[beojeff]

Speaking of BLI and Kaleidescape, I took advantage of a fascinating Kaleidescape feature: cinema lighting control with the Kaleidescape Strato V player connected to my Beovision Theatre in my living room. The Strato is capable of sending lighting commands to RadioRa3. When a movie starts playing, I have it dimming the lights to 10%. When I send an Intermission command to the Strato, the lights raise to 80%. When the credits begin to roll, the lights raise to 40%. Once the credits are finished, the lights raise to 80%. This is all done by cues built into each movie. The Kaleidescape commands are being sent to “phantom buttons” on RadioRa3. These phantom buttons (not physical buttons) show up as resources on the Beoliving Intelligence. Those resources can be built into BLI macros to control other systems — such as Philips Hue lights.

A fun feature of this is that if the movie has a secret epilogue scene at the end of the credits, the lights will not raise when the credits begin to roll. This way, you know there will be extra scenes at the end of the movie.

[beojeff]

The “TV” source is not a part of the macro. Since the NL/ML eye is within the same IR sight as the BV10, it’s receiving the same “TV” source command — but it really doesn’t matter. There are no speakers connected to the NL/ML converter.

[beojeff]

I have my Kaleidescape player using the “TV” source on the Beovision 10. The NL/ML Converter is in the same room with it’s IR eye near the BV10 so it’s getting the same IR commands. I don’t have speakers connected to the NL/ML Converter.

The BLI macro is using the trigger of CONTROL + PRESS + CONTROL.

[beojeff]

I used the “monitor” feature of the BLI and found that the correct command to use for the center button is “CONTROL”. The Global Cache IP2IR is a pretty useful device. I have another one that I use in another room to be able to change the inputs of a TV connected to a Beosystem 4 to take advantage of 4K.

[beojeff]

I have a 7.1.4 Atmos system with my BeoSound Theatre. I’m using the following:

Theatre for center channel.

x6 Beolab 9 for fronts, surrounds, and rears

x4 Beolab 4000 for height channels

Beolab 2 for subwoofer

I have a Strato V and Terra Server Kaleidescape system.

I find that the 6 Beolab 9 speakers provide a very rich and balanced immersive experience. Top Gun Maverick and Air Force One sound amazing. Last night, I watched Flightplan on the Kaleidescape and it, too, sounded fantastic. The neighbors threatened to call the police when I watched Dune on it.

[beojeff]

I have rendered 2 Beoremote One remotes lifeless by accidentally rolling over and sleeping on them.

[beojeff]

I’m still interested in thoughts about what my next upgrade should be. With a Theatre with x6 BeoLab 9 speakers and a BeoLab 2 (that’s already quite a lot of bass), would a Beolab  19 really give me any LFE improvement?

Would I be better focussing on upgrading the x4 Dolby Atmos height channels from BeoLab 4000 to either BeoLab 3 or BeoLab 17?

[beojeff]

I absolutely agree. I’ve used 2 beolab 2 subwoofers together and the difference is amazing. By using 2 you get a very immersive theater experience where you can’t notice where the deep bass is coming from. Although, my upstairs neighbors HATE me when playing the movie “Dune.” I would also recommend the movies “Air Force One”, “Maverick,” and “No Time to Die” to demo this.

[beojeff]

I have both.

I have a selection of albums on SD cards in an Hermes tray next to the Beosound 4 as a novelty for guests to choose music. However, I never use the BS4.

I have x3 Moments in my home and use them every day. Deezer definitely still works on the Moment. I love the search interface to find artists/albums/tracks. The moodwheel is a nice feature. FYI, now ALL ASE B&O devices appear as “TVs” to which you can integrate the Moment to use that device as the speaker. For example, I have a Moment in my kitchen integrated with the (ASE) Beosound 2 to use it as the speaker.

[beojeff]

@Stan

I’m agreeing 100% with everything you’re saying. I’ve come to accept the premium price we pay for B&O. It’s crazy for us to expect the same features in the new Core that we would have paid for in a BeoSystem 1, BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 4, or BeoSound Theatre. It’s just a nice added feature in the Core for the most basic needs of a TV.

[beojeff]

Perhaps you thought I was asking for your advice? I wasn’t.

Millemissen wrote:

beojeff wrote:

I suspect that the tv’s internal speaker could be used for the center channel. Such a speaker could hardly keep up with the quality of beolabs, though.

This will not be possible and even if, a really bad idea soundwise. These internal speakers would still be a set of L/R speakers and there would be no option to adjust for level matching or for setting up speakers distance etc. Personally – if I would need a non-B&O tv for the kitchen – I’d still go for a Stage, despite it being a bit older now and not a Mozart platform device. IMO, if you go for a 2 channel setup for a tv, you should place the speakers on either side very close to the screen in order to maximize the illusion of a phantom center. How about a set of the BL12’s ? if you use a tv as a computer monitor, you can get away with a 2 channel setup, since you probably are the only person and you are sitting right in front of the screen. MM

[beojeff]

BeoCare advised me that re-running a room sense for the speaker setup isn’t necessary. However, I can tell that the surround and rear speakers are now really overpowering the center channel (the Theatre itself). I’m wondering if adding the left and right speakers of the Theatre now would help compensate for this.

Can anyone confirm if we now have the option to tell the Theatre what model of BeoLabs are connected to Receiver 1 units so that room sense gets the correct values? BeoCare has told me that this is still not possible. However, someone else told me that it now is.

[beojeff]

Indeed. Yet, look at the price point compared to the Beosystem 3 and Beosystem 4.

DT79 wrote:

I just think there’s an obvious opportunity for a device for people who already have a TV and multi-channel Beolab speakers. And possibly more than one other audio source.

beojeff wrote:

I suspect that the tv’s internal speaker could be used for the center channel. Such a speaker could hardly keep up with the quality of beolabs, though. At least we have 3 levels of options: Core, Stage, and Theatre to fit our needs. It would now be nice to see some improvements to the Stage.

[beojeff]

I suspect that the tv’s internal speaker could be used for the center channel. Such a speaker could hardly keep up with the quality of beolabs, though.

At least we have 3 levels of options: Core, Stage, and Theatre to fit our needs. It would now be nice to see some improvements to the Stage.

[beojeff]

I do think that B&O is going a little overboard in hyping it as a solution for a home theater. It’s certainly no Beosound Theatre. Still, the added HDMI connectivity is a nice feature for the slight price increase. For me, I could see it as a solution for a non-B&O small tv that I have in the kitchen. I currently have it connected to a Beosystem 3 for connection to 2 Beolab 4000 speakers and an Apple TV. That’s then connected to an NL/ML converter to integrate with the rest of my B&O. This small box could replace all of that and allow control via CEC of an Apple TV connected directly to the non-B&O tv. It has its place for a simple setup solution.

[beojeff]

What have they done?! With the new update, I have to crank the volume up over 75 to be able to hear any dialogue. Also, the Theatre now randomly power cycles at least once an hour. Sometimes even more frequently!

[beojeff]

Yes. You can set an NL device to be recognized as a TV (even if it isn’t) to integrate the Moment to use that NL device’s speakers. For example, I have a Moment in my kitchen integrated with the Beosound 2 that’s in the kitchen. You do this in the Moment’s settings to use a “TV’s” speakers. Then, select that device in the drop down list.

[beojeff]

Neither the Beosystem 3 nor the Beosystem 4 support CEC. There IS a solution to control the LG TV, but it woudn’t be inexpensive. The Beoliving Intelligence has a driver to control LG smart TVs over your home network.With the BLI you could create macros to control the tv as well as assigning LIGHT and CONTROL functions on the Beo4 or Beoremote One to send many commands to the LG TV.

[beojeff]

My third BeoSound Moment arrived today. I was able to integrate it with the BeoSound 2 in my kitchen — with the Moment thinking that the BeoSound 2 is a TV. The Moment controls the BS2 perfectly.

[beojeff]

I’ve pulled the trigger and now have a 3rd Moment on the way. I know there are a lot of Moment-haters, but I happen to like using it as a stationary device to search Deezer for music.

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