I want to buy a Beosound5 and a Beovision 8-40, but the annonced arrival of the Beosound5 Encore has caused me to pause; Should I wait for the Encore and, in consequence, possibly also an updated version of the Beovision 8-40?

To my understanding, the Encore does not support Masterlink but is rather a part of the new concept called Netlink/Beonet. It has been mentioned on this website that this means that the Encore will not be able to interact with e.g. a B&O TV and that seperate speakers would be needed for the TV and the Encore. Surely, this cannot be true - after all B&O is all about integration, so I would expect the new Netlink/Beonet to facilitate such interaction? If this is indeed the case, would the current version of Beovision 8-40 be compatible with Netlink/Beonet or should I wait for an updated version to come to the market?

Will Encore support MOTS and Beo6?

Any other arguments pro/con the Encore versus buying the current Beosound5/Beomaster5 combo?

I'd just wait until the real specs are released to make my decision. Only one month to go!

We can only speculate on what the Encore is capable of... let's wait until the device is released.

Problem is I'm having my apartment rewired starting next week......

Go for MasterLink then... ther's going to be a ML->BeoNet something later on.

Go for Both! ML will not support digital distribution, multi sources, etc...

Clearly M-L does not support digital transmission.

We are building a new condo ( hopefully the last, my wife says )  that we hope to retire to in the near future, and have elected to install empty silicone conduit into the walls until we can see what the new Encore actually entails. We remain hopeful regarding the promise of Beonet, and believe that B&O will perform enough product testing to minimize any risk.

I would suggest that if your building plans are less flexible, you look at a large-diameter conduit option for the time being, and speaker and video locations, in conjunction to points of electrical service. One can always pull the required cable at a later date.

Encore has no ML out of the box. However it will be possible to integrate it later on.

/Ehlerz 

To my knowledge, the Encore doesn't have ML and never will - it is being outfazed. But I certainly hope you're right about the possibility to integrate, but I guess it will be through Beonet. Just wondering whether Beonet will be compatible with current TVs......

Thanks for the advice, will try to do just that. And good luck with the condo!

sorenfelden:

To my knowledge, the Encore doesn't have ML and never will - it is being outfazed. But I certainly hope you're right about the possibility to integrate, but I guess it will be through Beonet. Just wondering whether Beonet will be compatible with current TVs......

Sorry, by no ML I mean that it is not possible to connect it to existing B&O equipment at launch but it will be possible eventually.

/Ehlerz

Wire 2 Cat7 runs to the location where you'd want the BeoSound 5 head unit. Also, don't get the Encore yet.

Sorry Sorensen to hijack your thread. I am in your same situation patiently waiting to know more about the BS5 encore and try to figure out if it is a good fit for me.

TripEnglish:

Wire 2 Cat7 runs to the location where you'd want the BeoSound 5 head unit. Also, don't get the Encore yet.

Hi Trip,

You are a smooth operator. I like how you peel the news little by little like an onion .

Could you elaborate a little bit more why to wait. Thanks

I'm sorry. I wasn't attempting to be coy. I was commenting very specifically on the OP's situation, where clearly an ML connection is needed. The BeoSound 5 proper is the best solution as the Encore is not an ML product. Essentially all the information needed for a good decision has been discussed on these boards at length. There are no more secrets forthcoming. 

But a quick summary for those who don't pay attention:

- The Encore is the first true NetLink product with the upgraded chassis. 

- This means that while it seems lonely and unconnected today, it is simply the first in a new family. Someone has to be first, eh?

- A NetLink to MasterLink converter is at least a year away. 

- The BeoSound 5 w/ BeoMaster 5 will continue on as well and become NetLink capable, but otherwise remain more or less the same. 

- This means the two variants will coexist now and into the future as B&O feel that we should provide the best option for a centralized storage and not force clients into a 3rd party NAS, though that is an option.

- No matter which variant you buy, you're not really setting yourself up for future incompatibility so buy what suits you now.

- For 9 out of 10 people that will probably be the BeoSound 5.

Trip, when you say :

" we should provide the best option for a centralized storage... ",

do you think that in the future, B&O could develop a " full " centralize storage for Audio AND Video, a sort of " B&O Kaleidescape " ?

I know there is the DRM problem for the copy of DVD and Blu-Ray on a hard drive but it would be very cool to get a full B&O MediaCenter...

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I'm hoping for a BV8-40 as well. I need at least 3 HDMI. And it would be good if the screen was 200 hz

The US spec BV8 has 3 HDMI (I've seen them with my own eyes ).  Not sure about the screen speed.  UK/EU can't be too far behind, I would think...

Stan

the BV8 40" always had 3 HDMIs but in europe one is occupied for the tuner I bleive.

Anyhow not to take this off topic, I am thinking how the Encore will work in my current system.

If I connect it through aux and then be able to use the other remote functions like start stop forward etc that would be acceptable.

What would be funky is, if I would have to switch to AUX to adjust volume and then to n-music to use the other remote functions.

With the Beo 5 I can see that this issue doesn't exist but with Beo 4 this is what I have now and it is annoying.

Trip, as I sit here listening to Jordi Savall's "L' Orfeo " on our M-L Beosound 3200, I see a Danish supplier now online selling something interesting.

Under B&O related,  the vendor is offering an M-L cable with the B&O connections, and what he describes as another for M-L to CAT 7 specifically for " Encore applications. "

The latter is one cable with M-L connection at one end, and a CAT 7 at the other, in multiple lengths.

Any helpful thought ?

Hello Trip,

I actually in the same situation as sorenfelden, namely we finishing our interior in the coming weeks. In the living room we have foreseen the BV10-46 and the Beomaster 5 with Beosound5.

The beomaster 5 will be  hidden in a cupboard under the tv and the beosound 5 on a wall bracket. The Encore does not interest me as such but the capabililties of the new Beonet might.

In order to be futureproof,  do I have to run  the two CAT7 cables explicetely to the head-unit Beosound 5 (which would mean I have to open the wall once more (but rather now then after painting)) or does it suffice to have the CAT 7 wires run to the Beomaster 5 (which would be much easier) ?

In my understanding the Beosound 5 is just the graphical interface for the beomaster 5, no ?

Many thanks for your advice

Frederic

Perhaps there is a real network person who can weigh in, but in my opinion, anytime you have open walls you should consider running a pair of CAT 7 along your link route to "future-proof" your space by building capability in your infrastructure.  It is relatively inexpensive (cheap as chips, in reality) and offers multiple shielded pairs for future digital applications.  In those cases, your money would be spent later on connections instead of cable runs.    

symmes:

Perhaps there is a real network person who can weigh in, but in my opinion, anytime you have open walls you should consider running a pair of CAT 7 along your link route to "future-proof" your space by building capability in your infrastructure.  

Agree 100%

Run CAT anywhere there may be a connection: audio, data, video, voice. The connections can always be repurposed if you move things around later.

I know that's  why I have had a tube in the wall in order to have a CAT7 ran or maybe CAT"8" oneday. 

But this is only to the technical part of the cupboard/closet under the tv (for the beomaster 5, the blueray player, ...)  not to the beosound 5 which is right in the middle of a wall and where just the three BS5 cables (video, power, usb). come out

flx:

I know that's  why I have had a tube in the wall in order to have a CAT7 ran or maybe CAT"8" oneday. 

But this is only to the technical part of the cupboard/closet under the tv (for the beomaster 5, the blueray player, ...)  not to the beosound 5 which is right in the middle of a wall and where just the three BS5 cables (video, power, usb). come out

 

Never say never, but it is low probability that BeoSound 5 connections will change.  What could realistically be gained?  But if there is a chance you will one day put something else there, you might get your tech to run a pull-string and leave some CAT 7 behind the wall while the other part of the wall is open.      

Pulled cable all day today (Cat 7) inside silicone conduit. Three floors levels is a lot of walls.

I spoke with someone who attended Beonet/Encore training last week. Looking forward to the new product party.