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I don't want a giant ass AV receiver, and i want to be able to adjust the volume with my TV remote. Additionally i don't want to turn on/off a device everytime i want to use the speakers.
Is this even possible? Does anyone have experience setting something like this up?
Hi Holbech,
Welcome to the forum! If you want to use the TV remote for volume control and you don't want an AV receiver, then the simplest option is to connect the Beolab 14 directly to the TV (or via the S8 Connection Hub if the TV doesn't have a headphone socket). You can then get the front and rear satellite speakers working together (ie. stereo through all four speakers), which is almost as good as true surround sound in most cases.
For true surround sound, either a B&O TV or an AV receiver would generally be the only way. Please let me know which option is of interest and I will be pleased to confirm how to get everything working.
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
FYI, surround sound receivers can be quite small - Yamaha is my choice. Also, some third party TV's have features like HDMI-CEC (Samsung comes to mind here). This allows you to control other CEC equipped components through a single source.
In a nutshell, with everything hooked up correctly (via HDMI and CEC turned on), turning the TV on will automatically turn on the receiver. Using the TV remote to adjust volume will also then control the volume of the receiver - essentially the TV's internal speakers are deactivated. And once you turn the TV off (again with the TV remote), the TV will send a signal to the receiver to turn off as well.
Hope that helped. Lots of articles online.
(Sorry, Steve, I have to disagree with you on this one... 4-point stereo is bootleg surround sound )
Hey Steve, thanks for the answer!I already own the S8 connection hub, but I am not sure how to connect this with my BeoLab 14 when using 4.1. At the moment my BeoLab 14 is connected to the S8 hub via RJ45. When using 4.1 I would need an additional RJ45 input in the S8 hub for it to work? Correct me if im wrong.
Stereo through all speakers is more than enough. I actually only want to fill my room with more music, with a set of additional satellites. With this said I have actually found and bought a 5.1 decoder, which takes optical from TV and splits into 6 channels (2x front, 2x rear, 1x center, 1x subwoofer). But for that to work as true 5.1 the S8 hub, would have to throughput 5.1 in the optical port, which I don't think it does. So for starters I would be satisfied with stereo through all four.
Regards, Holbech.
DELETED. (Repost mistake)
My TV is actually a Samsung TV, with HDMI-CEC. If I can't fix it without a receiver, I will definitely look into this kind og setup. Thank you!
No, the S8 connection hub is stereo only. Also it only decodes PCM stereo, not 5.1 DTS or anything like that.
Other than getting a surround decoder, another box, some lots of $$$ Your best bet is still a 'home theatre receiver'. Not only decoding the surround to analogue an issue, also volume control. So a preamp for the channels is required, hence an integrated receiver will do just that.
Also like mentioned, modern ones accept HDMI CEC and modern televisions also output audio via HDMI ARC. So with one cable from the television, all controls like on-off and volume can be done via tele remote.
For your needs you'd have to find a receiver that is:
Thanks for the answer! I guess I'll start browsing for a receiver then
Hi,
I would say the easiest is to have double stereo while using the connection hub! All you need is a RJ45 splitter, so the one cable from the connection hub goes in to two left/right signals you can connect to the Sub! Works perfectly for me! I use it with a Sony TV (and apple tv) and an old Beogram, and it all works seamlessly with all my remotes! :D
RE: Vegard.
What? that would simply be the same stereo 2.0 signal.. how is that surround other than the same stereo image on two sets?
Davidr:Correct, i saw that he had a Connection Hub, but did not know how to connect all speakers, and i understoud that he maybe would be happy with just stereo on all speakers. Just wanted to share this, since I had a similar setup!
Yes! This is perfect, thank you! I need to buy another RJ45 cable then. Will any RJ45 work, or does it need to be special for audio?
Standard (UTP) RJ45 cables are not suitable for audio, you will get loads of background noise and humming. Please ensure that shielded (STP) cables like these are used to avoid problems:-
http://soundsheavenly.com/powerlink-rj45-cat5-connection-models-from-2013/28-rj45-powerlink-compatible-shielded-cable-for-beolab-speakers-2013-and-newer.html
If you want all of this:
Almando Multiplay surround!
https://almando.com/index.php/almando-category/multiplay/almando-multiplay-surround-decoder.html
But it will cost you around 900,- euro's...
You could buy an AV receiver with pre-out sockets (eg. Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, etc) from around £500 GBP (€550) to get surround sound through Beolab speakers at almost half the price, plus the receiver will manage all of your HD video sources and most of them will also give you wireless music streaming as well...... In particular, Marantz make some very slim receivers that don't take up too much space.
Cabling a receiver to Beolab 14 (or any Beolab speakers) is easy to arrange.