Hello all,

I’m new here and this is my first post. I share with you some kind of fascination for B&O products and philosophy although i do not always adhere to B&O ultra elitist strategy. Nor do i support the B&O’s inertia and isolation in a rapidly changing digital world. Like some of you, i have hoped and waited for years that B&O and Apple conclude some kind of strategic alliance, which seem so evident from a customer’s perspective. This is the reason why i now have a bunch of questions about Mac/B&O integration, for those of you who would be patient enough to advise.

Currently i live with a family and a BS9000+BL8000 at one end of my living room. Plus a PowerMac at the opposite end … And two BL 3500 in other rooms, linked via ML. The PoweMac is linked to others in the house via ethernet, and wired to the BS-9000 Aux entry. So, I can play my iTunes music (but AAC or MP3, alas) on my BL-8000.

Now comes the big upgrade : i was lucky enough to buy a pair of BL-5 at a fair price on eBay, and will also add a new BV 8-40 to the picture (and sell my B-8000), moving from a pure audio system to a A/V system.

What i would like to understand is how to integrate the whole Mac+B&O stuff to be able to :

1- Capture max audio benefits from the BL-5 potential (connecting BS-9000 through pure digital output seems to be highly recommended)

2- Play my iTunes music on the BL-5, assuming i will be able to re-code part of it into Apple Lossless format from the originals. And also be able to play from time to time some AAC music from some passing by guest iPod …

3- Interconnect BL-5 and BV 8-40 to be able to make it a 3.1 A/V system (i do not have nor appreciate rear speakers for « special » 5.1 display). The BV 8-40 will be fed by a Satellite, ADSL input, DVD  or blu-ray in the future.

4- Display picture shows or personal videos stored somewhere on the ethernet network on the BV 8-40 / BL-5 system. I have lots of digital photos (>20000, managed with iView Media Pro) on my hard drives and create (shoot+edit) videos on a separate, dedicated work station. Would like to kind of use the living room to display the result of (and justify !) what I’m doing all day long in my dark cabinet …

So the questions that are obsessing me are like :

• What’s the best set up to aim for ?
• Should i connect BS-9000 directly to BL-5 (digital) or connect BS-9000 to BV 8-40 and BV 8-40 to BL-5 (but then : is it a digital input , to keep the digital/analog convesion within the BL-5 ?) ?
• More generally, is it possible to have ALL sound inputs flow into the BL-5 as digital signal, not as powerlink analog signal ? If yes, how to switch form one input to the other ? Or, should i necessarily connect everything to the BS 9000 first, and then have BS-9000 linked to BL-5 as digital input ?
• What is the best set up to store and display on BV 8-40 my photos and videos ? A physical wire between my PowerMac and the BV 8-40 ? Or add an Apple TV module to the BV 8-40 that wireless connects to the PowerMac. I know this works well with iTunes music, but what about iView Media Pro (not iPhoto) ? And HDV videos ?

I have the feeling this becomes really tricky, but as many of you i dream of a full Mac / B&O integration … Could you help me think this out ?

Thank you !