I have posted much on my system and 3rd Party equipment into the BL90s. The issue comes down to perceived value (price, quality, usefulness etc) and how you wish to connect it?

1. Whatever you buy, connect directly to the BL5. Im very cynical that "beovisions" and "wide-body" Beolabs go together well sound-wise.
2. Do you want to connect via Analogue (RCA) or Digital (CoAx). There are pros and cons to each.
3. What are you listening to? Ripped music on a NAS, Hi-Res Streaming or something else?
4. Try and trial equipment at home if you can. The control systems (more often not iOS controlled) vary.
5. The BL5 may need the volume cable connecting and possibly a dedicated Beo4 for volume??

Equipment (from my experience)

1. BS Core. Currently EoL,  full B&O integration but relatively poor in terms of streaming quality. Muffles the sound of the BLs like Beovisions
2. Auralic Altair G1. EoL but good bargains now. internal DAC and RCA Output, add a HDD, Killer app and takes Qobuz, amazon, Tidal (Spotify HiFi once released). I have a Altair connected to BL17's. works fine.
3. Auralic Aries G1. Top quality. Digital Coax out, Wifi receiving Streamer. Otherwise as the Altair. Again, lots of bargains out there.

Highly recommend whatever you go for (Core/Auralic/Other), that you know the controls, operability's and limitations. Almost anything at the cost of the BS Core or above...will blow the Core out of the water sound-wise with the "wide-body" Beolabs. Loss of integration is the price.

Thank you for the detailed reply!

First of all I will only go for hi-res streaming via Qobuz.
The Core wasn‘t my first choice. I think a third party option is better in this case.

RCA or digital is the question.. I think the most usable option is RCA or digital to the BS3. This way everything stay the same. And I don’t need any cables in the living room.

Used equipment would be an option here! I‘ll take a closer look on the Auralic stuff. I‘m willing to spend 1.000€ on this project.  Thank you so far.

I need to say I am not „scared“ to pay the  price of usability loss if better sound is what I get.

Hi,

You maybe can keep some integration.

I have a BS3-based BV9 (European version with scarts) and a BC2 (equiped of a coaxial SPDIF output) connected to BL5s.

My products are connected to AV2 and BL5 as per the Blue/Red arrows.

You maybe could connect your streamer as per the Green/Orange arrows) on AV5 and affect this input to an auxiliary source of your BS3.

My guess is that BL5 prioritize the coaxial input for signal processing and that the PL are used for volume control.

Just my 2 cents if it may help.

Yann.

 

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As a previous owner of a Beosystem 3 and Beolab 5 I strongly recommend not to rout the audio signal via the Beosystem 3 if you are looking for the best sound. The BS3 does always "something" to the audio signal.

The biggest challenge leaving the Beoworld is volume control if you feed a signal straight to the BL5. There are some work arounds, I ended up with a Core with a optical converterbox and a powerlink connection to the BL5. The TV and the core shared the BL5 Powerlink input via a Almando Powerlink Switch.

Now with my new BL50 much much easier....hope to have my new on order Linn streamer soon.

Hi, after the wise advice of  Mr10Percent, I use an external streamer / DAC , the Wattson Madison connected with RCA cables on my BL50.

With Harmony as a streamer (chromecast, airplay…) the sound was cold and weak in comparison with the sound of the Wattson Madison (very very analog sound)

It’s night and day, I discover how these speakers are capable.

Now they sound so good … The midrange is rich and expressive, the bass fascinating, and the high frequencies silky smooth

I just ordered the Bluesound Node for testing some stuff. When it is here I will share my results.

The BS3 has no SPDIF out like the BV9. This would‘ve been the best method. I need to try all connections and see what is the best option.

I guess the digital In will win by far. But we will see.
I let you guys know! Thank you for the help. I keep this thread alive for other beoworlders.

link

My guess is that BL5 prioritize the coaxial input for signal processing and that the PL are used for volume control.

Hi YannChris, maybe you know this. I am hoping one day to own a set of BeoLab 5s, and feed them a digital signal from a BeoSound Core (for optimal quality). They would be also front speakers for my BeoSystem 3 setup, so partly something like this (think Core instead of 9000). Login to view image My Core is part of a BeoLink NL/ML system, so I am now wondering: if I watch TV (BS3 feeding analog signals into the BL5s), but in another room someone starts the linked Core's radio (it will start to provide a digital output signal), will the BL 5s keep playing TV audio or will they let the digital radio audio overrule? Regards, Johan

Hello everyone!

I updated the Beosystem now with my streamer of choice.

After researching for different streamers and solutions I could use, I came up with the Wiim Pro.

This is far away from the High end price range BIT it does everything I was looking for. This could be the first or the last step for me when it comes to streaming. I will try to get some other streamers to compare them. Maybe my B&O dealer will give a Core for testing. We will see.

The first problem was to get one of these little boxes. I‘m located in Germany. And the Wiim was always sold out at Amazon. Now I finally have one!

After some research and a nice talk with my B&O dealer our idea was Wiim Pro Coax out to the Beosystem 3 and use the MK2 PL cables. I have no visible cables in my living room. The idea to use the digital in on the BL5‘s wasn’t an option after all.

Now the Wiim does his job in this way. Coax In on AV in from the BS3. Settings to 24 Bit 96 kHz.
The competition is my ATV newest Gen. And I can tell you the Wiim Pro does an far superior job. I tried the analog out first. I thought maybe the DAC in the Wiim is better. And it was better then the ATV. But after using the Coax out my decision is final.

In the next few days I‘m trying to write down my impressions. But I don‘t want to use the superlative and tell you that I have a new listening experience. Since I‘m a car guy it feels like switching from E10 to 102 octane.

I‘ll keep you updated. Now I need to listen a lot and do A/B switching between the ATV and the Wiim.

Next step could be an Antimode X2.