This week I will have my new B&O equipment installed. When the dealer came to assess my appartment in terms of placement, I was rather suprised to find the result at the end of the morning significantly different to what I had first imagined although I have no complaints at all and have complete faith in his expertise and judgement.

The main problem was wiring. It wasn't that it couldn't be done, it was more that I didn't want the aggravation of drilling holes through thick stone walls then having to fill and repaint. The setup we have chosen is right for the appartment and in fact, it was dictated by the type, size and acoustic capabilities of the appartment, not by what I actually wanted installed. A prime example is the decision to use a BV7-40 rather than a BV4-50 or BV5 as I had previously considered.

With these points in mind, I can't help but wonder how many others are put off by the complexities of wiring and the work involved?

Simon.

Hi Simon. I bought some Beolab 8000s just about the time the old site crashed.
I'm embarrassed to say that my wires are still trailing across the carpet
I need to put a power socket in a brick wall behind the settee and also run the powerlink cables under the house.
The gap under my house is about 1 cubit deep and full of builders rubble from 1909, spiders, ivy roots etc and I have to crawl on my belly and elbows.
Maybe tomorrow, eh....

Andy T.

I know what you mean Andy! That is exactly how I felt. There is no question that hard wiring a place throughout is great in terms of overall presentation but good grief, what a job it can be. Having just moved in and with so many other things to juggle around I just don't have this as a high priority and I am not even sure that I'd ever bother.

Its interesting how I have ended up with a BeoVision 7-40. I keep laughing about it because I was intent on never getting one! Having said that it will be replaced immediately with the new 1080p version as soon as that comes out so I hope that will be a much improved television in terms of its picture, which for me, has always been a significant issue. I am also amazed that I have not ended up with surround sound which again, I thought was a dead cert! The dealer assured me that my appartment just wasn't able to repoduce it faithfully due to the odd design of the rooms. Its a converted 2 double bedroom appartment in a late 19th century Methodist Chapel (converted to 4 appartments in 1989). Of course I also have to take into account neighbours to the right and above, so volume levels would also be an issue.

So, my B&O audio/video solution will simply be a BeoVision 7-40 with the 7.1 horizontal speaker under it. Quite different to my initial expectations! What TV do you use Andy? Do you think you will ever bother hiding the wiring in your place completly?

Simon.

Sure Simon, I genuinely am going to attempt it tomorrow.
 I have an Avant 32" VCR with Pentalabs at the front. I hid these cables under the house in 1993 when I got the Pentas and my 7000 system. My late wife was a very house proud person and she wouldn't have let me trail wires across the carpet!
This is my motivation so I WILL have a go tomoz.
These new 8000s stand against the back wall of my lounge and so does my settee so you would think that I wouldn't get the benefit of surround sound but surprisingly ,I do.
Today my son and his fiance came round and I gave them a dose of "Hotel California" from my new DVD (that I got from Latvia for a tenner), it was amazing. Fortunately, behind my back wall is the entrance hall which soaks up the sound before it reaches my neighbour,Mary. So far, Mary hasn't complained yet but she did give me a dirty look after  I tried my new speakers out with DSOM on full belt!

Andy T.

A 7.1 with a 7-40. Really? What made you choose that?

9 LEE:

A 7.1 with a 7-40. Really? What made you choose that?

Lee

BeoLab 7.2 is it then? The horizontal stereo spaker that sits underneath. Chosen because it was the dealer's recommendation. I am sure it will grow on me, B&O products have a marvellous way of achieving that!

Wiring is a pain but worth it. My TV and speakers are all hardwired with Powerlink cables under the floor. Only problem is that one cannot move the system around so easily but the room lends itself to a particular layout. I still have to work out where I can put a projector though!

The Beonic Man:

9 LEE:

A 7.1 with a 7-40. Really? What made you choose that?

Lee

BeoLab 7.2 is it then? The horizontal stereo spaker that sits underneath. Chosen because it was the dealer's recommendation. I am sure it will grow on me, B&O products have a marvellous way of achieving that!

Ah.... 7.2, yes - that's the one that comes with the TV.

Sorry, i thought you had deliberately chosen a 7.1 !!!   If you're not having surround sound, the 7.2 is a better option. It's a cracking speaker in itself, and the bass it can produce is unbelievable!

Lee 

It can be quite a task, especially on multi-level homes or Apartments.

I have experienced 3 thus far, all just prior to the arrival of Beo Wireless. ( If I had only known when . . . )  But in hindsight, I was able to enjoy using the systems installed without too much fuss from the wife about cables and wires. Until the first of the many drillings.

One needs:

• A good look at the structure of the walls, taking into account load bearing versus non load bearing walls, arches, and beams. Think it out well.
• A heavy duty power drill, such as a Bosch suitable for masonry or concrete.
• More than a few LONG drill bits also for masonry and concrete, suitable for B&O cabling. Purchase the bit wide enough to allow additional cables to pass through such as SKY / SAT TV. 
• Patience and  strong biceps, triceps, and back muscles. ( Perhaps a Sauna or Hotspa afterwards )
• Vacumn, Broom, Brush, Dustbin, Safety Glasses, perhaps even gloves.
• Plaster, Paint, and minor repair kit items.

The rewards are that the lines and cables don't interfere with your Bang & Olufsen System. Also no tripping safety hazards, which will further avoid problems with the wife such as silence, death stares, sleeping alone, not being fed, locked out, or finding a cluge of cables and equipment thrown into the trash bin.

I'm fortunate in our house as the whole thing is plaster boarded. The outside walls have a 25mm polystyrene inner and they are fixed to the wall with blobs of adhesive. If I want to lay a cable in I just saw a channel fit the cable put on a bit of plaster and repaper. The difficult bit is getting through the floors though as they are poured concrete and that IS tough stuff!

SWISS 2:

Also no tripping safety hazards, which will further avoid problems with the wife such as silence, death stares, sleeping alone, not being fed, locked out, or finding a cluge of cables and equipment thrown into the trash bin.

Do you need a bed for the night?  

Sofar I soort of worked around it. I have a BS9000 wallmounted above my couch. Once I am finally settled in my new place I post pictures. I used one of those "aluminium rails" from B&O to hide the cable without rip my walls open. It covers the wall between BS9000 and couch and all the cable mess happens behind the couch. Would do the same with a BV4 wallmounted, use the rail and then hide the rest of cable and powercords behind furniture.

9 LEE:

A 7.1 with a 7-40. Really? What made you choose that?

Lee

when I bought my BV7-32 a year ago, the 40" version had just come out. The TV would have been an option for me, but the BL7-2 would have been to large for the furniture it would have heen on. So I took the 32" version, also because of the price. But has anybody ever seen a BV7-40 with the BL7-1 underneath? I would like to see what it looks like.

I've been fairly lucky so far, god saned floor boards so the gaps between the side boards and where the carpet went I can stuff a few powerlink wires under, good for speakers and hide the power coards under a sofa or two.

Although am planning a ML wiring job to bedrooms, living room & study, I'm not looking forward to it though

Being an 1880 wooden house am sure most of it is help together with only paint and no longer wood

One of my pet hates is wires that can be seen in an otherwise lovely B&O environment. I have an Masterlink cable around my house on three floors connected to 11 B&O products. The time it has taken over the past years to implement it so the wires were always hidden has been considerable, but when I look at it today I am thankful I did it.

Frankly what amazes me is that this is the one area where B&O are not good, I am talking cable management out of a product, I will use as an example the BeoVision 7 !! If you are using most/all of the main sockets, then making a neat job can be a challenge.

Keith..

 

I just finished the wiring in my 200+ year old house. Actually do like this kind of things, finding solutions for practical problems.

As we are living in the house, I didn't want to tear up too much walls/structures, yet as much cables as possible were to be hidden. Except for the outdoor speakers, all of them are active ones, so I decided to hide te power cabling as well. It ended with the whole hifi system having its own power supply circuit.

Installing the cables themselves is by itself not that complicated, just ask your dealer for a cable scheme. There is more knowledge involved in connecting everything, but that was agreed upon to be done by the dealer. The whole thing can just be very time consuming. I started somewhere in august last year, and had everything installed two weeks ago. I must have broken a record for the slowest project ever. It surely didn't help I am gone for work most of the time (working for a UK company in Paris-living in Belgium), doing everything in my sparse free time.

Very happy with the end result now -living room with surround and five link rooms, almost no visual cables. For me it was worth the effort and I learned a lot about the system, but also about my house and some renovating skills.

The biggest challenge may be the patience of your wife. For that, I was very fortunate.

Jan

Kevin:

I'm fortunate in our house as the whole thing is plaster boarded. The outside walls have a 25mm polystyrene inner and they are fixed to the wall with blobs of adhesive. If I want to lay a cable in I just saw a channel fit the cable put on a bit of plaster and repaper. The difficult bit is getting through the floors though as they are poured concrete and that IS tough stuff!

Kevin

If its just powerlink / masterlink cables not mains cables, I remove my skirting board and run the cables behind then up the wall in the stud work, this is safe for all low voltage cables but not for mains cables and avoids going under / into the floor.

Relevant to UK users, I think i have found a tidy way for dealing with letting the powerlink cable out of the wall along with the power cable for the speaker, I use a connection unit from MK which has the flex outlet at the bottom, I bring the power link cable out of the wall just below the connection unit, the mains flex comes out of the bottom of the connection unit and then put both cables into the B&O cable cover. I know some people dont like the B&O cable covers, Ive also found the above method works well without the covers as if necessary both cables can be taped together with black tape.

Ive added pics

Cheers

Peter

I've found a nice product to do good-looking cable installation. These skirting-boards are made of MDF (thats what they call it here in Sweden) and are realy high quality. The price, here in Sweden, is 35€ for 2 pcs of 240cm. Very easy installation with mounting clips for non visible screws etc.

http://www.kanallisten.com/ 

 (In swedish only, sorry)

Send me a PM if you want somthing translated.

/Ola 

 

 

Originally I had wires running along carpet, but have had everything chased in behind the plaster after various decorating sessions - thoroughly worth the effort

Well, Started at 9.00 this morning! Measured up where to put the mains double socket behind the settee and drew a nice rectangle then with a Stanley knife cut an X in the (very expensive) wall paper.
Peeled back the flaps of wallpaper and with a masonry bit drilled four holes , one in each corner. With a chisel I tapped out the plaster and, LO!  there was a friggin great grey power cable smack bang in the middle of my rectangle!
Lucky I didn't drill through it.
Any way it turned out to my advantage. just chased the channel out double width and the new cable just shoved down the cavity behind the skirting board.
Drilled two holes in the floorboards under the carpet near the wall and shoved the two powerlink cables down into the space uder my house.
Are you bored yet?
The power cable and the two powerlink cables are now in a big pile of spagghetti under the hoose but the socket is finished and the flaps of wallpaper have been stuck back and I have hoovered vacuumed up.
The hardest thing was putting the cables in the lounge into the B&O cable cover (Beolab 8000) the first one took about half an hour but after I'd sussed out how to use the "tool" I did the second one in about two minutes!
Working tomorrow AM but after that it's under the hoose for me, with all the spiders!
I will connect the mains  and find a way to shove the powerlink cables up behind the Avant. While I have the Avant out from the corner I will also have to find a way to get two 10 metre scart leads through the floor. My Kikinoko DVD/HDD recorder is going in the opposite corner to the Avant as I already have my Sky+ box mounted on the back of it and I think it would spoil the effect if I mounted it on top of the Avant.
The saga contines, update tomoz. Sorry if I've bored you all to sleep!

Andy T.

On more than one occasion during installations I've found myself sleeping on the couch . . . . . comfortably numb.

At some point I will tidy up my wiring. Next time we decorate it will get put in to the walls. Honest

 

Craig 

GO on, Andy! I hope the spiders won't bite...

B&Ola:

I've found a nice product to do good-looking cable installation. These skirting-boards are made of MDF (thats what they call it here in Sweden) and are realy high quality. The price, here in Sweden, is 35€ for 2 pcs of 240cm. Very easy installation with mounting clips for non visible screws etc.

http://www.kanallisten.com/ 

 (In swedish only, sorry)

Send me a PM if you want somthing translated.

/Ola 

 

 

Does anyone know other system similar to this one or a web with information about it (in English, please)

I must say that cabling has been one of my gret disappointments with B&O. Wwith other systems I have amnaged to tame cables into a cabinet, but with B&O I seem to have cabls everywhere - which is rather a contradiction with such minimal design!I have a BC2 with its cable goling to the socket box. Out of the socket box three aerials, a powerlink, masterlink and power cables. this is connected to the Avant which has it's own cables to STB etc. It is such a mess.I have however managed to take FM and DAB aerials and join them and plug them into the RF out of the Avant which connects to the TV antanae on the roof - this has got rid of two bits of wire!I bought a Wireless kit as I couldn't get under the house to a link room. the wiresless is only vaguely satisfactory as the signal is intemittantly cut off by B&O phones, microwave and wireless network. the other problem with the wireless connection is that you cannot run Beoport on it, so I cannot connect my Mac to the system.I have floorboards and no curtains so there is nothing to hide any of the cables behind.I have just built some of those false Skirting Boards that they use in the showrooms and this has proved partially satisfactory.My visitors constantly stand in awe at the beautiful equipment but are quite amazed at how ugly the connections are all along the wall.Maybe I should take the plunge and get some electrician to get under the house which has very little room and lay some cables. at least that will solve the problem with the linkroom.