Beocenter 9300 – Number of inputs available

[Gilles]

Hello B&O lovers: I have a question: I’m “migrating” from a Beocenter 9000 to a Beocenter 9300.

Trouble is that the 9300 only have 2 external inputs: one labeled “TV/AUX” and the other “TAPE2/PHONO”.

Despite of that there are 3 different buttons on the command panel: “PHONO”, “TAPE 2” and “AUX”.

So do you know on how to get really access to 3 different inputs?

I need it because I have to connect 1) the Beogram 4500, 2) the REVOX tapecorder and 3) the Internet box from where I get Qobuz!

Many thanks in advance for your enlightments!

[CharlieWednesday]

I’ve never owned a 9300, but I do own a 8500, and have also owned a 9000 like you.

I did once look into getting a 9300 myself but decided against it as I was told that the amplifier was not as good as in the 8500 (and I use my 8500 with passive Beovox speakers, so the amp is important!).

When I researched the 9300 however, my understanding was that the Phono and Tape 2 input buttons would work dependent on what was connected to that input – if you had the Beogram 4500 connected to it, you would be able to control that by remote, and likewise if you had a B&O external tape deck connected instead.

One way to extend the inputs would be to add a B&O MCL2AV link room system which you would connect to the Aux input of the 9300.  You could then connect your internet box and REVOX tapecorder to that, and switch to them using LINK room commands on your B&O remote.  You could have your Beogram 4500 connected to the 9300’s Tape2/Phono input, which would have the advantage of allowing you to control the Beogram with remote too.

 

[Madskp]

CharlieWednesday wrote:

my understanding was that the Phono and Tape 2 input buttons would work dependent on what was connected to that input – if you had the Beogram 4500 connected to it, you would be able to control that by remote, and likewise if you had a B&O external tape deck connected instead.

I can verify to that. This only has to do with the control. There is only one physical input for either Phone or tape2.

CharlieWednesday wrote:

One way to extend the inputs would be to add a B&O MCL2AV link room system which you would connect to the Aux input of the 9300.  You could then connect your internet box and REVOX tapecorder to that, and switch to them using LINK room commands on your B&O remote.

While this is entirely possible (i just tested it) the control would be very clunky.

First you would have to activate the AUX input with for example the TV command

Then to activate one of the inputs on the MCL2AV (which should be set top L.OPT 4 for this to work) you would have to press Link + shift + radio + 6 (for tape) / 7 (for CD) since the MCL2AV only can adress the inputs with CD or TAPE commands if it is B&O datalink units that are connected.

The If you would regulate the volume on the BC9300 you would have to press TV again before you can use the volume control.

So possible but clunky.

I do not have a better solution by now other than some kind of manually operated switch box to divide one of the inputs in to two.

[CharlieWednesday]

Ah yes, now I think of it, the other inputs you want to add (the tapecorder and the internet box) don’t need to be controlled by your B&O remote, so a simple external tape switch box might be a better solution, such as this one with DIN connectors, or this one with RCA connectors.  Connect your Beogram to the Phono/Tape 2 input, and your other devices (via the switch box) to the Aux input.

I used to have a tape switch box such as this myself, which I used so I could have my Beogram turntable an also a reel-to-reel tape deck connected to by Beosound 4 (because the Beosound 4 has only one aux input), and it worked fine.

[Guy]

If you ever want to use datalink with the ‘expanded’ input then it could be worth trying to find the B&O Aux Expander, which gave full 7-pin DIN switching from up to 4 inputs.  They do come up on eBay occasionally:

Alternatively, connect a Playmaker to the BC9300 Aux input, stream Qobuz from your phone using airplay/DNLA and connect the Revox tapedeck to the Playmaker’s (auto-sensing) aux input.  Instead of a Playmaker you could also do this with Essence Mk1 or Mk2.

[CharlieWednesday]

Guy wrote:

If you ever want to use datalink with the ‘expanded’ input then it could be worth trying to find the B&O Aux Expander, which gave full 7-pin DIN switching from up to 4 inputs.  They do come up on eBay occasionally:

I’ve never heard of the B&O Aux Expander, but now I really want one.

Guy wrote:

Alternatively, connect a Playmaker to the BC9300 Aux input, stream Qobuz from your phone using airplay/DNLA and connect the Revox tapedeck to the Playmaker’s (auto-sensing) aux input.  Instead of a Playmaker you could also do this with Essence Mk1 or Mk2.

How would that work?  I’ve never really considered getting a Playmaker as I thought they had no output other than speaker outputs.  So, you can somehow adapt those for use to connect it to an Aux input, with the right cable?  Playmaker and Essence Mk1 often come up on eBay for less than £100 so I’m thinking I might use that solution myself!

[Guy]

It took me several years to find my Aux Expander – I think I paid about £15.

Ref Playmaker, it’s best understood by looking through the attached installation manual.  The setup that I have described is at page 11 – you would need to set the Playmaker to ‘fixed output level’ and also set it to A.OPT 0 so that you don’t get IR conflicts with the Beomaster etc. (Essence setup is very similar, at least for my Essence Mk2).  The Playmaker ‘priority of sources’ is:  AirPlay, DNLA, then sources connected to Line-In.  I never had much success with DNLA but performance was much improved when I became a late convert to Apple/Airplay.  Also, user experience suggests that you are better off providing Playmaker with a wired network connection, rather than wireless.

There are some differences between the early Mk1 and Mk2 Playmakers.  From memory, the Mk1 accepted FLAC format music, whereas the Mk2 couldn’t.  See here for type number differences:  https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/20864.aspx

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[Guy]

And this cable will connect Playmaker output to Beocenter/master aux input: https://soundsheavenly.com/core-and-essence/84-378-rj45-to-aux-input-cable-add-core-essence-or-playmaker-to-your-bo-system.html#/9-length-18m

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks for this – it opens up some possibilities for me for both my Beosound 4 and my Beocenter 8500 (via a 1611 converter, which I already have).  I had always thought the Playmaker would be of no practical use to me, and I had also thought that in order to use an Essence, I would also need an NL/ML converter, but it seems that by using Steve’s cable, I wouldn’t need that.

I am not an Apple user and never will be, but DNLA is an option.

[Gilles]

Thanks Charlie for your inputs!

Indeed, the switch box can solve my problem : I can play or the Revox or the internet box…. But what if I want to record music on the Revox from the Internet box while listening to the music on the Beocenter 9300 ? Would the switch box “wisely enough wired” to manage this situation?

I heared also about another solution developped by B&O a while ago and named “AUX/TAPE adapter type 5006 (see attached)? But again, don’t know if the box can manage my specific setting (record the music from the box while listenng to it) !

 

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[CharlieWednesday]

That CD tape adapter was intended for the Beosystem 2000 and 3000, and allowed you to add a CD player when the Beogram CDX was first released.  They do come up on eBay sometimes but tend to go for quite a high price, for what they are.

My old QED switch box, like the ones I have linked to in my earlier post, do allow you to set Input 1>2 or 2>1, so you could record from one source to another.  You should then be able to set your BC9300 to a difference source.  I never actually tried that myself when I had one of those switch boxes, but I see no reason why that wouldn’t work.

[Gilles]

Many thanks Charlie!

[Author]

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