Beolab 4000 & Mac & Bluetooth

9 replies
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stevo4 (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 5, 2011 at 11:19 GMT
#1685891

Hi all, 

Didn't see this in the search section.

 

I've been out of touch with the B&O community for about 3 years + now since i put all my gear in storage (heaven forbid!) when i moved into my now ex-girlfriend's place who had to little energetic boys and couldn't take a chance of getting my stuff trashed. 

My question is:

I'm now living in a little guest house and it doesn't really make sense for me to set up my BS4 and 4000's in this small space.  I was wondering, are there any viable ways of maybe using blue tooth or other wireless set up with my macbook pro and the Beolab 4000s.  I don't know if B&O have come out with little devices to connect the speakers WITHOUT using my BS4 or other larger system. 

Audioengine makes a pretty nice set of powered, bookshelf speakers (A5) that are set up to use the airport express so i can transmit my Itunes music directly to the speakers with little trouble.  I just don't want to set up my BS4 at this time and was hoping i could get away with just the speakers and something small that would connect the mac to them. 

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-5#overview

I'm guessing the answer is no, but wanted to ask the experts here. 

Thanks!

Stevo

 

 

E(
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elephant (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 5, 2011 at 12:00 GMT
#1685892

I think you need one of these :-)

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stevo4 (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 5, 2011 at 12:24 GMT
#1685893

Thanks for the response.  I DO have an express and used one before i boxed up my gear and it worked wonderfully. 

But i am looking for ways to get the speakers to work directly with my laptop (itunes) and not having the BS4 in the picture.  Either i need some thing to attach to the speaker that will 'talk' with the laptop directly, or have the dedicated speaker cables (din type) plugging into something so they will receive the music.  

Thank you!

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elephant (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 5, 2011 at 15:16 GMT
#1685894

stevo4 wrote:
But i am looking for ways to get the speakers to work directly with my laptop (itunes) and not having the BS4 in the picture.  Either i need some thing to attach to the speaker that will 'talk' with the laptop directly, or have the dedicated speaker cables (din type) plugging into something so they will receive the music.  

excellent that you do have an Express !

all you need is a powerlink cable from the 4000s direct to the Express; no need for the BS4 at all !

I quote from the BeoLab 4000 User Guide:

Connection to non-Bang & Olufsen systems

Use a special adapter with an ordinary phono/RCA plug in one end, and a DIN­plug in the other (‘Cable for line signal’ – optional accessory, available from your Bang & Olufsen retailer).

Set the switch to LINE.

 

Or order the cable from Steve at Sounds Heavenly; see his advert at the bottom of the page

S(
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stevo4 (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 5, 2011 at 19:48 GMT
#1685895

That's great news. I'll look into it!

Thank you.

S(
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stevo4 (archived)
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Posted October 17, 2011 at 18:15 GMT
#1685896

Okay! Got it to work! Nice to have some B&O back into my life again.  Question: I am playing my music through Itunes. When i first plugged the speaker/AE into the wall, i was blasted with full volume from the speakers. The Itunes volume control seems to be one of three settings. Silent, reasonable volume, and Full blast.  The slider really doesn't slide the volume as it were.  Any work-arounds for this (the Master volume does nothing). 

 

Thanks!

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elephant (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 18, 2011 at 06:30 GMT
#1685897

stevo4 wrote:
The Itunes volume control seems to be one of three settings. Silent, reasonable volume, and Full blast.  The slider really doesn't slide the volume as it were.

I have not experienced that particular problem

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stevo4 (archived)
Bronze
Posted October 19, 2011 at 15:19 GMT
#1685898

Someone suggested that because its a 'line' connection, its processed differently than if you were plugged into the headphone jack, etc. So, the line is at full volume. I think i agree with the comment based on passed experiences. I guess i need to find a small volume control/potentiometer device to place between the ae and the speakers. 

 

 

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SirGadget (archived)
Bronze
Posted December 14, 2011 at 17:50 GMT
#1685899

Don't know if you ever got a definite solution, but I have a client who I do a lot of networking, pc, printer etc. related work for.

Around his entire house he has BeoLab 4 PC's fitted to the ceiling, with each pair being connected directly to it's own Airport Express in the attic.

We haven't tested it with a Mac, both from iPhone and iPad using AirTunes, he can adjust the colume with the slider, works brilliantly.

Now, I do not know if there's anything special about the 4 PC's? But I do not think so?

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