Hi,

I recently moved and I'm keen to get my new pad furnished right. I was looking through some books on contemprary design and I was quite taken with the slim Beolab 6000 speakers. Also shown in the picture was the Beocentre 2500, which presumably acts as a 'head-unit'. I've been having a dig on the site, but it seems like quite a learning curve!

Anyhow, being B&O, I assume they sound good as well, and if my parents mid 70's B&O tv (still going strong) is anything to go by, they'll last a while too!

I've got a large music collection on my PC, so my output options are S/PDIF or regular 3.5mm jack - I would guess that the S/PDIF would be better quality, but what would I need in between these Beolab speakers and the PC? Which B&O pre-amp / decoder / signal multiplexer - 'music centre' would accept this sort of input signal? I'm limited by budget, so the cheaper the better!

Also, what sort of signals do these active speakers require? I'm an electronic engineer so I'm curious at a technical level what the music centre actually does. I did have a hunt for some articles on this, but I didn't get very far - any recommendations?

This website / forum is a top find - thanks to those who have put in all that hard work so far!

Thanks in advance!

Tom.

Beolab speakers accept variable line level inputs. You could just use the variable line output from your PC but you might wish to get a better DAC - the DAC Magic seems popular. If you want remote facilities, you could simply get a Beoport and an IR sensor.

The Beolab 6000s are very pretty but are not the best B&O speakers - if you can stretch to a second hand pair of 8000s, you would get a big jump in sound quality.

Welcome to Beoworld!

Hi Tom, welcome to the forums!

The Beolab 6000 (like most B&O active speakers) are optimally connected through Powerlink. It carries line level audio (volume controlled, actually both channels through a single connection), signals to instruct the speakers on & off, and optionally display data to those speaker models that care about it. You can also connect them through a regular volume controlled line-level RCA from any source and the speakers will turn automatically on & off following the input signal.

Almost every B&O receiver and music centre since the early '90s has Powerlink connections, so you have plenty of choice if you don't care for the current products or they stretch your budget too much. Similarly, most of them have at least one external connection you can use to connect your PC. Line level once again - unfortunately I don't think there's a single B&O audio product that can eat S/PDIF in any form (except for the Beolab 5 speakers).

If you don't need a CD player, a second hand Beomaster 6500 would be relatively cheap and a nice piece to start, so you'd have radio and your PC music. Or if you don't like the looks of that, Beomaster 4500 as something completely different. Both can of course be extended with a CD and other sources.

Beocentre 2500 and it's relatives would be the contemporary choice - personally I don't care much for their appearance, but that's a matter of taste... they also only have one single connection for external sources.

Hi guys,

thank you for your help so far. So I wondered if I could expand please on some of my questions then...

1. Does the powerlink system have a constant line level, and then control the volume via a 2nd channel (which from my engineering background would make more sense to improve noise), or does the powerlink method also vary the amplitude of the line-in?

2. Do the Beolab speakers have RCA inputs or does one have to get an adaptor to convert powerlink to RCA?

3. What type of connector does the power link system use?

4. Purely intrigue - what signalling system does the powerlink use to send text to those Beolink 3000 / 5000? From the pics, it looks like a dotmatrix display rather than an 7-seg - has anyone done any hacking to get the display to show any other text?

Thanks,

Tom.

Hi Tj

Wow the BeoLab 6000 are my all time favourite speakers. With the bass and treble increased on the hifi itself, I think the sound quality is excellent! They are timeless. The BeoLab 6000 and 8000 speakers are the nicest designs that B&O have ever produced. Unfortunately I liked any of their newer offerings!

The 2500/Ouverture is also my favourite hifi sytem.  Lifestyle-av have many used ones for around £400-500   very good value i reckon.

Njoy whatever you decide on, but the BeoLab 6000 win for me - i love them!

I think you need to discover the technical bit of Beoworld! Beotech!

1. Powerlink is variable line level.

2. Some do! But not all!If you look in the Product details in the main site, it usually tells you.

3. 8 pin DIN - there are a variety of Powerlink leads - some are fully wired, others not.

4. You need to talk to Ridax!

I have successfully driven BeoLab 6000s straight from my MP3 player ... they can take an RCA plug

Also the manuals are available for download from Beoworld or B&O themselves

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/user-guides/?cat=Loudspeakers&prodid=113&typeid=1