Looking for smallest surround processor to get 5.1 with my beolabs

14 replies
tuttivini
tuttivini
Bronze
227 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 09:52 GMT
#2140231

Hi Guys,

At this moment I have an 55" LG C9 oled connected to a B&O Playmaker, Playmaker connected to two Beolab 8000's and a B&W ASW610 subwoofer (sold my Beolab 2 and bought the mentioned B&W, because it integrates/sounds better and is fully adjustable, crossovers, levels, etc. unlike the BL 2).

I made a 'wall' myself with a small white floating shelf. All components are invisibly mounted underneath the shelf (Playmaker, Playstation 4, utp switch, etc. don't mind the rubber caps on the corners. I have a crawling baby son).

I control the volume with a Beo 4 and all the rest with my stock LG Oled remote.

Stereo sound is good. Looks are excellent (I designed the entire piece of furniture around the BeoLab 8000's), 

BUT: I want a dedicated center channel, for clear voices in movies, etc.

I want to buy a Beolab 7.1 or Beolab 7.2 for this purpose.
And, in future, two Beolab 3's or 6000's (which I have in another room) as rear speakers.

Because I want to hide everything onder the shelf (see photo), I'm looking for a SMALL SURROUND PROCESSOR with HDMI-ARC. So normal big av-receivers with pre-outs are not an option...

What are my options?

I found the Almando Multiply Surround Decoder, but pricey and only adjustable with an amateurishly designed app. Not knowing if this app still works on Android in a couple of years...
But it's small and easy to connect. No extra cables involved. All Powerlink.
Who has experience?


I found the Canton Smart Connect 5.1 av-preamplifier. Looks good, is small, has all the modern streaming bells and whistles.
Any experiences?

What are other options to get 3.1/5.1 surround, keeping my C9 Oled and 8000's?

(click photo for larger image)

 

Millemis
Millemis
Bronze
15984 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 11:51 GMT
#2140232

The Canton Smart Connect 5.1 av-preamplifier looks like a very smart solution.

However, there is not much ‘B&O’ to such a setup.

I’d call it a good way to reuse your old B&O speakers....better than most other similar solutions.

Thanks for the tip.

MM

Location: Flensborg————Danmark

JA
Jaffrey
Bronze
529 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 12:02 GMT
#2140233

Beautiful set up!

JA
Jaffrey
Bronze
529 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 15:02 GMT
#2140234

I don't think there is a B&O option for 5.1 without a B&O TV is there?

Millemis
Millemis
Bronze
15984 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 20:47 GMT
#2140235

Jaffrey2230 wrote:

I don't think there is a B&O option for 5.1 without a B&O TV is there?

There is: a Beosystem 3 or 4.

MM

Location: Flensborg————Danmark

R(
RichardIII (archived2)
Bronze
69 posts
Posted June 23, 2020 at 20:55 GMT
#2140236

That Canton looks nice. A shame it doesn’t use WISA.

CU
Curly
Bronze
458 posts
Posted June 24, 2020 at 13:40 GMT
#2140237

Perhaps the half sized Marantz NR1710. I will likely be buying one of these to use as a surround processor.

tuttivini
tuttivini
Bronze
227 posts
Posted June 24, 2020 at 17:49 GMT
#2140238

@depe, good point about the triggering. I had this experience in the past when I had a Marantz NR surround receiver, connected to beolabs with rca cables. In some situations (movies with long scenes where only voices where needed from centre speaker, without any extra sounds) the front or rear speakers switched off because they didn't receive a signal for more than 2 minutes.

tuttivini
tuttivini
Bronze
227 posts
Posted June 24, 2020 at 17:51 GMT
#2140239

Curly wrote:

Perhaps the half sized Marantz NR1710. I will likely be buying one of these to use as a surround processor.

 

Those models only have pre outs for the fronts.. I had a NR receiver in the past, with 2 beolab 6000s en 3 passive other brand speakers... 

D(
depe (archived2)
Bronze
18 posts
Posted June 24, 2020 at 17:59 GMT
#2140240

it is very easy to convert 12V triggers provided by most AVR's and pre/pro's to 5V level required by the BLs. The RCA connection is a very bad idea, in my opinion, at least in a 5.1 setup

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