Beolab 8000s

Ref: Beolab 800s Active speakers 

I am looking at buying a second hand pair of Beolab 8000s. Although I have some high end equipment, I have never owned anything B&O and so I am looking to upgrade. I thought I would start with my music room. We have a room specific for stereo sound as the other rooms have home cinema and sonoas and so wanted some advice. I consider myself a novice and so any help on what I need would be helpful. The real basics please, I know these are active speakers so do I need an amplifier/stero receiver for example? And I know they come with a specific wiring system for B&O, does that mean I need specific connectors. My goal is to set up something that sounds good for stereo where I can stream my music straight from my phone or listen to the radio. I dont need a turn table or cd etc. Any help welcome.  

Graingey:

Ref: Beolab 800s Active speakers…I know these are active speakers so do I need an amplifier/stero receiver for example?

You are correct: Beolab 8000 are active speakers, with their own very capable amplifiers. They need a pre-amp signal to feed them. If you have a separate pre-amp, or a stereo receiver with pre-outs, or an AVR with pre-outs, just take the pre-out signal to RCA jack on the 8000s. Also, with the right cables you can connect your iPhone directly to the speakers.

Graingey:

And I know they come with a specific wiring system for B&O, does that mean I need specific connectors.

Umm, sorta. B&O use bog-standard RCA plugs/jacks in the 8000s to connect to non-B&O equipment. If, otoh, you invest in a B&O source system, you’ll use the European DIN standard plugs, over which B&O has implemented their proprietary protocol (‘Powerlink’).

Graingey:

My goal is to set up something that sounds good for stereo where I can stream my music straight from my phone or listen to the radio.

Ok, as above, you can connect your phone directly, or stream from phone to a 3rd party streamer (Apple Airport Express 2nd generation, or Google Chromecast, or…), which is in turn connected to the 8000s.

You can read up here (https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=802), then go to the Sounds Heavenly site (this site’s sponsor) to research specific cables. https://soundsheavenly.com.