Beosound 3200 and wireless 1 won't connect to Beolab 3500

Hi,

Help please! We have a 3200, a pair of wireless 1s and a 3500 (SW v2) . We want to use the 3500 in a different room to the 3200 (which are connected to Beolab 3s in the main room). The main room system works fine. We connected the 3500 directly to the 3200 via master link and it worked fine with both our master link cables so they are not the problem. However when we connect the 3200 to the wireless1 via master link in main room and the 3500 to the Wireless1 in the second room via master link the 3500 appears to do nothing. We don't even get the time on the display, just a couple of small red dots. We may get a display e.g. Radio or A Aux for a second or two but then it goes back to stand by. We have paired the Wireless1s and one is set to transmit  and one to receive.

Any advice gratefully received! thank you.

I don't know if the 3500 has option setting for same room versus link room ?

But try monitoring the LEDs in the transmitter and receiver when you activate the 3500 - do they flash indicate some level of handshaking is going on ...

Hi,

Are you certain that your Wireless 1's have the more (or most) recent firmware? The firmware was updated at some point to add the wireless ML capability. The initial purpose for the WL1 was to be connected via ML at the sender and via PL at the receiver. The ML to ML capability requires the more recent firmware.

I do not recall the serial from which it was first introduced to the WL1, but there are plenty of WL1's with the older firmware. The firmware can be updated by almost any dealership.

Regards!

I'm not sure whether all Beolab 3500s were wireless compatible. I thought it was only the newer ones that were because they had been fitted with the powerlink socket! (from the B&O website:- With the introduction of our new BeoLink Wireless 1, you can have your BeoLab 3500 connected to the rest of your equipment with even greater flexibility than before. We have upgraded the BeoLab 3500 speaker, giving it a Power Link socket, which makes it compatible with BeoLink Wireless 1.

Stoobie

Reading that, it sounds like you connect the Wireless 1 to the Beolab 3500 with a Powerlink cable instead of a Masterlink cable..?

Is that correct?

Well, I don't have a 3500 but several BL2000s and I connect them to the Wireless 1s via ML cables and I do have the latest s/w on them. I'm curious to see what the deal is with the statements of PL for the 3500. I had thought the whole idea was to use them to extend ML.

I have one setup with an eye and a pair of BL8000s, and use the PL cables for that. All three of them work quite well.

I think the difference here is that the ML is sent from one wireless box to the other, so the ML is shared. Then the Beolab 3500 acts as a pair of speakers rather than an ML solution

Jonathan:

I think the difference here is that the ML is sent from one wireless box to the other, so the ML is shared. Then the Beolab 3500 acts as a pair of speakers rather than an ML solution

So would that mean in order to work you'd need an IR wall puck in addition to the 3500 and Wireless 1? And would the two control systems, the 3500 and the puck interfere with each other? 

I have no idea!

I'm just trying to figure it out, but out loud...

Jeff:

So would that mean in order to work you'd need an IR wall puck in addition to the 3500 and Wireless 1? And would the two control systems, the 3500 and the puck interfere with each other? 

The Beolab 3500 has the built in IR receiver so you will definitely not not need the further IR puck.

I think your issue is going to be whether or not the Beloab 3500 is the "wireless ready" version, the actual software version you have in the Wireless 1's and the correct option settings on the main unit and the Beolab 3500.

Stoobie

Thank-you everyone for the replies.  Since we posted this problem we have been able to get a reply from a B&O dealer.  The dealer has researched the problem on the B&O internal webpages and believes the issue will be resolved by a software upgrade to the B&O Wireless 1s so we have now dropped them off for an upgrade and we will test again when we get them back.  We will update our post after we get them back.

Again thank-you for your thoughts

Stoobietoo:

Jeff:

So would that mean in order to work you'd need an IR wall puck in addition to the 3500 and Wireless 1? And would the two control systems, the 3500 and the puck interfere with each other? 

The Beolab 3500 has the built in IR receiver so you will definitely not not need the further IR puck.

I think your issue is going to be whether or not the Beloab 3500 is the "wireless ready" version, the actual software version you have in the Wireless 1's and the correct option settings on the main unit and the Beolab 3500.

Stoobie

That's my question, if you only run a PL cable to the 3500 how does it communicate back to the main ML system? Do you have to run PL and ML from it to the Wireless 1? That's the only way I can see that this would work unless the older 3500 also has an IR type DIN plug.

My guess is that the Wireless 1 will need an IR Puck and the 3500 will run as a slave off the wireless 1 thereby switching off its IR receiver

Jonathan:

My guess is that the Wireless 1 will need an IR Puck and the 3500 will run as a slave off the wireless 1 thereby switching off its IR receiver

That's what I would guess to be the way it works, but not having laid hands on an old 3500 I have no idea.

From the Beolab 3500 user manual. It shows wireless connection via Masterlink so no extra puck. The BeoPhile website shows the serial numbers for the speakers saying which are wireless ready. (ie the change from MCL to Powerlink)

Master Control Link (MCL)	(< s/n 19343452)
Wireless 1 Link (W1)	(from s/n 19343452)

Plus I found this post from Keith Saunders (Tech advisor on this site)

Let me give you an overview of Beolab 3500 and Beolink Wireless.

First the Beolab 3500 has two variations:-

1. LCS9000 later to become the Beolab 3500 Mark I which has MCL (Master Control Link) and ML (Masterlink) but NOT Powerlink and has a latest software version of 2.1. You can see the FAQ HERE on how to upgrade to version 2.1 software. The LCS9000 and the Beolab 3500 Mark I CANNOT be used with the Beolink Wireless
2. Beolab 3500 Mark II was introduced to be linked with the Beolink Wireless, but initially could only be used via the Powerlink, but subsequently was able to be used in a fully Masterlink configuration subject to some product restrictions. The latest version of the software in the Beolab 3500 is version 3.1

The Beolink Wireless requires version 2.0 or above for full Masterlink capability and the latest version is version 2.1

Which means if it is a Beolab 3500 Mark I  it will not work unless you update the software.

Stoobie