Pin 2, ground. Pin 3+5 stereo audio, pin 4 is trriggervoltage.

Great, thanks for this info.

I would buy a chinch (right and left) to Powerlink cable and connect your source to the Beolab 2. Then, I would have two power link cables going from the two outputs of the Beolab 2 to the Beolab 8000. This way the Beolab 2 takes away the Bass signal and the Beolab 8000 only do mids and highs, which spares the Beolab 8000 as they do not have to work as hard. 

It is very simple to replace the fabric of the Beolab 8000, just buy some acoustic fabric (you can even choose different colors!) and attach it to the speaker grill (removing the old fabric beforehand, obviously).

For the base of the Beolab 8000 I am afraid you just have to buy new ones!

I hope this helps!

Also for soldering the cables: I have done this multiple times as there are many cables that Bang&Olufsen simply does not offer, especially not in the lengths I need (rj45 to Powerlink). However, it is quite difficult as the Din 8-pol plugs are small and difficult to solder (and they melt way too quickly). If you really want to go down this path then you can find the right pinout on the internet.

Get in touch with Steve at Sounds Heavenly,a sponsor of this site.

He makes a little kit that will create the trigger voltage from an rca connection,designed specially for adapting Powerlink for use with non B&O amplifiers.

He also makes cables for Quad gear,so should be able to get you sorted.

I think you are going to need some sort of adaptor to connect to the special Quad four pin cable between the 303 pre-amp and the 33 power amp,as the drive signal needs to be a variable line level.

Nick

Thanks Nick!

Hi Rob,

Welcome to Beoworld!  Yes, I can sort out a 4 pin DIN Quad cable for you that gives stereo sound to the Quad 303 power amp (if you also want to use passive speakers), plus a stereo feed to the Beolab 2 at the correct pre-amp level.  This will also have the correct trigger signals to activate the Beolab 2 without having a B&O system connected.  The Beolab 8000 speakers can then link to the outputs of the Beolab 2 with Powerlink mk.3 cables, as they would in a B&O setup:-

Similar question - I have a pioneer 7.1 receiver and klipsh sub. I have 5 beolab 6000's connected via RCA and a custom 8 pin din to force the speakers on while in use - so that they don't keep toggling on/off based on the presence of surround sound. I have been lusting after the BL2 to match the beolabs. If I replace the existing sub, how would I connect a beolab 2?

Should I make a cable for the beolab 2 that takes the sub output from the receiver and the 5v signal. Which pins does the BL2 use for signal (left vs right?). This has the advantage that the receiver figures out the crossover and manages that as part of its d2a processing, so should get LFE in addition to L&R low frequency signals.

Is there any benefit of chaining the front L & R speakers off the sub instead?

Hi samsp,

Thanks for your enquiry.  Please don't use the 12v output of a receiver to trigger Beolab speakers unless you have confirmed with the receiver manufacturer that this is suitable - the manufacturers that I spoke to all said that this would void the receiver warranty and could potentially cause equipment faults.

Instead, please use a separate mains-derived trigger voltage to activate the Beolab 2 subwoofer, this should connect to the receiver subwoofer output(s) with the other speakers using the mains speakers pre-outs for best results:-

Apologies for reviving an old thread. How do i get the trigger signal for the beolab 2 if I'm using a minijack connected to airport express for streaming ?