Very pleased, some degree of hybrid Masterlink success to report!
After considering the possibility of using the output from a Beomaster 5000 with its different IR protocols and datalink, that set me thinking about just using the Aux port on my Beomaster 6500 as a line output, and taking advantage of the fact that the Master Control Panel 6500 can control the BM6500 but apparently not other IR-eyes or Beomasters. So my working test setup at the moment is:
Beosystem 6500 in the lounge, with BG6500, BGCD6500, Non-B&O TV into the Tape port and Majority Fitzwilliam DAB/streamer into Tape 2, with PL out to BL4000s in the lounge, all controlled with the MCP6500
Home-made cable from BM6500 Aux port taking the L/R audio out to the L/R video in on a BLC1611 as per the recommended 'bodge', then ML cable to an RJ45 ML distribution board
RJ45 > ML cable into my new Beosound 3000 in the dining room, with PL out to BL3000s
RJ45 > ML cable into a BL2000, mostly just for test purposes at the moment.
The Beosystem 6500 works exactly as it always has, which is great, but I can now access syncronous sound in the dining room from e.g. the BG6500 just by selecting TV (or V.Aux, or whatever) on the BS3000 or the BL2000, and presumably any other ML connections I choose to add. Magic! Obviously the BG6500 has to be started manually or with the MCP.
Downsides:
I can't control or change the sources on the BS6500 from a remote room, only those on the BS3000. However the Majority streamer I can control with an app, records need manually flipping at least every 22.5 minutes anyway, and there's a CD player and radio on the BS3000, so that's not the end of the world.
Obviously I can't listen to sources from the BS3000 on the BS6500 or in the lounge, but this is not really a problem.
There's no physical button for TV or other video source on the BS3000, so it requires a remote. BL2000 has a TV button of course.
Upsides:
Very pleased to find that the output from the BS6500 aux port appears to be just a pre-amplified line output, so I can control the 'TV' audio input on the BS3000 or BL2000 as if it was native, i.e. independent volume, tone and loudness control, and also independently control volume and tone on the BS6500. I don't think I could do this via the headphone socket or a powerlink socket into the BLC1611.
The BS3000 still retains its own Aux port for whatever I choose to input into that.
The system is almost simple enough to be Wife-friendly. Am pushing the idea that 'TV' is for 'music from the TV room', which it is.
Sound from the BS6500 is fully synchronised in all rooms.
The Masterlink system now works as it 'should', avoiding the 'Play button turns whole system off' problems that led me here in the first place...
None of this is quite perfect but I can see a functional system for the future house remodelling based on Cat 7 cable infrastructure, which is what I was after all along. Robust, reliable, fairly cheap and using fairly standard parts. And no soldering of 7-pin DIN plugs! Well, not much, anyway.
Thanks for all your help in getting this far. I know all the elements of this have been suggested by especially Madskp, Guy and Carolpa along the way but this is the first time I've managed to string them all together into a working system in my own house!
Dave
After considering the possibility of using the output from a Beomaster 5000 with its different IR protocols and datalink, that set me thinking about just using the Aux port on my Beomaster 6500 as a line output, and taking advantage of the fact that the Master Control Panel 6500 can control the BM6500 but apparently not other IR-eyes or Beomasters. So my working test setup at the moment is:
Beosystem 6500 in the lounge, with BG6500, BGCD6500, Non-B&O TV into the Tape port and Majority Fitzwilliam DAB/streamer into Tape 2, with PL out to BL4000s in the lounge, all controlled with the MCP6500
Home-made cable from BM6500 Aux port taking the L/R audio out to the L/R video in on a BLC1611 as per the recommended 'bodge', then ML cable to an RJ45 ML distribution board
RJ45 > ML cable into my new Beosound 3000 in the dining room, with PL out to BL3000s
RJ45 > ML cable into a BL2000, mostly just for test purposes at the moment.
The Beosystem 6500 works exactly as it always has, which is great, but I can now access syncronous sound in the dining room from e.g. the BG6500 just by selecting TV (or V.Aux, or whatever) on the BS3000 or the BL2000, and presumably any other ML connections I choose to add. Magic! Obviously the BG6500 has to be started manually or with the MCP.
Downsides:
I can't control or change the sources on the BS6500 from a remote room, only those on the BS3000. However the Majority streamer I can control with an app, records need manually flipping at least every 22.5 minutes anyway, and there's a CD player and radio on the BS3000, so that's not the end of the world.
Obviously I can't listen to sources from the BS3000 on the BS6500 or in the lounge, but this is not really a problem.
There's no physical button for TV or other video source on the BS3000, so it requires a remote. BL2000 has a TV button of course.
Upsides:
Very pleased to find that the output from the BS6500 aux port appears to be just a pre-amplified line output, so I can control the 'TV' audio input on the BS3000 or BL2000 as if it was native, i.e. independent volume, tone and loudness control, and also independently control volume and tone on the BS6500. I don't think I could do this via the headphone socket or a powerlink socket into the BLC1611.
The BS3000 still retains its own Aux port for whatever I choose to input into that.
The system is almost simple enough to be Wife-friendly. Am pushing the idea that 'TV' is for 'music from the TV room', which it is.
Sound from the BS6500 is fully synchronised in all rooms.
The Masterlink system now works as it 'should', avoiding the 'Play button turns whole system off' problems that led me here in the first place...
None of this is quite perfect but I can see a functional system for the future house remodelling based on Cat 7 cable infrastructure, which is what I was after all along. Robust, reliable, fairly cheap and using fairly standard parts. And no soldering of 7-pin DIN plugs! Well, not much, anyway.
Thanks for all your help in getting this far. I know all the elements of this have been suggested by especially Madskp, Guy and Carolpa along the way but this is the first time I've managed to string them all together into a working system in my own house!
Dave
Location: UK
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