Hi All,

 I am new to the forum.  I acquired a set of beolab pentas and had them refurbished.  I cannot figure out how to connect them to a non B&O reciever, (Sony).  these are obviously active speakers.  The d-link input, line in input, are at the bottom of the speaker.

questions.

1) can these be hooked up to a a/v receiver which has amplified outputs (black/red terminal posts for each speaker (+)/(-) ) and if so, what type of cable/settings do i use? anyone know where to get these?  I imagine B&O's proprietary connector won't work, so how do i hook up the line in (RCA input jack) on the speaker, to the non-RCA posts (positive and negative posts for each left and right speaker) on the receiver?

2) if these active speakers require that I plug them into a preamplifier output (i.e,, not a 'amplifier' signal), and i don't have these outputs on my receiver, then what are options?

3) can these be used as passive speakers?  perhaps just by not plugging them in?

thanks in advance for any help.

they are just such beautiful speakers, i would hate to not be able to use them!

SK

1. RCA phono jacks to the speakers, the middle pin in the RCA is Red + the outer "ring" is black - (normaly also the shield), if your amp has connections for naked leads just take care that you get the right + and -, starting up keep your volume down and increase gradually until you get sound, you may have a humming noice in the speakers if you turn of your amp before you turn of your speakers, so a seperate switch to turn of the speakers before the amp is recommended.

2. See above

3. No

I have a pair of BL 8000s and I have had these connected to nearly everything gives out sound and never had any problems.

DO NOT connect power amplifier outputs into the RCA jack. It is ONLY for line level signals. It may work but you also have a good chance of accidentally playing way too loud, overloading the amps and destroying at least the tweeters.

The "proprietary" (Speakerlink) connector is actually your best choice, if your amp/receiver doesn't have preamp outputs. All you need is a 2-pin DIN speaker plug (which actually is a standard connector, nothing proprietary in it) for the speaker end and regular wiring to your amp. The Speakerlink input is prepared for this. The sensitivity switch (marked "|", "||" and "|||") on the speakers lets you adapt the sensitivity to the max output of your amp. The speakers turn on when they receive a signal, and automatically turn off some time after they don't.

You could also remove the amps from the speakers, essentially turning them into a pair of passive Beovox Pentas, which would be a terrible waste. In my opinion using Pentalabs with non-B&O amps is somewhat disappointing in any case as you are not getting to enjoy the funky displays. Either way, they are going to sound good!

tournedos:

DO NOT connect power amplifier outputs into the RCA jack. It is ONLY for line level signals. It may work but you also have a good chance of accidentally playing way too loud, overloading the amps and destroying at least the tweeters.

Thank you Mika, I only have experience from my BL 8000 and thought the pentas has the same connections, will investigate more, before answering something like this, next time.