Beolab 9 - how to setup in a modern AV system

3 replies
B(
BL9fanatic (archived2)
Bronze
2 posts
Posted November 10, 2020 at 05:16 GMT
#2147272

I’m the proud owner of a beautiful pair of “new to me” blue Beolab 9’s, my first B&O products outside of Audi audio systems. I have questions about how to connect and set these up in a modern WiFi and streaming 2 channel audio AND streaming 4K TV and movie surround system. I’m looking for these awesome BL9’s to be the foundation of the audio and video system. I posted some questions about this on a B&O FB forum a while back and just got so many different answers that I’m frankly totally confused. 

Here’s the equipment I’ve already got:

B&O Beolab 9, circa 2010 (planning to hardwire with appropriate connector cables)

LG E9 Glass 65 inch Class 4K Smart OLED

Apple 4K TV

Panamax MR4300 power conditioner

Sony Blu-Ray Streaming 4K Ultra HD Hi-Res Audio Wi-Fi UBPX700

And, I’m planning on acquiring the following to round out the audio side of it:  a set of Beolab 6000’s, each with a “Receiver 1” to make them wireless, for rear surrounds; a Beolab 19, and sone sort of center channel speaker.

I think my basic question is, can I simply connect all of this through a modern AVR, like a Marantz NR1711 to get full audio and video control, ability to play Apple Music library, Spotify, etc via Airplay2, and play surround sound tracks from Netflix, AppleTV, Amazon Prime, etc from my Apple 4K TV? 

is there anything else special I need?  I’ve had people suggest I need Almando, or B&O Transmitter, or Core, not sure if any of these are needed to make this all work?

And is there any special thing needed to “trigger” the BL 9’s and 6000’s to turn on and off at the appropriate times?

Final question - I’m extremely concerned about producing very high quality audio and don’t want to choose components or connectors that will degrade the sound coming from these beautiful speakers.  Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

Millemis
Millemis
Bronze
15984 posts
Posted November 10, 2020 at 09:58 GMT
#2147273

Lots of questions there....

The Marantz, you mention, is an A/V receiver, which means that it has amplifiers built-in.

What you need is device with pre-outs.....since all the speakers listed, are powered speakers ( = Beolabs).

If you want send sound to the 6000/Receiver1, you’ll need a Transmitter 1 connected to the outputs of the pre-amplifier, you choose.

Having the BL9’s in the mix you certainly won’t need a BL19.....if you do proper bas management in the preamp.

 

Why would you need the power conditioner? Better spend the money on a proper preamp!

For a suggestion, which preamp to choose and how to set things up, keep posting. There are people here you have made similar setups.

Here is a Beoworld thread with some advices 

/forum/general-discussion-and-questions/beolab-8000-with-non-bampo-receiver   

 

By the way, you don’t mention ‘a center speaker’.....which is an essential part of a home cinema setup.

Don’t you intend to have one?

 

MM 

Location: Flensborg————Danmark

JA
Jaffrey
Bronze
529 posts
Posted November 10, 2020 at 12:01 GMT
#2147274

Your set up to an extent is similar to what I have, except I have a Sony 65 Inch OLED connected to BL2/BL8002 combo. Here is what I found works best.

1. Originally, I used to connect Apple TV 4K to my Sony TV via HDMI and then connect the BL2 (in your case it would be BL 9) from the headphone out jack and the BL8002 were connected to the BL2 via power link. The advantage of this is that you can control everything with the Apple TV remote (in my case ALL my video sources - including my TV is an Apple TV App). The downside is that while the Sony TV has a decent audio processor, it isn't the best. Also, for the BL2 I needed an extra trigger cable and the speakers had to be manually switched on and off. 

 

2. My current set-up is to now connect the TV audio to a Beosound Core via Optical. and Beosound Core is connected to the BL2. The audio quality is significantly better (more punchy bass for sure). However, for volume now I need to use The Essence remote that I bought with the Core. However, the Bl2 and BL 8002 are now fully streaming compliant with the rest of my B&O products (see my signature). While I thought it would be a pain to have a separate remote for volume, it actually works well. Plus, the speakers turn on automatically with the TV and turn off a few minutes after the TV is turned off.

I stopped using physical disks 3-4 years ago. I personally sitting 8 ft away from a 65 inch OLED screen could not see the difference in PQ or AQ....so it's all streaming 4K for me now. 

Good luck with your BL9s!

Steve from Sounds Heavenly can help with cables, whatever route you choose to go (direct to the TV or via a Core)

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