Beocentre 8500 and RL 7000’s

im wondering if there is anyway to increase the amp section of the 8500?... does anyone know anything about the ICE amps would they work as a way to get the most out of my RL7000’s?... The 8500 just doesn’t have the power to push these amazing speakers!!... I used to have a pair of RL140’s the predecessor to the 7000’s... they were connected to a Denon RA35 100watt receiver and sounded bright and beautiful!!!... I didnt realize that the 8500 was so weak?... unfortunately since it’s such a beautiful design but no guts... can someone offer me some suggestions on how to overcome this dilemma?

matusco:

im wondering if there is anyway to increase the amp section of the 8500?... does anyone know anything about the ICE amps would they work as a way to get the most out of my RL7000’s?... The 8500 just doesn’t have the power to push these amazing speakers!!... I used to have a pair of RL140’s the predecessor to the 7000’s... they were connected to a Denon RA35 100watt receiver and sounded bright and beautiful!!!... I didnt realize that the 8500 was so weak?... unfortunately since it’s such a beautiful design but no guts... can someone offer me some suggestions on how to overcome this dilemma?

Hi matusco,

You could buy a pair of BeoLab 200s. Right now there is a pair on eBay uk (nothing to do with me). These are extremely rare to see on sale. They are the same amp as in the BeoLab Penta, approx. 150W/channel, so well-suited to the RL7000s.

Alternatively, buy a cable from Sounds Heavenly to take a feed from one of your BC8500’s two Powerlink sockets (either one will do) and feed it to a third-party power amp of your choice.

Good luck.

Lawrence

I can’t seem to find them Lawrence, what did you mean a powerlink to an amp

of my choice?..is there anyway to make the RL7000’s active using a small amp like ice?

Hi matusco,

A traditional integrated amplifier is made up of 2 stages:

- Pre-amp: typically this does the source switching, balance, treble, balance and volume adjustment.

- Power amp: this amplifies the low-level signal from the pre-amp to a high level than can drive a passive loudspeaker like your RL7000s.

I guess what you want to do is take the pre-amp feed from your BC8500 and send it to an ICEpower power amplifier that will drive your RL7000s.

The BC8500’s pre-amp output is called a Powerlink socket (see the back left-hand side of your BC8500 as seen from the front). There are two Powerlink sockets, but each one carries both left and right signals.

Yes, with an appropriate cable you can connect your BC8500 to a power amp such as an ICEPower amp. The RL7000s will connect to the output of the ICEPower amp.

But I don’t believe that there are retail versions of ICEPower amps. You would have to buy components and make it yourself, or find a specialist who has built one.

I was trying to suggest an off-the-shelf option that was designed for the task (the Beolab 200s). But these are very rare to find on the used market.

Hope this helps.

Lawrence

I forgot to mention: the BeoCreate website has kits for making certain old B&O passive speakers active, by installing ICE amps inside.

I don’t know if they have a kit for the RL7000. Maybe Tuomas (userID tph) will chip in - he’s involved with BeoCreate.

Lawrence

Wow Lawrence that’s amazing!!!...that’s what I heard but I couldn’t recall from where? There is a lot of space in the cabinet of the RL 7000’s I just don’t want it to effect the acoustics... although there is a lot of baffle material inside which I could probably cut into and add some fire retardant material to prepare for the overheating...I really appreciate your helping me!!!... 

Sincerely,

Patrick

You can actually find them on eBay... 125/250watt differentials 

You can actually find them on eBay... 125/250watt differentials 

You can find them on eBay common sizes are 125/250watts

Here’s the Beocreate page with instructions for RL6000 (not CX50 as the link suggests!):

https://www.hifiberry.com/beocreate/beocreate-guides/beovox-cx50-2/

Maybe if you combine your higher power amp with their process you can get what you’re looking for. But be careful of heat build-up inside the cabinet.

What I like about what they have done is that with the active eq they can get old speakers sounding even ‘better’ than new - or at least, with the sound balance you prefer.

Now you’re making me curious about trying this with a spare pair of RLs I have

Lawrence

I'm pretty confident in saying the Beocreate 4CA is not ICE powered.

I don't think there are plans for the RL 7000 at the moment, you would also need one Beocreate amp per speaker with a TOSLink bridge for a stereo setup.

IMO the main reason to get a Beocreate 4CA is to use the new measured speaker profiles from The Cube, they made my CX50 pair sound absolutly incredible.

Lawrence

The Beocreate amp replaces the passive crossover inside the speakers (that's how they can do the DSP magic to make them sound WAY better than before), so you're not connecting the speakers to another amp for more power.

Lawrence I also own a pair of CX100 conas, I sold the Subwoofer because the RL7000’s so I great job for the low end. The equipment you mentioned how do I install it?... is there videos or blueprints?

Lawrence the site link you pasted doesn’t seem to be active, the browser just stays stagnant.... ALs where would I find a TOSlink bridge?... I’m really not that knowledgeable concerning doing all of this and will need guidance. Do you have links on where to buy the crate amps?... I know I can buy ICE amps on eBay... roughly how much do you think it would cost to do this upgrade?... Also I think the 7000’s are perfect to upgrade... The only thing I’m most concerned about is the Heat?... where to dispel it?... perhaps something like the computer CPU fans? But then again will they effect sound quality?

matusco

You should look through and read everything here https://www.hifiberry.com/beocreate/

Not everything is explained in detail, the Beocreate project is made for people who like DIY stuff. The streaming (Airplay, Spotify, Bluetooth) is done through a Raspberry Pi, some basic unix command line knowledge is highly recommended. Regarding the heat, I wouldn't be too worried, AFAIK no one has had a problem with it, also you can't leave open holes (for a fan) in the cabinet since that would ruin the bass.

2x Beocreate 4CA, 1x Raspberry Pi 3, 1x MicroSD card, 2x 120W Power Supply/Plugs and insulated wires, 2x 3D printed parts, 3x TOSLink cables, 2x TOSLink adaptors (to make the bridge)
My rough estimation is ~500€

You'll also need a soldering iron, screwdrivers, wirecutters, wirestrippers, electric drills and drill-bits...

This PDF should show you most of the process
https://www.hifiberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/rl6000-guide.pdf

@ Svenni:

Hast du mal deine Lautsprecher verglichen im Betrieb mit dem normalen Verstärker?

Bezüglich der Soundprofile ist doch auch immer die Frage, was für einen Sound man erreichen will.

Ist das jetzt eher linear oder anregend?

Kann man trotzdem noch die Lautsprecher an seiner alten Anlage betreiben?

Was mich von dem Projekt abhält ist, dass man die Teile ja zerstört und ein Rückbau nicht möglich ist.

Hope you don't mind me replying in English, my German isn't great (expat from Iceland), and I also think others in this tread might find this interesting as well.

Full disclosure: I've never listened to them with a proper Beomaster, only pretty good amplifiers.

I liked the sound of them before I modded, so I wanted to minimize the damage as much as possible. I didn't remove the 2-pin DIN socket or the passive crossover, and only made one 11 mm hole for the power socket on the left speaker. I used the pre-existing wall-bracket mounting hole for the 4-pin mini XLR sockets for speaker to speaker connection. I'll try to post some photos tomorrow to help explain this.

That being said, after testing them with the Beocreate, I have no plans on reversing the mod. They sound absolutely incredible. Every part of the spectrum sounds clearer and more controlled. Now I've further plans to add TOSLink and ethernet to the back of them as well. I'm also planning to mod my RL 6000s soon with Beocreate, can't wait to hear the results.

If someone in the Berlin area has a good CX50 setup and wants to do a sound test, I would love to bring them over for a better A/B test.

matusco:

Lawrence the site link you pasted doesn’t seem to be active, the browser just stays stagnant.... ALs where would I find a TOSlink bridge?... I’m really not that knowledgeable concerning doing all of this and will need guidance. Do you have links on where to buy the crate amps?... I know I can buy ICE amps on eBay... roughly how much do you think it would cost to do this upgrade?... Also I think the 7000’s are perfect to upgrade... The only thing I’m most concerned about is the Heat?... where to dispel it?... perhaps something like the computer CPU fans? But then again will they effect sound quality?

Hi Matusco,

Apologies for the dead link and the radio silence, I’m on a business trip.

I’m glad that Svenni was able to help you.

Good luck with your project.

As soon as I have some time I might do the same

Best regards,

Lawrence

@ Svenni:

Thank you very much for your reply.

It sounds very interesting. I hope you find someone in the forum who lives in Berlin for a small test.

:)

I would be glad to hear about the results.

Grüße

Christian

Stereomensch:

It sounds very interesting. I hope you find someone in the forum who lives in Berlin for a small test.

:)

I would be glad to hear about the results.

Yeah, would also love to A/B test my RL 6000s after modding!

Sven,

that is a great reply... do you have instruction on how to do the mod?... Also what speakers did you Mod?...I have the RL 7000’s that I want to modify... Do you have a link as where I can purchase the Beocrate?... is it an amplifier?

Sincerely 

Patric

@ Matusco:

I don't think this will work. These Beocreate sets are only for a small bunch of Beovox speakers. The Beocreate set include a small amplifier. But they use special sound designs that were custom made for the speakers. It is probably not a good idea to use a rl 7000 with the sound profil of a beovox c50 or rl6000.

These sets are available at the moment:

https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/stereo-setup-for-a-pair-of-cx50-cx100-speakers/

Beovox cx100

Beovox cx50

https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/beovox-rl6000-guide-now-available/

Beovox Redline 6000

https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/beovox-s35-guide-now-available/

Beovox S35

 

 

 

@ Svenni:

I ve opened a thread about the beocreate project on the german forum. Please feel free to join ;)

https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/34495.aspx

 

I, have a pair of CX100’s and a mod would be interesting.... I’m going to look into your suggestions as it does sound intriguing!!.. Do they come with a manual?

• As for the RL7000’s would you suggest the ICE amplifiers?... they are very small and can be either installed in the cabinets or utilized in the external boxes they have for the amps.
• They sell the ICE amps on eBay and they are very affordable options. I’m just lost when it comes to how I would connect them? 
• They have volume controls and can be used independently from the speakers. My question 

Continued....

My Question: Is there anyway that the ICE amps can be bridged between the Beocentre 8500 and the RL7000’s?... so they could be independently adjusted....I would imagine setting their volume at mid level and then using the 8500 as the Master Vol. via remote?

Here is an example of the ICE Amp that I’m referring to:

https://m.ebay.com/itm/ICE-POWER-2x125W-HIFI-Amplifier-Board-ICE125ASX2-Dual-Channel-With-CASE/201897395614?hash=item2f0205c59e:g:RzQAAOSwSypY90qx

This happens to be 125watts X 2 channels... do you think it would be possible to bridge this amp between the Beocentre 8500 & RL 7000’s?

Sincerely,

patric

After looking at the post on eBay if you notice the speaker pins for both right and left channels I think it’s possible!!!.. also the main feed could be connected to the Aux out perhaps?

patric

Dear Sven,

Unfortunately I do not speak or understand German... I’ve been to Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Belinda for work, but only once, Sir..

sincerely,

patric

Typo- Belinda is Berlin.... haha I’m sure you realize that... but just to cover my ***, I corrected myself!!!

I just got a chance to view the upcycle of the RL6000’s!!!!.. So awesome I can’t imagine how they sound?... are they now Bluetooth compatible?... and obviously independent active speakers I assume?.... Wow can you contact the engineer of the Beocrate and see if there is any plans for upgrading the RL7000’s?... This would be amazing!!!.. but please see my thread where I mention the ICE power amp!!! I think it is possible!!! Because the RL7000’s are registered for 250 watts the I E amp is 125x2....

patric