are interested in comparing Bang & Olufsen's BeoLab 8000 loudspeaker against its competition, be sure to read our reviews for the Bowers & Wilkins 703 loudspeaker and the MartinLogan Vista Hybrid electrostatic loudspeaker.  You can also find more information in our Floorstanding Speaker section or on our Bang & Olufsen brand page.  Discuss B&O loudspeakers at HomeTheaterSpot.com.