Love the site, hope someone here can help.

I currently have a beosound 9000 connected via powerlink to beolab 5.  Connected to the beosound 9000 via the AUX, I have a sonos zoneplayer 80.  If you are not familiar with sonos, it's a networked music server/player.  I now can either play CDs or radio through the beosound 9000, or use the sonos to play my digital files, internet radio and the rhapsody music service through the beosound 9000's aux.  

Of course, never content with anything, I've been reading about external DACs and was thinking about connecting one to the sonos, which has a digital output, and then running the external DAC to the aux on the beosound 9000.  Then I realized that the beolab 5's have a digital connection themselves which, from what I understand, is the superior connection.  

So now I don't know what to do.  Is it possible to connect the sonos directly to the beolab 5s via the digital connection at the same time as having the beosound 9000 connected via powerlink?  Should I keep my original external DAC idea?  Would having an external DAC connected to the besound 9000's aux, and then running a digital connection between the beosound 9000 and lab 5's make sense?  Or is there another option?  

 Thanks for any input.  I know it's confusing.

I would attach the Sonos directly via digital to the BL5s. No point repeatedly switching between analogue and digital so an external DAC would seem superfluous.

Nice avatar by the way. I had one of those for a while but actually prefer my old Littman  with plain tubes! Getting deafer though so may try one again!

Peter :

I would attach the Sonos directly via digital to the BL5s. No point repeatedly switching between analogue and digital so an external DAC would seem superfluous.

Nice avatar by the way. I had one of those for a while but actually prefer my old Littman  with plain tubes! Getting deafer though so may try one again!

That's MC120's for you!

Hi beoinbuff,

Yes, I would agree with going digital all the way from Sonos to Beolab 5, I think the Sonos gives a compatible S/PDIF output.  You can use Powerlink and digital inputs together with Beolab 5, just remember to add a Sync cable between the speakers and use your Beo4/5 remote control for the volume if using a non-B&O source.

Best regards,

Steve.

I think its both better and worse that Steve implies here....

 I'm inclined to think that you won't need the synch cable between the BL-5's, as you intend to keep the BS-9000 in the system, the BL-5's will track the volume data set on the PowerLink Cables.  The kicker is that the BL-5's ought to only 'look' for the digital input when they see the 'CD' source data set coming down the PowerLink cable....so if this works at all, you'll need to keep the Sonos turned off when listening to CD's, turn it on, and likely force the BS-9000 to another input and then back to 'CD' to get the BL-5's to follow along.

Good Luck

There are a few potential problems with running to the BL5s - I know, as I have tried.

If you're using the Beo4 or similar to control the units, and you are also using a non-B&O master together with a B&O audiomaster, you get conflicts. For non-B&O, the Beo4 uses RADIO to initiate the BL5s, but then you'll start the BS9000. You can circumvent this by setting an option setting that has you going via LIST to initiate the non-B&O playback - so be aware of that.

If B&O were to release a BS9000 had had digital toslink and s/pdif IN - and this went pass-through to the digital OUT, which I could then connect to my BL5s, then I would buy that BS9000 yesterday... I could then do what the thread starter has wanted to do, and possibly also connect another digital source, while getting convenient B&O playback through a classic standout audiomaster.

Hint!