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
Hello together,
as I now have completely set-up and tested my B&O Masterlink installation it is time to hide all the cabling. Therefore i installed CAT 7 into my house some time ago. To connect everything I need a bunch of ML -> RJ45 Cables (15 pieces). As these cables are quite expensive and I have enough masterlink cables I wondered if i could cut the ML Cables into two pieces and attach RJ45 connectors to each end.
I understand this is the right cabling:
Do you have recommendations for the right RJ45 pConnector as there have to be connected 2 wires to PIN 3.
Living room: BeoVision 7 MKV + BeoLab 7-2 + 2x BeoLab 8000 + BeoLab 2 + 2x BeoLab 4000Office / guest room: BV 7-32 MKIV / BL7-1; BeoSound Core + TurntableKitchen: BeoPlay M3Bathroom: Gira Radio + BeoLab CelestialEntrance: BeoPlay M3
I have just tested several RJ45 Plugs but the original one from B&O seems way longer than normal RJ45 plugs. Is there a recommendation how these cables are made right? Do you really crimp two cables on one pin or do you connect the cables first together and the connect this one cable into the plug? Any recommendations would be great.
Hello Tim, I cannot help you with your exact question from experience*, but I could imagine you go the other way: find some good patch cables, cut them to the right length and solder an 8 pin din connector to the loose end. There you can easily make the leads come together. Maybe an idea?
Johan
*I did make some powerlink cables myself using RJ45 wall sockets, RJ 45 crimp plugs, Lumberg 8 pin din plugs and Tasker c207 microphone cable. I used these same cables in the wall, and I did not respect the wiring scheme B&O recommends :-)
sorry - ignore my post - somehow i completely overlooked you want to make masterlink cables!
Having read your question properly now: I think it will not be possible to run two of the masterlink cable wires into one position of the rj45 plug. There will not be enough space and you risk to not having a proper connection as the little blades are made to cut through 1 plastic wire lining only.
I guess it will be most easy (as you said) to connect the two wires first. With help of some heat shrink tube you must be able to use any good quality rj45 plugs I would reckon (irrespective of their length)
Or (last post of today) you could strip the isolation of (only) these two wires and twist them so that together they get the thickness of one isolated wire.
Keep all other wires isolated and crimp the connector. This is what I would try, and it would result in an elegant cable. Let us know what you will do!
This is a great tip. I will try that tomorrow as this sounds like a good solution.
Thanks a lot Johan :-)
Hi Tim84, were you able to make some functioning cables?
This is what I made....can it help?
Hi Zeus72, I think this is exactly what Tim is after: make two masterlink cables from 1 (with a bit of diy magic). Regards, Johan
Also made one:
Well Done Johan....
I'm very proud of your result and your lighter
Thank you so much for all of your replies. I now had the time to some cabling. And tried a lot of RJ45 connectors till I found the best solution.
The best working connectors for me are these ones I found on amazon. They have a very solid quality.
The best way is as a lot of other ones here already have shown to handle all cable except for the white/Blue and Oink one like the are. The white/blue and pink one have to be connected before you crimp them. I will post some more pictures the next days as I have to do 6 more cables.
Cool! Maybe a trick that could help you with a tidy installation: I used a double RJ45 wall outlet and connected the two female sockets internally. So now the outlet works as a splitter, and I can connect two MasterLink devices that are close (in my case a BeoSystem 3 and an ML/MCL converter).
Johan: Cool! Maybe a trick that could help you with a tidy installation: I used a double RJ45 wall outlet and connected the two female sockets internally. So now the outlet works as a splitter, and I can connect two MasterLink devices that are close (in my case a BeoSystem 3 and an ML/MCL converter).
This is an amazing idea as I also have two Masterlink devices next to each other. [BV7 and ML Gateway]Thanks for this superb idea now automation has no limits ;-)
glad you like my trick!
Hi Tim84,
In my home all rooms are cat6 cabled and has two data outputs. Will I be able to do the same, or must the installation be with cat7 in order for it to work?
Living Room: BeoVision 7-55 MKII / BeoLab 7-6 + BeoRemote One + 2x BeoLab 8002 + BeoLab 2 + 2x BeoLab 6002 + BeoSound 9000 MKII + BeoSound Core + BeoCom 2 + BeoLink Gateway + BLC NL/MLMaster Bedroom: BeoVision 11-55 MKIV + BeoRemote One + 2xBeoLab 6000 + 2x BeoLab 4000 + BeoTime + BeoCom 2Guest Bedroom: BeoVision 6-26 MKIV + BeoRemote One + BeoCom 6000Home Office: BeoVision 10-32 + BeoRemote One + DVD1 + BeoCord V8000 VHS + BeoSound 8 + BeoSound 1 (CD version) + BeoPlay A1 + BeoCom 2Sewing Room: BeoVision 10-40 MKII + BeoRemote OneBathroom: BeoPlay M3 + BeoRemote One
We use CAT6 cabling in our house with ML/RJ45 cables without any issues.
Ralf
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).
Hi, you will need to have S/FTP (shielded, foiled twisted pair) cabling for this.
This is a very interesting thread!
Would these be of interest...
https://www.av-connection.com/?PGr=14046
Great thread!I happened to have a spare ML plug so I did it the other way around and crimped a ML plug to a CAT6 shielded cable. Works fine.
RJ45 pins to ML pins, I think you have a typo in your pin conversion. I believe that pin 3 on the RJ45 should connect to pin 12 & 3 on the ML plug. Just highlighting this in case other users will use this thread as a reference. I found a picture on the internet where I have added the ML pin 12 to the RJ 45 pin 3.
I have also confirmed these connections by measuring an original Bang & Olufsen ML to RJ45 cable.
I also found a great guide for the Ml plug on the internet with pictures. https://powmascables.com/PDF/Aansluit-schemas/Masterlink-Connector-kabels.pdf
Lastly, where have you managed to get hold of RJ45 shielded plugs for installation cables where the ML wires can fit? The one I managed to get hold of doesn't fit the ML wires.
Regards, BeoMedia
Hi BeoMedia,
For the pin-out I used this as a source: https://beointegration.com/uploaded/EN-BeoLink-handbook-v1-9.pdf, page 98. It confirms what you write: position 3 in the RJ 45 is connected with position 3 and 12 in the ML plug with resp the white/blue and pink wires.
The RJ45 connectors I used did not really have separate holes for the separate wires, so there was a bit more room, still pretty crowded in there :-). I ordered these a long time ago, not on purpose for this feature though. I ran out of them, cannot tell anymore the brand/type.
I did read that Van Damme cables has some RJ 45 connectors with extra large holes https://www.van-damme.com/vandamme_product/van-damme-oversize-category-6a-rj45-connectors/#1537534704706-04936170-849f24df-956fb40f-3195 (1.5mm, is that enough?), but not sure if they are large enough. Can you measure how thick those ML conductors are?
Regards and good luck!
I did purchase some RJ45 of a brand called 'Vention' that claims that the conductor holes are 1.3mm. I made a couple of MasterLink cables with them and found that most of the ML conductors fit eaxtly, others need some motivation. I trust there are various makes of ML cables around, and I am not sure about the tolerances of both conductors and connectors, but it might be wise to find connectors that are specified to 1.4mm.