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
Hi all,
I'm researching the purchase of (1) a new non-B&O TV and (2) used Beosystem 3 to integrate with my Beolab 5s/3s/7-2. (i have a BV4-50 with a BS1, time to upgrade!)
From reading through these forums it looks like there is always a bit of troubleshooting required when doing this, so i thought i'd get ahead of it and ask what people would do if they were in the same situation. Here are the variables i'm thinking through:
WHICH NEW BEOSYSTEM? Can a Beosystem 3 MK1 integrate with a recent non-B&O TV properly, or would it be better to get a MK2 or even MK3? How do I identify the various MKs?
WHICH NON B&O TV?What are the suggestions for late models of plasmas and LCDs? Is it plug and play?
Any insight much appreciated!
Hi,
Regarding the tv question there are a lot of excellent tv's on the market at the moment. Be in mind that whatever you go for it will be out of date quite quickly. I personally really like the current range of curved screen Samsung sets, terrific spec's and fantastic looking. I'm afraid I don't really know very much about the Beosystem3 and how it would integrate with any non B&O tv but I'm sure it's achievable.
With the money you are looking to spend, how about a second hand Beovision 11? Don't they come with what is basically a BS3 built in for sound processing.
Hopefully something for you to ponder.
Graeme.
Living Room: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-2 (Center), Beolab 9 (Fronts), Beolab 8000 (Rears), no Subwoofer. Screen: Sony KD-85XH9096Dining Room: Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 4000 on stands, fed by Amazon Echo Show 8Home Cinema: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-4 (Center), Beolab 1 (Fronts), Beolab 4000 (Rears). Projector: Sony VPL-HW55Home Office: Beosystem 3, Beolab 7-4, Beolab 5000, Screen: Sony KD-55XH9005 on Beovision 7-40 stand, ML to Beosound 9000 MK3 and Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 (1 TB SSD version)Bedroom: Sony KD-65XH9077, Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 6002 and Beolab 11 (all white, wall-mounted)
In storage: Beolab 5000/Beomaster 5000 (1960s).
I don't think Panasonic make plasma's anymore unfortunately. I am looking at a 65" or 75" 4K Samsung LED.
Using the lintronic solution and bs3, do you only have 1 remote (beo4?) to control everything?
I am looking into the non b&o amp solution but it seems that I would always have to turn the BL5 speakers on separately due to lack of triggering?
No BeoSystem will support 4K unfortunately.. So don't waste your money. It was my biggest deal breaker when I was considering the new BeoSystem 4. I currently have a non B&O TV, 2xBeoLab 5 fronts, a 7-2 center, and 2 x BeoLab 3 rears. All running through an Onkyo PR-SC5509 AVR, connected via LINE to pre-outs, using Lintonic to power on the BL5 automatically when turning on the AVR using it's own control.
Setup is good, however the issue I have documented in depth on the forums is the sound quality from the AVR, even though it was top of the range Onkyo, the sound was not amazing as the BeoLab 5's deserve. With a non B&O amp, you have to set the BeoLab 5's to a fixed volume (I set them around 80%), and then control volume using the AVR. Not an elegant solution at all in my opinion, and you get a prominent hiss from the speakers when there is no sound being emitted. Some argue to turn down the speakers until you can't hear the hiss, but I argue the speakers cannot be driven enough then. If these were instead connected over Powerlink (to a B&O Source), you have the data line sent from the B&O source which sends the source volume level to the speakers and will control/eliminate hiss..
Problem with the BL3 rears is that when they are not connected to a Powerlink source, they listen on line level for noise, and only turn on when they sense sound. The delay can be a bit irritating, not always noticeable but sometimes sounds are so suddenly from the rears that you want them on all the time, not to go to standby mode.
The lintronic solution works and is ok, but I would prefer a more elegant solution as the speakers were designed, connecting over Powerlink.
Secondly, I wanted to upgrade to a 4K TV, as well as overcome the issues/niggles experienced above.
Since there is no 4K BeoSystem, my only option now is the Avant. So I am looking into purchasing the 85" Avant at the moment which will overcome all the issues above, and also allow me to do away with the AVR. Unfortunately the Avant (or even the BeoSystem 4 which would have paired nicely with my current full HD LCD ) was not around 3 years ago when I got the setup.
Thank you for the quick and extensive reply. Very helpful.
One more question:so the main reason you went with the Onkyo route vs a BS3 was the 4k capability? If you hooked up a 4k TV to a BS3 but used the built-in TV apps such as Netflix, Hulu to view 4k content, wouldn't that work as well to view 4k content and avoid all the issues using a non-B&O AVR?
turbotol: Thank you for the quick and extensive reply. Very helpful. One more question:so the main reason you went with the Onkyo route vs a BS3 was the 4k capability? If you hooked up a 4k TV to a BS3 but used the built-in TV apps such as Netflix, Hulu to view 4k content, wouldn't that work as well to view 4k content and avoid all the issues using a non-B&O AVR?
Basically, yes that was the plan. And to connect to other 4K devices and the AVR would do the surround sound processing (dolby true HD, etc). But because of less satisfactory sound quality which I mentioned, I am doing away with the amp now and connecting everything directly to the Avant (when I get it).
I guess you could connect all the sources directly to the TV, and send audio through the BS3/4. But I'm not sure if the BeoSystems have ARC to return TV audio through the HDMI cable to the BS3/4 (I would hope so), and also if the TV's could decode surround sound (more so the TrueHD and DTS-HD-MA streams), or bitstream/LPCM decode it and transmit to the BS3/4.Those would be the biggest factors to consider when going that route I would imagine. Maybe i'm over-complicating/over-thinking things, but I can't figure that setup out in my head right now.
If it would work as above, then the BS3 would make sense as you can pick up one cheap second hand. And you could probably use a Lintronic device to power on the BS3/4 when the TV comes on or whatever.
Of course, if you go for the Avant, then you wont need to purchase the BS3/4 either :P But yeah, Avant pricing and Samsung 4K pricing are worlds apart.
I've just sort of come to the realisation that if your're spending that sort of money of a BeoLab 5 setup, then you might as well go the full mile and make sure everything else in the setup is up to spec and working in pure harmony. :P
Hi Ari,
The TV I am considering is ARC enabled. The source would be built into the TV (as most current smart TV's in the US have built in Netflix, Amazon, Hulu apps that deliver 4k content) and I assume the TV would output it as received no? Not sure however if the BS3 is ARC enabled
Not sure I am ready to make the jump to an Avant, especially as I was looking at 75" TVs
P.S. You are not located in the NYC by chance?
Couldn't I just connect a cable from the digital audio output connection of the TV to the digital audio input connection of the receiver? Only problem I know have is that BS3 only has digital coaxial S/PDIF and most TVs only have digital fiber optical (Toslink)
do you have a link or suggestion?
If you attach a recent 4K 75" samsung/sony LED tv to a MK3 Beosystem 3, how good will the upscaling be? Will the upscaling be done by beosystem or by the TV processor?
For 4k content, I am hoping to use the smart apps in the TV (e.g. netflix Ulthra HD) and then output the audio to the beosystem 3 for sound processing
For non-4k content, I would like to use the beosystem 3 for processing both audio and video
Hi pal,
I know it’s a very old post 😬 but I just require a little help if possible. I got an audio converter and have connected 2 phono leads going from beosystem 3 Line L & R into the audio converter then fibre optic cable from audio converter to the tv but cannot get my speakers to work. As you have this set up can you please advise? Thanks Jack
Hello JackRamzy, welcome. When you want to play the sound of the TV's optical output through the speakers connected to the BeoSystem 3 (AV1 to AV6), you must be precise in choosing the right settings in the menu of the BeoSystem 3. Did you already assign the connected L&R audio inputs to a source button on your remote?
If you do not have it yet, you can get the manual (still) from the B&O website https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041518532.
Good luck! Johan
PS - depending on the type of converter, be sure you choose the right inputs on the BeoSystem 3. The red and white are for analog right and left, but the black ones are for digital sp/dif signals, both types of converters exist
Hi Johan,Thank you for your response. I have assigned DVD2 to AV4, connected phono leads to L&R audio inputs in the BS3 and into the converter unit. Then an optical cable from converter unit into the tv tuner but still no sound. Any idea what I’m doing wrong 😑? Can send photos of what I’ve done if it helps, thanks in advance..
Hi Johan and thank you for your prompt reply.
I have used DVD2 for AV4. 2 Phono (L&R) leads in BS3 & into the converter then optic cable from converter into Samsung tv tuner but when I select DVD2 to use B&O speakers for sound it doesn’t work. As a temporary measure in using my a firestick to watch Netflix and have used a dvi to hdmi for video. Are you able to advise? Thanks
Just to be sure: my assumption is that you want to send the audio signal coming from the Samsung TV into the BeoSystem 3, am I right?
Yes, I want to be able to use the beolab speakers with the Samsung tv.
Ok, i think we then best follow the signal from the optical output of the TV to the BeoLabs connected to the BeoSystem 3 step by step:
- In the Samsung TV menu, is the audio output set to 'optical'?
- Are you positive that the L&R output of your audio converter provides a signal? (maybe you can test this with another device?
- in the menu of the BeoSystem 3, at AV4, If I remember well, you should choose 'no' or 'none' at 'HDMI' to tell the system that there will be no (sound) input used from any of the HDMI inputs of the BeoSystem 3 (maybe post a photograph of the menu)
- Did you assign the speaker types and roles in the menu of the BeoSystem 3
Sorry if I ask for the obvious, just want to help to rule out some things in finding the issue with you.
I do have a similar setup as you, only with an LG tv and a optical to digital coax sp/dif sound connection between the LG and the BeoSystem 3. In teh connections menu I tell the BeoSystem 3 that there is an HDMI input (not true) and to take the audio input from the sp/dif coming from the optical to coax audio converter. And that works well.
Hi pal, turning the hdmi to no has seemed to have sorted it as I have sound now, yippee 🥳. However the speakers are not as loud as when I am watching from the firestick which is connected to the BS3. The difference is quite noticeable, is this normal? Thanks
Great to see it works! I am afraid I cannot tell how to change this volume difference. I would assume you cannot influence the volume setting of the TV source, but maybe you can do something with Firestick?