How to connect Beolab 3000, Beolab 4000, Beolab 6000 & a subwoofer to Beosound 3000?

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NewMC Posted: Wed, Aug 31 2016 11:32 PM

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Hi everyone!

I have a Beosound 3000 that will act as a mediacenter for my Beolab 3000, Beolab 4000, Beolab 6000 and a subwoofer (Audio Pro B2-27), i.e a total of 6 speakers and 1 subwoofer. I aim to connect all speakers and the sub to the Beosound and then connect the Beosound to my TV and/or e.g. mobile phone through an AUX cable.

I have two questions:

1. Does the use of AUX impair the audio quality? I.e. if I use http://soundsheavenly.com/apple/86--trs-5pd-.html?search_query=beosound+aux&results=11 to connect the TV to the Beosound, will the audio be of bad quality? Are there any better solutions?

2. The Beosound 3000 only has two Power link sockets, how can I go around this problem seeing as I want to connect 6 speakers and 1 sub (total 7 power link cables)? 

Thank you for your help.

Best regards

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beojeff replied on Wed, Aug 31 2016 11:56 PM

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1. The aux input works just fine.

2. Each Beolab speaker has a switch to determine whether it accepts left or right signals. You should connect the Sub (provided that it is a B&O sub such as the Beolab 2) to the BeoSound 3000. then, connect the Beolab speakers to the sup and daisy chain them. Most Beolabs (with the exception of the Beolab 8000) have 2 Din connections: one for input and one for output to daisy chain the signal to another Beolab speaker. Even if the speaker does not have 2 din connections, there is a din splitter available from B&O to send the signal from the sub to two speakers.

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beojeff replied on Thu, Sep 1 2016 12:00 AM

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Just re-read your post and saw that you are connecting a tv. Know that in order to get surround sound, you will need a proper BeoSystem to process the surround sound: such as the AV7000, BeoSystem 1, Beosystem 3, or BeoSystem 4. Otherwise, you will just be getting 2 channels played through 4 speakers with a subwoofer.

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beojeff replied on Thu, Sep 1 2016 12:05 AM

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If you want simple Dolby Surround, you should be able to find a quite old AV7000 for less than $300. Note that this system was intended to control connected components such as the TV (on/off), cable box, DVD, and VCR (yes, VCR). However, this is so old that there will be very few devices that will still be controlled by the existing IR database.

You should also be able to get a BeoSystem 1 for under $300. The IR database on this is much more recent. However, this thing is a TANK. Huge. You would have to hide it away.

The BeoSystem 3 is much more current and smaller. However, you must get the IR database updated to be tailored to your devices by a B&O technician. You should be able to get this for under $2000 now.

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NewMC replied on Thu, Sep 1 2016 1:41 PM

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It's not a B&O sub, but a Audio Pro. The Sub can be connected to one powerlink connection on the Beosound 3000, that's fine by me. The other powerlink will be used to connect the first Beolab 6000, and then from the first Beolab 6000 I should connect it to the other Beolab 6000 and continue like that to get them all connected? Have I understood you correctly?

The beosystem is too expensive for me so I will only use the speakers as they are, maybe I can buy it later on.

The right and left buttons on the backside of the speakers, can you be so kind as to explain what they mean? Do they mean that, if I connect the sub to the left powerlink output on the Beosound 3000, then all the Beolab speakers should be set to the right seeing as they will be connected (by daisy chaining) in to the right powerlink output on the Beosound 3000?

Sorry for the somewhat novice questions, this is all new to me.

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beojeff replied on Thu, Sep 1 2016 11:35 PM

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A challenge for you is that B&O is quite proprietary and not like other audio systems.

The powerlink cable carries both Left and Right signals. Selecting on the BeoLab speaker lets the speaker know which signal to produce. You can still daisy-chain the powerlink cable to other speakers to act on whatever signal you tell the speaker to use.

I don't think that you'll be successful connecting a non-B&O subwoofer directly to the BeoSound 3000. Probably your easiest and cheapest solution is to get an AV 7000. This is a rather rarebit now cheap box that was available in the U.S. that will let you connect a non-B&O subwoofer to your system. It will also give you Dolby Surround (but not Dolby Digital Surround) for your TV. This will require some extra cables and a ML/MCL converter to connect it to your BeoSound 3000. This is really the only good solution if you insist on using a non-B&O subwoofer. Also, it will allow you to use the rear speakers correctly for surround sound for your TV.

Here's a thought: just leave out the subwoofer altogether. The BeoLab speakers are great speakers. You won't get the benefit of subwoofer for movies anyway with what you have in mind. When you're ready to grow your B&O system, pick up a second-hand BeoLab 2. It's an amazing subwoofer and will work with B&O the way you need it to. It will be very difficult for you to get the correct cross-over frequency using a non-B&O sub.

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NewMC replied on Sun, Sep 4 2016 1:55 PM

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Thanks for the input! :)

I'll probably get rid of the subwoofer and run the system as is: 2 Beolab 4000 in the center, 2 Beolab 6000 in the front and 2 Beolab 3000 in the rear behind the sofa. As you say, the problem is I won't get a proper surround-system seeing as I'm lacking a Beosystem. This will probably be bought in the future, but for now this is my solution. Or, I simply get rid of the Beolab 3000's in the rear and only use the Beolab 6000's and Beolab 4000's... Not sure yet, what do you think? Are the Beolab 3000's overdoing it?