MCL2P and Beovox rear surround speakers

[pepps]

Hello all,

Is it possible to connect a MCL2P to one of the rear surround Powerlink sockets on my BV7-40 in order to use a pair of Beovox 3000 (flat panel) as my rear surround speakers?

Would I still get stereo surround effects?

 

Julian

[Guy]

Yes that should work. The MCL2P would take both L and R rear signals from the TV and send to the respective speakers. I think you’ll need a Powerlink Mk2 cable between TV and MCL2P in order to get power on/off and muting.

I don’t think you’ll find BeoVox3000 in the BV7’s speaker menu, so you’ll have to experiment with other speaker choices to get the best sound, at an appropriate level.

[9_LEE]

Guy wrote:

Yes that should work. The MCL2P would take both L and R rear signals from the TV and send to the respective speakers. I think you’ll need a Powerlink Mk2 cable between TV and MCL2P in order to get power on/off and muting. I don’t think you’ll find BeoVox3000 in the BV7’s speaker menu, so you’ll have to experiment with other speaker choices to get the best sound, at an appropriate level.

I agree with this. Use a Mk2 cable, and I’d probably choose BeoLab 2500 or BeoLab 4000 as the rears which will be a similar equivalent in Active. 🙂

[pepps]

Dear both,

Thank you for your replies – excellent news! This should complete (for now) the lounge set-up with a happy compromise met between floor space needing to be freed up around the sofa and the need for surround sound. They look like good bedfellows of the Pentas too.
I was hoping to get some BL3000’s but at the moment the expense outweighs the need – there is a very nice looking pair of BL4500’s on eBay at the moment but they’re after £600 or more.
For now the Beovox will do the job while looking nice and sexy too.

[Guy]

Looking forward to seeing photos of the finished setup!

In my opinion the use of MCL2Ps (or Beolink Passives) with passive speakers (either Beovox or non-B&O alternatives) is often overlooked in B&O setups.  It can bring some great advantages, not least the ability to site a speaker without worrying about mains power, and only having to hide a relatively thin two-core speaker cable.  It’s also an ideal solution for safety reasons in bathrooms or outdoor setups.  Beolink Passives can also be purchased relatively cheaply, usually from systems that have been stripped out.

[pepps]

Hmmmm so a while after my post and I finally got around to setting up the Beovox 3000s with an MCL2P.

No joy.

The amp doesn’t switch on when Speakers 5 is selected on the BV.
Back to the drawing board.
(The Powerlink lead I’m using is fully wired and was used on my Penta previously.)

[Stoobie]

I’m not familiar with the MCL2P, but most link products have to be set to the correct option.

This may be your issue.

May be worth trying the various options to see if any work. Use L.OPT.

Stoobie

[Millemissen]

MCL2P is not a link product!

It is ‘just’ an amplifier!!

@pepps

Did you configure the BV7 to use the PL output (where the 2P is connected) as rear/surround speaker?

MM

 

 

[pepps]

@pepps Did you configure the BV7 to use the PL output (where the 2P is connected) as rear/surround speaker? MM

Hello,

Thanks for your replies.
My steps so far have been to connect the MCL2P with a ‘Penta-friendly’ Powerlink cable to the BV7 via one of the Powerlink speaker sockets. The Beovox are connected to that with the correct connectors. This MCL2P was working in the other room the day before I moved it all up to the lounge, so I’m fairly confident it isn’t at fault.

In the sound menu for the BV I have a problem:
Under Speaker Types I cannot make the MCL2P activate. My Pentas make the test signal sound as I hover over the connection for them, but as I scroll down through the other sockets the MCL2P doesn’t switch on.

Consequently in the Speaker Roles menu I only get options for the two Pentas I have connected (the 7.4 centre isn’t affected).

The activation from my Beosystem 2500 works fine from Powerlink to the MCL2P so I’m wondering if the Powerlink sockets on the BV are different to those on the Beosystem.

[Millemissen]

Do you have any front speakers (L/R) connected?

MM

[pepps]

Millemissen wrote:

Do you have any front speakers (L/R) connected?

MM

Yes, Penta Mk2 left and right and a BL7.4 centre.

[Guy]

Have you tried moving the MCL2P powerlink connection to one of the TV’s PL sockets where the Pentas are connected – just to see if they trigger on?

[pepps]

Guy wrote:

Have you tried moving the MCL2P powerlink connection to one of the TV’s PL sockets where the Pentas are connected – just to see if they trigger on?

Hello Guy, a good idea.
However I think I was just rushing yesterday and didn’t go through everything carefully.

Everything is now working pretty much perfectly.

The PL cable I had used (originally plugged into the right hand Penta) was the problem. I tested it by plugging it into my BM3500 and it would not activate the MCL2P at all.

I swapped it for one I bought from Steve@SoundsHeavenly and it worked fine. So I switched everything off and plugged Steve’s PL lead into the BV and it activated the MCL2P without issue.

I may have been too hasty yesterday. And on reflection I didn’t power off the Beosystem 3500 which is linked to the BV via Masterlink converter.

But now I have everything in the right place and it all works a treat! Although I do have to power down the MCL2P myself, it doesn’t do so when I switch off the BV.
But I shall do another full power down and see if that resolves the issue.

You know what though? These Beovox 3000s sound almost perfectly matched to the Pentas during the white noise set-up test. The tone is very very similar. And my quick test just now of Rise of the Jedi, an early scene where Ben goes to meet Palpatine and The Emperor says, “My boyyyyy” with all that lovely low end rumble…..ohhh man that sounds so good in 4 speaker mode.
I think the switch over from BL6000 to these Beovox is a fluky but inspired choice! I have regained floor space and appear to have a vastly improved sound AND the Beovox compliment the Pentas so well visually. So subtle but very sexy!

Once I’ve chased in the speaker cables and finished the skirting conduit I’ll pop up so photos.

As always thank you all for your interest and support!

Julian

[Guy]

pepps wrote:

Everything is now working pretty much perfectly.

Great news – thanks for the update. And I’d be interested to know if the MCL2P ‘power down’ starts working as it should.

[pepps]

Great news – thanks for the update. And I’d be interested to know if the MCL2P ‘power down’ starts working as it should.

Quick update: the MCL2P activates each time I turn on the BV. Which is odd because the BV is set to default to 1 speaker for ‘visual’ and 2 speakers for ‘audio’.

I’m curious if this is because I set the rears as BL4000.

More experimenting after work…

[pepps]

guy wrote:

Great news – thanks for the update. And I’d be interested to know if the MCL2P ‘power down’ starts working as it should.

The conclusion: everything works perfectly!
I unplugged the whole system to do some work on cable tidying, etc.
When I put everything back together, slowly, over a whole Sunday recently I ended up with everything in harmony: Beovision activates MCL2P on startup and deactivates it at standby/switch off and the sound is superb (as mentioned before – but man it’s so good it’s worth mentioning again).

[Guy]

pepps wrote:

The conclusion: everything works perfectly!

That’s good to hear – thanks for letting us know!

[Author]

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