TV surround sound and music in non-B&O setup

Dear all,

I am the very proud owner of a pair of Beolab 5s. 

I have them hooked up to my LG C9 TV via headphone out and to Sonos via a Sonos connect both going into an Almando box. The Almando box has been quite helpful as it automatically turns on the speakers when the TV is on / music is being played via Sonos and like the ability to prioritise sources such that if Sonos is playing, it will get priority over the TV so if I want TV sound I need to just stop playing music on Sonos. 

I now want to start rewatching a number of great movies in 4K HDR and thought the key missing bit would be a set of rear speakers for surround sound.

I was thinking a pair of Beolab 3s would be a great combination for rear speakers in this setup, but keen to hear any thoughts if anyone thinks I should consider other speakers. I like their look, price and various options of installing them (floor, table, wall, ceiling) basically making them an easy choice even if I have to move home soon. 

I initially thought of just getting the Almando Surround box, which would be the most straight forward way to setting it up and then just send the sound signal from the TV to the Almando box via HDMI. 

But then I learned that my TV (LG C9) is WISA ready. And had a look at this WISA adapter, which looks interesting:

https://axiim.com/pages/axiim-link

I was thinking to then get 4x Receiver 1s, which I guess together with the axiim WISA adapter should solve the surround sound for the TV. I would then need a Transmitter 1 for my music. I see that the transmitter has both input for analog and digital audio. 

A few questions I had that I wanted to confirm with you experts before I go ahead and buy:

1. Will this work or am I missing something?

• I.e. will the WISA adapter work well with no delay in audio to the speakers? I understand that this one can down mix from 5.1/7.1 to 4.0 so that should work fine. Has anyone tried it out? Does it work well?
• Have I understood correctly that I can connect a Sonos connect to the Transmitter without needing other equipment with Toslink (like I have today just to the Almando box). And will the volume control in the Sonos app work just like it does today?

2. Will i be able to set up music from Sonos to play in all 4 channels, i.e. right front and right rear as the right stereo channel and left front and left rear as the left stereo channel. Would there be a way to have the ability to change between just having the belolab 5s play vs all 4? If I decided to add a center speaker to this setup, would it be possible to add that as well?

3. What happens if I watch TV and I want to listen to music. How do the receiver 1s work? Do they play the source that first connected? Or is there a way to set them up to prioritise sources? My thinking it that it will just pick and stick with the first source. So if I watch TV and start playing music nothing will happen. I suspect I will need to turn the volume down to 0 (or maybe even turn off the TV) before I can play music?

4. What are peoples thoughts on the Beolab transmitter / receivers. Do they work flawlessly or will I just get a setup with lots of problems?

5. Anyone have another idea of a setup that is better / more efficient, potentially involving a center speaker? 

6. Appreciate if anyone knows of someone looking to sell a transmitter / receivers second hand as from new they are not exactly cheap

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. 

 

Thanks,
Thomas 

Bl5’s don’t play nicely with wisa, i’d say get the almando surround sound box and connect them that way. Also bl3’s are great.

That's very helpful. Thank you. 

 

Just so I understand better, what is the issue people are experiencing with the BL5s? I seem to have heard about the Beolab 5s havinf a special data signal - is that it? 

 

If I go for the Almando box, I would probably go for the WISA option and usepowerlink for the BL5s and WISA for the BL3s (to avoid cables to that backend of the room). Would there be an issue with the BL3s combined with the BLR1s as well or just the BL5s?

 

Many thanks,

Thomas

Yes, it’s the fully seated pl that’s the issue. Bl3’s and receiver 1 is fine.

If you really hate cables wisa will work fine, but for 100% opperation wires are better and nothing can interfere other than on the wire itself. Bl3’s are fine with the super thin pl cables too.

Like what?