Hi guys

Need a quick advice! Can buy a pair o Beolab 5 for a very reasonable price here in Switzerland.

They are from a shop with warranty but they are MK1 – the ones with serial 1.62 and NO sync options. I’m not shure if they work perfect in my setup.

My current setup:

-          Beocenter 2 with Beolab 2 /3 connected with Powerlink

-          Beolink PC2 (Beoport) integrated in the Masterlink

-          Mac Mini connected to the Beoport and operated with N-MUSIC and the LinkPlayer solution

My idea is to connect the Mac Mini by using the digital connections direct to the Beolab 5 and still connect the Powerlink to the Beocenter 2 (For Radio / DVD).

I control the Mac Mini with teh LinkPlayer solution.

- How can i control the Volume? Does it works trough the Beocenter 2?

- Is it a problem when the Beolab 5 are the “old” MK1 ones without Pincode and without option to sync the volume between the two Beolabs?

Thanks for the helpful answers

carlito:

My idea is to connect the Mac Mini by using the digital connections direct to the Beolab 5 and still connect the Powerlink to the Beocenter 2 (For Radio / DVD).

I control the Mac Mini with teh LinkPlayer solution.

1/ although the AUDIO from the MacMini will be sent to the Beolab 5s via the optical interface (I presume this would work) you will stilll need the BeoPort for for the USB CONTROL of LinkPlayer ... unless you are using Apple's remote instead of a Beo4 ... OR ... unless you are using the Remote App on an iDevice 

2/ If you used LinkPlayer/iTunes for Internet Radio, and for the CD functions of the MacMini, you could contemplate selling you BeoCentre 2 -- or are you setting up some kind of a link room arrangement, or are the BeoLab 5s replacing the Lab2/Lab3s combination ?

My Idea is to replace the Beolab 2 /3 combo! The Beocenter 2 do i still need for distributing the sound around the house through the masterlink (2 Beolab 3500 are installed).

Will the Beocenter 2 control the Volume of the Beolab 5 or do i have to control the Soundlevel on the Mac Mini?

I have a Mac Mini connected digitally to a pair of BL5. My BL5 does have sync, but since I do not use the Speakers in option 4, non B&O mode, I do not need it. I have an old B&O Overture connected via masterlink to the tv and then on with Powerlink to the speakers.

Whenever I want to listen to music from my Mini I select CD as a source. With CD as a source, and only CD, the speakers will look for a digital signal and if present that will go thru instead of the analog signal. That also means that I can control volume directly on my Beo4.

I use an Android port of the Apple Remote on my Samsung to control my Itunes library playing thru Pure Music. I think that is a nice solution.

sounds like my prefered solution. But what happen when a disk is in the ouverture?

Do you have any Linkroomspeakers?

I have now the following setup per user "Soundproofs" recommendation.

Beolab mk1's, controlled by a Beosound9000.

Mac mini connected via firewire to a external soundcard, TC Electronic Impact Twin. Thus getting the "core audio" that is music industry standard.

Impac twin set as master Clock, thus eliminating the high-jitter clock of the Mac Mini.

Impact twin connected to Beolab 5's with SPDIF coaxial.

Itunes as music player piggy backing on Amarro Junior. 

The Amarro is giving me great results, it's 99 usd, but well worth it IMHO. The Impact twin is 375 euro incl VAT. Not bad! For under 450 euros I'm getting results that I got with an Aurender S10 (6.000 euro), even if that was a very short listening experience.