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
So, I've been bitten by the audio bug after purchasing some Beolab 5s on a nice discount. I've since picked up some Mcintosh gear (C2500 preamp and MR88 fm radio connected via balanced XLR) to replace my beosystem 3 but now I have a question on how to hook everything up. One note: I have a Beosound 9000 mk3 as well that Inintend to use as a CD player. I have a Logitech harmony ultimate to control my equipment
1) The original connection setup I was considering was to just use the RCA preouts on the C2500 and feed my BL5s with those. I have a homemade sync cable (found that great post about how to do it with two rca to 'inijack ables and two barrel plugs). But I've been going through the manuals and noticed that I will need to change the speaker options, then I assume I will have to play around with the BS9000 options as well (both currently in option 0). Even then, turning on and off the speakers looks to be a giant PITA. I would plug the BS9k into the spdif in on my C2500.
2) out of (?) laziness, I'm thinking of just using the BS9k as a standalone, and hooking the BL5s up to it, and then running the C2500/MR88 to the aux in on my BS9k. The benefit is, powerlink, no speaker option changes required, no sync cable needed, everything is kind of easy.
3) the final option I was considering was a variation of option 1, but instead of going line in to the BL5s, buy a Beosound essence mk 2 and then plugging the C2500 into that through line in, then connecting my BL5s to the essence. I assume then, like in option 2, I don't need to mess around with speaker option settings and I could use the Beosound essence remote for volume, or I could get the IR eye and my harmony remote could handle everything
I would love input from anyone who may have done something like this for their advice on which option to go with.
This is embarrassing. One last thing to note is that I am building a new house and doing prewiring, and intend to add (in the future) a surround processor to my setup to use my 7-2 and BL9s for a 5 speaker system (no sub needed with my BL5s, right?).
So, let your minds run wild, ladies and gents.
Ok, so I've gone ahead and pulled the trigger on the new audio setup. I'm happy, I guess? It looks nice and truthfully, it seems to work well. I thought I'd post what I did so that future readers can use this as a guide if necessary.
My current setup: 2xBL5s, BS9km3, McIntosh C2500, McIntosh MR88, PS4, Tivo Bolt, Sony Bravia (1080p only)
Sitting in the wings: Emotiva XMC-1, BL9s, BL7-2
I've got XLRs going from balanced out of the MR88 to the balanced in of the C2500. The BS9k is in Option 1, with a SPDIF cable going to digital 3 (Coax) on the C2500.
The Tivo and PS4 are plugged via HDMI into the TV at HDMI 1 and 2, optical out from the TV is going to Digital 1 (opt 1) in the C2500. For TV and Bluray, I use the same setting (DVD) to listen to PCM stereo. You have to set that in each device, of course.
I have the BL5s in Option 4. RCA connects going from the C2500 to the BL5s. I tried to set the line option to 2 (voltage)...my unbalanced outs on the C2500 put out a (max?) of 2.5V, but for whatever reason, the instructions in the manual (list->sound->2) don't seem to work (LED indicators don't blink when you press 2). In any case, the speakers work fine, and I don't need more than 50% on my preamp output anyways.
I think the biggest help is my remote. I'm using a Logitech Harmony ultimate, with the hub. You set up all the devices - INCLUDING - Beolab 5's as their own device. In the device settings, I revise the power on/off settings to ensure that the C2500 and the BL5s doesn't get turned off if you switch activities, only if you press "off". Don't forget to use alternate remote settings for one of the McIntosh devices. I needed to program the on/off for my alternate setting into the Logitech remote, but that was easy.
The BL5's Power On setting seem to work fine. The only hiccup in my entire setup is that when powering off, everything *but* the BL5's turn off. I eventually need to go to my Beo4 to turn the speakers off. It's a little annoying, but if that's the only hiccup, I'll consider that a win. I tried to reprogram the power off button on the Logitech remote, but it does not pick up the signal from the Beo4 when you press the standby button. Very frustrating.
The C2500 has a home theater passthrough. My next step is to integrate my Emotiva XMC-1 into the setup, which will involve using XLR balanced outs to the C2500's ins, and plugging a 12V trigger out from the Emotiva to the home theater passthrough on the C2500. This way, the emotive can control all speaker output during TV and movies. I will be plugging the optical out from the TV to the emotiva optical in to give it the data it needs. One could also plug individual optical cables from the Tivo and PS4 to the XMC1...I'll probably do that at some point.
At that point, I just need to hook up the BL9s to the rear L/R line outs on the Emotiva, and a mono RCA w/ 12->5V trigger stepdown to my BL7-2 for center. I haven't found a good cable yet online (I just want a male powerlink DIN, 2m) but I'll keep searching. Not super important right now, since I'll be moving in less than 6 months anyways, and I'll make new cables for that connection.
Bottom line, everything seems to work well, and I have no complaints. The BeoSystem 3 setup had more bass for the BL5s...but I think that's something I can probably tweak in the trim settings on the C2500. It's nice to have HD radio (MR88) and with the emotiva, I'll have access to the latest audio codecs. It's also way, way easier to hook up additional sources to this setup than it was for my Beosystem 3. For whatever reason, I could not get airplay to work on the BS3 (tried to plug in my airport express to AV4/5/6 L/R in). It worked immediately with my C2500. That being said, once I plug in the emotiva, I will be able to use the emotiva to do the DAC rather than whatever garbage is in the router.