Beolab 9 with Powerlink Mk1 cables?

I am considering to buy a pair of Beolab9 to replace my BL8000's.

Can I use Powerlink Mk1 cables for BL9's? They are embedded in the wall, and probably cannot be replaced without breaking the wall (and upsetting my wife).

Is there a way I can make the BL9's to work properly with these mk1 powerlinks? I once heard it could work by soldering some of the pins in the din plug of the powerlink.

Any experience from the Beoworlders?

I just made the same upgrade...from BL8000 to BL9, and the Mk1 PL cables will not work, you get a buzzing as the BL9s ICE Power Class D amp is sensitive to grounding. I replaced them with Mk3 cables and it's dead silent. 

Pas to whether you can mod the cables I have no idea, bit would suspect not. Can you use the existing cable to pull new cable thru the wall or are they so snaked around you can't pull them out?

Jeff

thanks for your answer. I assume you are satisfied with your upgrade. How would you describe the difference? I think that you would certainly have a much better performance for the bass section.

Pulling new cables thru the wall by using the existing cables seems tricky to me. I am afraid that the connection between the old and the new cables would break, and then I am totally stuck with no cables at all. Any tips and tricks on how to do this?

Jan

jans:

 Any tips and tricks on how to do this?

That really depends on how long and how wide the tubes are (if any at all?) - and how many bendings on the way.

A couple of times I had to use the old trick with a vacuum cleaner and a long cord/string with a small piece of paper to get something through the tube - in order to pull the new cables through afterwards.

The most important thing about a hidden instalation is a tube with a bigger diameter that you think you will ever need!

MM

Jans, my living room in the new house here is huge, and the 8000s just got lost in it. Comparing the 9s to the 8000s in this room, not only is the bass far superior, deeper, louder, etc. but the treble with the ALT lenses is better. For some reason the room just sucked up not only the 8000s bass but really didn't do the treble any favors either, and trying to push to a loud enough volume in this room made the mids get congested too.

They sound great in my dining room though, which is where I moved them.

The 9s have deeper, louder bass, very well damped, smooth, more extended treble, with much wider dispersion (you can move all over the room and get imaging and high frequencies without drop off). Midrange is even better than the 8000s, which surprised me as it was always the biggest strength of the 8000. With the 9s I can enjoy Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon at a satisfying volume level without strain, or listen to a delicate jazz vocalist such as Diana Krall, they handle either with aplomb.

Jeff

Great feedback! Your comments really make want to go for the Beolab9's, even more than before.

However, I absolutely need to find a solution for the Mk1 powerlink cables in the wall. Maybe I'll have to try Millemissen's vacuum cleaner trick. However, I am skeptical since the tubes for the cables have a number of sharp bends, and seem to contain some debris...

To be continued.... Maybe other Beoworlders have other suggestions?

Jan

Yes, you can use mk1 cable, as you already suggested in your openings post. But this only works if your BL’s are NOT daisy chained. Most likely this is not the case with front speakers…

 

The difference between a mk1 and mk3 is an extra (blue) wire. But there is also an unused wire in the MK1 cable. The green wire is not used in the left speaker. The brown wire is not used in the ight speaker. This unused wire is your substituted ”blue” wire. So your powerlink plugs needs to be cutted on both ends and needs to be soldered again with new plugs.

The (unused) green wire in your left speaker goes to pin 7. The (unused) brown wire in your right speaker goes to pin 7. The picture shows the solder side.

Hi Jans,

The posts above are correct,normally your mk.1 cables are unsuitable, as they will cause buzzing through Beolab 9s and other ICE Power speakers.

However, if your existing cables cannot be replaced then I can build adapters to plug into the spare Powerlink sockets on the Beolab 9s to make your mk.1 cables behave like the newer mk.3 cables and prevent the buzzing (you need 1 adapter at each speaker, plus a Powerlink Splitter at the first speaker if they are daisy-chained).

If this is of interest, please drop me a line at www.soundsheavenly.co.uk or click on my link at the foot of the page and I will be pleased to advise further.

Kind regards, Steve.

Hi Steve,

does your adapters also work with Beolab 5 and Powerlink Mk1 cables?

Regards

Räuber

Hi Rauber,

Yes, I can adapt Powerlink mk.1 cables to work with Beolab 5 speakers (as long as the speakers are not daisy-chained, ie. you need a separate cable for each speaker back to the source).

However, this should be considered an absolute last resort; if you have spend this amount of money on getting the very best speakers available, then the cost of redecorating to get the best cables in place becomes a very minor issue in comparison.....

For Beolab 5s over Powerlink mk.1, you need an adapter at both ends of each cable.  You may experience a small amount of data noise (ie. clicking through the speakers when there is a volume or track change), but this should be at a very low level with typical cable lengths.

Please let me know if you need help with the adapters, or if you would like to get new cables to make those excellent speakers perform at their best!

Kind regards, Steve.