ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
First of all, hello to everyone, I've just registered and really hope to pick up lots of guidance, help and tips.!
I was very lucky to have owned a few B&O products in the past, but am currently a blank canvas for a new set up and looking for up to date advice.
I do have a Bose Acoustimass 10 and Yamaha receiver providing surround sound for the TV.
We are currently renovating a V old stone single story cottage so have th capacity to run any relevant cables.
What I am interested to know is people's preference for multi room systems? Do you think it better to have several stand alone blue tooth products or one central hub serving several rooms?
I will be looking to pipe music into two bathrooms and one sauna as well as he usual lounge and bedrooms and not sure what products to consider.
Any help greatly appreciated..!
Hi again,
Was this a really rubbish post...?
I see lots of views, but no opinions yet.
I am genuinely sorry if it was poor or overly generalised but could really do with some tips so that I don't make any costly mistakes.
Hi and welcome.
I am currently in the early stages of setting up a multi room system myself so hopefully I can give some advice on what to consider.
What will be your main audio source and do you also wish to also have multi room video?
Do you prefer new or classic equipment?
Do you expect to expand the system in future?
Can you run cabling between the walls or do you need a wireless solution?
Your budget will likely be the main factor – I am setting up my system for fun using mostly older equipment and plan to add to it over the years as and when I find a bargain online. If you want everything working from day 1 then it will cost a lot more.
If you are interested in the latest range, have you taken a look at the beosound Essense? This would connect to a pair of Beolab speakers (or possibly to your existing Bose setup with an adapter?) and provide you with a system for the living room which you could then expand upon. It also has a wall mountable remote.
You could then add a couple of wireless speakers for your linked bedrooms from the Beoplay range.
For your Sauna I'm not too sure. You will likely need to find specialist aftermarket Sauna speakers and connect this to a Beolink Passive amp and add a waterproof housing for the remote eye. How you connect this to your main system will depend on what other products you go with. Another option may be simply using a portable speaker but you would need to ensure that it was suitable for that particular environment.
Beocenter 8500 / Beolab 4000 / Beosystem 5500 / Beolab 8000 / Beogram 2000 / Beosound 8 / Beovision 6-26 / Beovision MX4000 / Beomaster 1900-1 / Beovox CX50 / Beoplay H4 / Beoplay A1 / Beocom 1401 x2
Welcome!
Merle1973: What I am interested to know is people's preference for multi room systems? Do you think it better to have several stand alone blue tooth products or one central hub serving several rooms?
I can comment on the multiroom aspect. I have a mix between old ( Masterlink) and new (Netlink I believe is the right term). I think that the possibility to conveniently move the exiting music with you in the house is a much more elegant solution rather than having BT speakers here and there.
Some of my usecases:
- Watching news in my living room on my Beovision 11. Walking into the kitchen area to prepare dinner. Switch on Belab 2000 to pick up the sound form the TV news.
- Havning a party. Play music from Beosound Moment in living room and simultaneously on Beolab 2000 in Kitchen and on Beolay A6 in library on second floor.
- Get awake in the bedroom and play radio (TuneIN) on Beoplay A6 on 2nd floor. Going downstairs and join the stream on my Beosound Moment.
If I want music in bathroom while grooming I use my A2, since I have no possibility to add speakers there in a nice way.
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
thats an easier question to be asked than answered...
I have a system in each room, a mix of classic & modern (ish), all the classic units are connected either by Playmaker or Airport Express giving me the best of both worlds. This configuration has its ups & downs, I personally get great satisfaction looking at a well design system but streaming can be a bit "clunky" in operation and I am surprised at my wife's tolerance of all the hardware. Personally what I find interesting is I still listen to alot of podcasts & music around the house via iPhone and headphones so one may say I've missed the point.
If I started from ground zero with a clean piece of paper things may have turned out differently and it would greatly help my OCD, but then I would wonder about all those beautifully designed systems I missed whilst growing up...
Now if I had two houses ....
we tend to forget there is more to design than designing.
Thanks very much for your response Scott, much appreciated.
i guess I would love all new products, but guess with all the other costs we are incurring to renovate the house, my budget will be restricted to online bargains like yourself.! I would like to have a centre piece product such as the 'Moment' controlling the system but not sure how that would work with regards to playing different music in different rooms at the same time..?
With regards expansion, I would probably only be looking to pipe into a max of 5 or 6 rooms.
As we are in a single story cottage the logistics of cable wouldn't really be a huge issue as I can drop down into all relevant rooms from the loft space.
I wouldn't be in any huge hurry to complete the set up, so, also like yourself, can just expand as finances allow.
As I already have the Bose speakers in situ, can I play through them from a Moment?
The last B&O system I had was installed by my local main dealer and was linked throughout the house via ML cable from a 9000, which also incorporate a Beo3 tv, an Avant tv and two specialist ceiling speakers via an infra red eye. Loved it, but appreciate tha since then (2005) advances in Bluetooth and wifi could have potentially made ML cable redundant?
So for bedrooms do you think I should keep them independent and just get Bluetooth speakers such as the S3?
i would like like to have the sauna links to a central player if possible.
Hi Hiort and many thanks for your reply.
I think with the varied music tastes in our family, we would be happier with the ability to play different artists in different rooms at the same time.
i.e. If I wanted to listen to my music in the lounge, my daughter might want to,listen to hers whilst in the bathroom, etc.
i don't think visual networking would really matter, only music.
However, I would like to have the fluency of a network as opposed to several BT products, as you rightly point out.
Hi Mark and many thanks for your response.
So if you were to have a separate house but not a limitless budget which route would you go,down?
Ive not even heard of Playmaker or Airport Express....l