Is there any device which will produce Powerlink-compatible 5.1 or 7.1 loudspeaker outputs from a non-B&O digital audio input?

If you have a 5.1 (or 7.1) amplifier with pre-outs (line outputs that are volume controlled) you should be able to connect them directly to B&O speakers using their line inputs or use common RCA/DIN adapter cables for this purpose. You will have to supply a control voltage of +5V to some pin of the powerlink cable in order to turn the speakers on (please see more here: http://www.beoworld.org/beotech/ )!

Hagen, I have found that running B&O speakers from other equipment is quite painless. I've never come across the signal drop out from not supplying the "control voltage of +5V" you speak of.

Am trying out various receivers/processors and am using a Linn Unidisk SC and a Primare receiver.

Both have analog outs for the various surround speakers, and both allow you to set the relative level between the speakers, and to control volume up-and-down.I bought RCA-to-Powerlink cables at my B&O dealer. The reason I didn't use a BeoSystem 3 is because it doesn't have S/PDIF coax out, which I need for my setup.

Have had a pair of BeoLab 5s connected via s/pdif coax to a Konnekt 24D for several months now, and have never experienced that the speakers go to sleep unless I switch them off.
Similarly with a pair of BeoLab 3s that I used as back surrounds before switching to BeoLab 4000s. Both types have never gone to sleep on me while the equipment they have been connected to has been on.

Many thanks for your advice, gives my superb B&O speakers a new lease of life