Hi everybody. I guess I have a bit of a tricky question including some older products. In my house I have two pair of IWS 2000, passive speakers. These speakers had i built-in remote eye which meant smooth control in a link room. They are connected with Masterlink and also connected to an B&O amplifier that i can´t remember the name of.

I would now like to use the speakers with some Airport Expresses and would like to know how I can connect my Masterlink cables at each speaker so that the amplifier becomes active? 

Can I also use the Masterlink cable to transport the music from my Airport Express to my speakers? I found a wiring scheme here in the forum that shows that the cables orange and red seems to be the cables used to transport the left and right channels. Would it work if i connected these to the 3.5mm output from the Airport Express?

Please excuse for my schoolbook english and I hope that I describe so that you understand what I would like to do.

 

Best regards

Hans, Sweden

Hello :-)

Passive speakers require an amplifier.

The Apple Airport Express is not an amplifier, it provides the equivalent of a LINE-OUT and needs to be plugged into B&O active speakers or someone else's powered speakers (e.g. external powered PC speakers).

Since you have a B&O amplifier, you could attach the Airport Express via a mini-jack cable to either RCA plugs or a DIN plug for linking to the AUX-IN port of your B&O.  This is what I did with my Beosound 4.  I was then able to use my existing MasterLink cables and speakers for both "Apple" music and "B&O" music.

Hi hans

The easy way would simply be to connect the airport express to the amp depending which one you have if it's and older amp then it will be a 5pin din to 3.5m jack. If the din socket is a.aux then all you need to do via the b & o remote is select a aux when you are in the link room then sound will come through the speakers.

Hi again, thanks for your interest in my question. As I suspected see I was not able to describe my existing products, and what I would like to do. Sorry.

 

The amplifier I was talking about was named MCL2P: http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=979

I have my passive speakers (http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=774) connected to the MCL2P with masterlink-cable and what I would like to do since the built-in speakers are not so easy to reach would be to activate the amplifier so I can attach a Airport Express to each set of speakers. 

How can I activate the MCL 2P (it doesnt matter if it has to be powered on 24/7) so I can use my speakers?

Can I attach a Airport Express to the Masterlink cable (I have a Masterlink cable to each set of speakers) so I can get the sound to my speakers?

 

A simple solution would be to buy a small, separate amp ( http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_Price=19..%40c&_kw=ta2020&_ds=1&_fcid=192&_localstpos=&_mPrRngCbx=1&_sc=1&_sop=15&_stpos=&gbr=1 ) to power each pair of speakers, but I would then need to access the speakers and connect them directly to the mini-amp. And it would mean a lot of work that I would like to avoid.

I hope this makes my question a bit easier to sort out. Thanks again.

BR

Hans

Hans, 

If you check the schematics of the MCL2P, you'll see that there is a simple trigger on the powerlink socket to turn it on. On the schematics I have, it says pin 4, but my circuit board actually uses pin 1. I forgot the trigger voltage (4V maybe?) but you could probably just wire up a resistor from the exisiting circuit to provide a constant trigger voltage and the amp would just remain on. By the way, are you sure you have a master link input? Both my MCL2Ps only have powerlink inputs.

Eric

Hi Eric, many thanks! And I think that is true, that the MCL2P just uses powerlink. Mine is located at the attic so it is a while since I actually saw it. But I am 99% sure, because I also have an ML/MCL converter, and that is to take care of the masterlink connections.

I am not sure what you mean with your circuit board? Maybe it is my english...?

Do you have any suggestions how I may be able to get the sound from the AE, through the masterlink cable, and to the IWS 2000 speakers?

Thanks again, and best regards

Hans

Hans, I was referring to the internal electronics of the MCL2P. If you're comfortable with soldering electonics, look at the schematics of the amplifier. 

If not, you're probably better off purchasing a solution from Sounds Heavenly, they are a sponsor here. This should work, but talk to Steve first and he can confirm:

http://soundsheavenly.co.uk/bando-beolinkpassive.htm