Guy wrote:
Yes to all the questions that you have asked in this paragraph. Be aware that the MCL2AV requires a 15v power supply so ideally look for that when you purchase. If you can find one, the predecessor to the Beolink Passive was known as an MCL2P, and had the advantage of a built in 15v power output designed to power the MCL2AV.
Actualle I have tested that a 12V power supply can also be used. However be avare that the polarity on the connector is reverse to what is common (+ is on the outside of the connector and minus is on the inside), so if you do no use an original power supply be sure to find one where the tips can switch position in order to change polarity.
(1) Of course if you have a ‘normal’ 12v power supply it’s easy enough to cut the wire and switch round the +ve and -ve with a terminal strip, crimps, solder or whatever.
(2) Madskp and Guy have suggested elsewhere that the 15v power supply is only vital if you have a MCL2AV which also has passive speaker outputs and you want to use it (effectively) as an MCL2A. I’m not sure if there’s any real bonus to doing this (rather than just an MCL2A) as I don’t think it gives you independent volume control. Most MCL2AVs don’t have the passive speaker ports anyway.
(3) MCL2 is a pretty good system. In my experience (detailed here) it’s much easier to set up an MCL2 system that works as you’d like than with Masterlink (ML), especially with older kit like yours. In theory the sound quality is better with ML but you’d need good ears to tell. ML has the additional advantages of volume control on the IR-eye transceivers and the option for standard CAT6/7 cabling and RJ45 plugs though.
(4) MCL cable is hard to come by nowadays but there are fairly straightforward options if you’re happy for something a bit less neat than real 7-core MCL cable. The 7 conductors are left speaker + and -, right speaker + and -, low-voltage trigger power, data signal, and a shield around that data signal. The trickier bit is the shielded data cable but something like this should work fine for pence per metre. The other five conductors you can fudge from real speaker cable, or 240v power cable (with and without earth), or a fairly neat and cheap option is five-core cable like this, about a pound a metre. The colours are all wrong of course but that’s easy to figure out. This is what I’ve been using with the shielded data cable wound around the outside. It all functions fine and the 0.75mm2 cable carrying the amplified audio signal is pretty similar to the original MCL cable.
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