[Curly]

I acknowledge that this response will be only marginally helpful.

But… AirPlay cannot stream high-rez files. It maxes out at Redbook 16/44. Given that this is the case, I’m not surprised you cannot stream via Chromecast (from your phone?) to your BS Core at high-rez.

I suspect one of the many reasons BS Core was updated to Beoconnect Core was for native support of high-rez formats. In my experience, BS Core was essentially a 16/44-only device.

[Curly]

This is possible but there will be no bass management in terms of crossover frequency. Both speakers will play full range. You’ll have to manually adjust the BL19 to get it to “meld” nicely with the 18s.

[Curly]

I have a Core connected via TOSLINK to a pair of BL17.

#1. Yes. But what else would you connect between them? Each speaker and the Core need power. But otherwise, you can connect one 17 to the TOSLINK output on the Core and connect the two 17s together via TOSLINK. This is my setup. It works perfectly.

#2.What remote? A Halo or BR1? Yes. You can adjust volume on a remote.

 

I hope that helps.

[Curly]

Jacob, I’ll make a suggestion, which I suspect is one not thought of often:  S8 Connection hub.

This piece is made specifically to connect a L and R BeoLab in stereo configuration to nearly any TV and allow you to use your existing TV remote control to adjust volume. Give it a Google.

[Curly]

Evan wrote:

Hey UK BeoWorlders – I turned down a trade-in offer recently but I thought it might be interesting for those of you on here. A dealer in London (Islington) recently messaged me about a promo that would give me 13400 GBP for my pair of BeoLab 5s towards a new pair of 50s/90s. If you want to know more I would suggest calling up Rohan at B&O Islington London.

This is, or was, also taking place in the USA.

[Curly]

The new Core connected to the Celestials is all you need–assuming you already have an amplifier such as BeoAmp 2 to provide them power.

The Celestials are passive speakers. They do not have built-in amplifiers like many B&O products. The simplest passive speaker setup includes the speakers themselves, an amplifier to drive them (such as BeoAmp 2) and a source to provide the music (such as the Core).

I hope this helps!

[Curly]

I just wanted to congratulate you. Please post more photos and impressions as you listen more.

[Curly]

For my forum friends (and for myself), I’d just like to highlight a portion of Geoff’s response:

“[…] OR cannot be decoded by Beolab 50 (I’m specifically thinking of DSD materials, but bitreamed lossy CODECs like MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and Dolby Digital variants also fit the description)[…]”

This would also include MQA.

My research suggests that DAC-free streaming transports from Lumin and Aurender, for example, can perform the first MQA unfolding and output it over a digital connection to BeoLab 50/90 with a maximum resolution of 96kHz.

Alternatively, these companies offer streaming DACs that can perform the full MQA decoding and rendering up to 192kHz (and beyond) and output it over analog.

The question is which would sound best. And I don’t know. A/B testing required. But it seems logical to want to feed high-quality speakers such as BeoLab 50/90 the richest signal so perhaps using a streaming DAC and outputting over analog is the way to go (if streaming MQA over TIDAL).

 

Thank you, Geoff!

[Curly]

Geoff, a MILLION thanks for replying.

I’m stunned that we have access to you the way we do here and that you are as generous as you are with your time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Curly]

If there was a technical reason, and thus a formal recommendation, for whether to use a DAC-free transport or a streaming DAC, it would be very helpful in eliminating a handful of products to audition.

 

For example, Lumin has three streaming transports and four streaming DACs. If I could eliminate one category of product, it would be really useful.

[Curly]

Great question! I’d like clarity on that too!

[Curly]

oli wrote:

Freshly installed. G3 77″+Theatre and table stand installed on the floor. And BL28 moved from light to dark oak+black fabric. Beolab 3 as rear speakers.

This looks great. I must ask, though, does it sound strange with the Theater so low to the ground relative to the tweeters in the 28s?

[Curly]

Sold! Thanks to all those who expressed interest!

[Curly]

I once listened to 18+19 and 20, both, at a dealer. I preferred the sound of 18+19. That said, I would buy 20s, I think. They are simpler and take up less physical space and less gear is needed to run them (I.e., only the Transmitter 1 can provide bass management for the 18+19 combo, which then requires using WISA).

I have a BL19 for sale if you’re in the US and interested. See the For Sale forum.

Let us know what you choose, what you hear and what your thoughts are!

[Curly]

BeoCom 1401 wrote:

The Node has eARC HDMI that works flawlessly, supports way more streaming services, and costs far less.

A great point. If you plan to use your BL17s with a TV, then Node, with HDMI, is a great option. And as I said in my lengthy thread on the old forum, the Bluesound OS is superb and definitely superior to B&O’s app.

Trying both is the best option, I agree! Let us know what you choose.

[Curly]

Tidal has indicated it’s HiFi Plus will either simultaneously offer FLAC in addition to MQA or switch over to FLAC files.

B&O Mozart products cannot process anything above Tidal’s HiFi redbook CD lossless quality. But I would imagine a software update would allow for proper handling of hi-rez FLAC from Hifi Plus.

I hope this gets delivered.

[Curly]

I use a BS Core to drive my BL17s. I also tested a Bluesound Node 2i, which only worked well through optical Toslink; RCA connections did not allow for the speakers to shut down as they normally would. But the Node 2i worked well through Toslink. I did not hear a difference in sound between the two so I ultimately returned the Node 2i and kept the Core to maintain complete B&O functionality through the app.

I posted a lengthy thread about this on the old Beoworld forum. If you care to google it, you may find it useful.

But in short, either work and I did not hear a difference in sound between the two that swayed me either way so for simplicity, I chose to stay within the B&O ecosystem.

[Curly]

I see everyone has covered this fairly well so I’ll just briefly share my own experience:

In my Core+BL18 system, I tried an Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet cable and it was completely unusable. The speakers hissed loud white noise from the moment I switched everything on. It was a disaster.

I swapped back to Monoprice Cat7 S/FTP cables and they worked great.

That said, I occasionally experienced some grounding issues somewhere in the chain of components that would express themselves as faint static. When I giggled the Powerlink cable at the Core, it would go away.

I got fed up with it and swapped everything to Monoprice basic optical Toslink cables and will not go back. Because they’re digital cables, there is no worry about EM interference, ground static, etc. etc. etc. Everything works perfectly and with no background hissing or white noise of any kind. I also heard no meaningful difference in sound quality between the good Cat7 cables and the optical Toslink.

I use the optical Toslink now and expect I’ll always use unless I bring a Beovision into the mix.

In short, +1 for optical Toslink cables between a Core and modern BeoLab speakers.

[Curly]

Guys, as someone said above but let me put it more succinctly:

*To make the Core wireless, add a Transmitter 1.*

Then the only cord required by the BeoLab 18s will be mains power. The Core is being updated any day now, probably with Mozart capabilities, but no one knows if it will include its own wireless capabilities or not.

The Transmitter 1 retails for $600 and there are two used examples available on eBay now for very, VERY good prices. For reference, I bought one on eBay within the last three months for about $360, I believe.

I hope that helps!

[Curly]

I have clear photos if anyone needs.

[Author]

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