12V --> 5V Trigger Cable Modification Help (Non B&O Amp)

2 replies

EDIT: Sorted, but please see 2nd post ;)

 

Hi there!

I recently aquired some BeoLab 5's and BeoLab 3's.

I have only hooked up the BeoLab 5's so far, and as I was warned here on the forum, I notice that the BeoLab 5's :

a) Have to be turned on and off manually with the Beo4 :(

b) Take a while to output sound as soon as it receives audio input.

c) Stop transmitting audio output as soon as there is no noise detected after a certain amount of time ( +-10 sec).

I have been advised that I can use a trigger cable to solve the problems above. Is that correct?

 

I understand the trigger cable needs to be modified to step down 12V to 5V which the BeoLab 5's require.

If someone could kindly clarify the following for me I would greatly appreciate it.

Firstly:

- What does the trigger actually do? Does it simply turn the speaker on when it receives a trigger signal (voltage), and turn it off when it goes off?

Secondly:

- What cable should I use to connect them? Right now I am using a LINE -> LINE cable to connect to the pre-out on the amp with no trigger, and am getting the problems mentioned above.

Should I use a LINE + trigger --> LINE cable? Or instead, use a LINE + trigger --> Power Link cable? (One end into BL5 and one end into the Onkyo Amp). Is Power Link cable necesary in order to turn the BeoLab 5's on and off using the trigger, and not LINE?

If anyone could be so kind as to advise along with what I will need and any tips, I would really relaly apprecaite it. I'm having a bit of trouble understanding the danish website even with google translate, and my head is spinning in circles trying to get my head around this.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hifi4all.dk%2Fforum%2Fforum_posts.asp%3FTID%3D71963%26TPN%3D1&sl=da&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Thank you very much

P.S. Where do I get the cables from? (e.g. PowerLink connection, LINE connection, trigger connection etc.)

Ok guys, trigger is working beautifully.

1 Question for anyone else using non B&O amp + trigger:

When the BL5 speakers have been unplugged for more than 5 minutes and Passcode protection kicks in, then the BL5 speakers stop transmitting audio, even after I have entered the correct passcode.

They still turn on and off with the trigger, and the light is green when on, but NO sound comes out of either of the two BeoLab 5's..

I suspect it is related to data pins 6 and 7 which I believe are used to transmit data from B&O --> B&O products and I'll tell you why:

- Only when I plug each speaker in to my BeoSound 5 and start playing a track, does audio start coming out of the speakers again.

- THEN, when I plug the powerlink cables back into BL5's that lead to the amp, then only  do they start receiving audio from the amp again..

 

So, it seems that the BS5 activates something on the BL5's that the amp LINE --> Powerlink cable is not activating on the BL5's (I reckon it's the data pin 8), and that that make them start transmitting audio again.

 

If there was a way to "emulate" data pin 8 with a custom box (microcontroller) or something then this could most likely be fixed..

** I haven't tried disabling passcode protection on the BL5's to see if that is causing the issue or not. If anyone has experienced anything similar, please do post here!

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