Hi
I thought I should post my progress to the collective.
It does
work and very well . I am at the finishing stage, i-e cleaning up the mess,
routing cables, positioning speaker .. REPAIRING DRYWALL 
and
programming.
The system performance is very good. I ended up using a Yamaha AVR
(RX-V2067) with:
2 Pairs of Beolab 8000 and a Beolab 4000 as center channel. I use Velodyne subwoofers.
IR Trans was used for IR conversion duties and this product
is a superior performer. Unassuming... Weirdly small. It does transform your
Beo4 or ANY remote into a truly universal remote. It takes some time getting used
to but after that it becomes easy to configure. Use is completely transparent.
You do what you are used with the Beo4 on your bang and Olufsen. The only
giveaway in my case is that the Yamha receiver shows the volume on the screen
and when nothing is present at the video input, shows some Yamaha (without the name) wallpaper …
It is quite transparent to the user. You press TV and the TV comes
on, you change channels and raise volume on the TV without paying attention...
Then you go to DVD and your surround system comes alive. Receiver
is on. The Beolab speakers, very nicely power on with the nice "click" sound we
all know and love, LED turning green. When volume is pressed then Beosound
9000 does show on its face that volume is up :) .. A very B&O experience.. Yet
it is the Yamaha doing most of the work , with its immense flexibility of
crossovers, its superior processing and switching capabilities. And of course
it is priced very reasonably. It will run circles around he BS3 and I am
thinking to get a higher end processor maybe The top of the line Yamaha or yet, the Integra, Emotiva or a
Lexicon .. All IMHO superior in all aspects to the BS3
Sound-wise: The Velodyne are amongst the best commercial
subwoofers around. Combining their strengths with the Beolab 8000 and 4000
makes for a very interesting performance. Relieved of the duty of reproducing
big bass, the 8000 sounds effortless and much louder... I would assume at least
3 dB in SPL increase. I will measure but I do think it is likely 4 to 5 dB
higher ... That is a lot ... smoother.. Good midrange..Etc...
I will come back to the thread and maybe, just maybe post some
photos. I will thank these people who have taken their time to help or to
provide products that will help anyone that would entertain such project.
Marcus Muller of IR Trans. His little box does the conversion of
IR codes from what the Beo4 send to what any and I mean ANY remotes from ANY manufacturer
sends. It has a learning curve, albeit to me an IT person by trade, a very,
very smooth one. It is immensely flexible. IRTrans makes other products that allow
a degree of House Automation that is
uncanny. They are IP based for the most part but IR Trans does have RS-232
products. I will look into their other products too. Very Good products.
Peter Pan who posts here and at HiFi4all. If you are a DIY-kind of
person, ALL , I repeat ALL the cables pin-outs and how to are in the link he
posted earlier. He also sells the cables so you can buy them there. I repeat
ALL the cables I am using and I am a DIY came from his posts. ALL and they work
and his cables do also work.
Steve at Sounds Heavenly. ALL the cables needed for such project can be found
there. Steve is also very easy to reach and answers his e-mail quickly.
Michael at Lintronics. Another good product similar to the IR Trans. It is more
rooted in B&O than the IR Trans and could be easier t integrate I do however prefer the IR Trans product. Let’s
say it is personal and I think that the IR Trans is more flexible although not
as easy to set up.
And of course , All of you who have helped in this thread:
First in line: Soren Mexico and Tournedos. People! Your help was
invaluable in getting this to work.
kallasr, thanks for the IRTRans and Lintronic references. On this The IRTrans allow you to press a
button and to send repeat commands. So you don’t have to press the button
several times. It can be configured to send the command almost as many times and for however long that you wish… I suppose the same can be done with Lintronic.
Tomvdw and all who have participated in the thread. I thank you
all
I will come back to the thread. All that I can say is that mixing non_B&O with Beo CAN
WORK and very well thank you. My next project could be to replace the Yamaha AVR
with an Emotiva or similarly flexible Pre/Processor. I wouldn’t mind
equalizing the bass from the Velodyne subwoofers
to have a flatter in-room response. I also am thinking loudly : 7.1 with
something like the Beolab 5 and the Beolab center channel. I see a very large
screen in my horizon … Not a B&O one ...
Thanks again to all.
Lesly