[DT79]

I know, and by no means am I saying that the type of product I suggest should be the only or even the main thing, I just think it would be a nice nod to their legacy, and the many owners/fans who are not necessarily UHNWIs.

[DT79]

Wouldn’t it have been nice if, for the 100th anniversary, they’d created the Beosound Core, but made it all that it could have been (Wisa, multichannel, more inputs (both normal and B&O), active room compensation… no doubt other things) and sold it for the going rate that such a device might go for. That would be a wonderful way to honour longstanding owners of legacy and vintage B&O products, enabling them to bring them bang up to the minute in terms of control and integration.

It needn’t even be the only thing they do for their 100th anniversary, but it would a classy gesture and a nice change from recent form.

Sadly I agree though, it will be a drool-worthily lovely product, artificially inflated in price to make it even more exclusive that it otherwise would be.

[DT79]

it’s just getting silly now.

Catrix wrote:

£15,700 now. What is going on?

[DT79]

Centa Penta, surely!

Evan wrote:

Ok I guess the first step (in the modeling domain) is to get the Kallax into Solidworks. I’ll build the Penta-C(?) / Center Penta(?) What should we name this thing?? …into the Kallax for reference along the way.

[DT79]

That already looks great!

Evan wrote:

Hey everyone – excited to share some recent thoughts on the center channel idea. I think its time this concept finally turn into a project. Recently my partner and I moved to a new house and our new AV room could really use a nice center channel. I have a few extra Pentas kicking around so I think its time to start building one of these. I plan on designing this to fit a pair of cells(?) in the Ikea Kallax shelf. This spot used to be occupied by the AVP and BLK that I previously used as a center channel. I don’t think its going to take up the entire 690*335mm opening (although it could!) but it will probably take up most of it. Before I start modeling the 3D on this, I wanted to open it up for a discussion. I want to design something to share, hopefully something that could be replicated by others interested in this project (first as CAD and then likely a 2D drawing pack). In my mind there are two ways this could go:

1. Traditional wooden box architecture, cloth fret.
2. A more penta-like solution. Something 3D printed (sturdily) that has the spirit of the Penta cabinet geometry baked into its industrial design.

Both of these ideas have there advantages and disadvantages but I wanted to open it up here for a discussion as I want this to benefit as many people as possible. I think many B&O fans would enjoy having such a speaker in their system. Maybe two variants get designed after all? My dream is that it is eventually driven by a remote BL Penta (150/200 style) amp that sits in one of the other shelf cells. I was brainstorming all of this and doodled this in my sketchbook today. I hope it inspires you to share some of your thoughts.

[DT79]

This is what I’ve done with a 7.2. Works a treat. Need to source 5v USB to trigger the 7.x on from either AV amp or TV if not using powerlink.

Ravsted wrote:

I got a BeoLab 7.1 (wired using both left and right channel as center channel). It is at great center speaker with lot of power and clarity. If you go for at home-brew solution with a passive speaker I would build something around a non-B&O center speaker … A good second hand B&W or whatever you prefer. I believe that will give you a way better acoustic result. You can still modify the speaker cabinet to match the Pentas in some way.

[DT79]

I don’t find anything objectionable about listening to a TV in stereo after all it’s true that most TVs have stereo speakers built in, plenty of TV programmes are still only recorded and/or broadcast in stereo and many people may not be inclined to have more than 2 or 2.1 speakers for a variety of reasons. All with the caveat that the further apart those stereo speakers are, the more compromised the location of voices to the screen will be for anyone sitting off-axis.

My problem is that it’s simply an odd choice to make a product of this nature and charge so much for it and to make it only stereo. And only one input (going out of their way to combine analogue and digital into one so you can’t use both) . And no WiSA. And only a proprietary digital output and very limited use digital input (that can’t be used at the same time). They’ve just omitted several really obvious and useful features and every feature they have included they’ve compromised or limited in some way. I just find it baffling and very frustrating.

However no doubt for some people it will fit their desired use case and good for them!

 

[DT79]

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.

[DT79]

Yep, after looking more closely at the spec this appears to be a real missed opportunity. If it has HDMI ARC and costs £1k then why no multi-channel, why no WiSA and why oh why always so stingy with the inputs. Also it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they could have implemented their active room correction in such a device as well.

Millemissen wrote:

Oh no! A (Mozart) Core with a HDMI/eARC connection. With only 2 channels support ? Where did the most important speaker for tv viewing – the center – go? Not that I expected TrueImage processing built-in – but this really is too ordinary. And the CEC support – will that bring control of the tv/the connected AppleTV…. ….as Mbee asks? Or is the future two remotes on the table? Only a visit in a B&O store can clarify that…I guess. P.S. I’ll stick to my trusted Essence MK2 boxes for 2 channel music/radio listening and my Theatre for tv/movie watching with great multichannel sound. MM

[DT79]

This could be what I’ve been waiting for, but all those questions definitely need to be answered! It’s hard to believe it ought to cost £1k, but I’m not surprised.

 

[DT79]

That’s true of daisy-chaining via Powerlink, but if you use a Transmitter 1, that does include bass management, right?

I really wish B&O would release a new ‘Core; which is Wisa enabled itself, includes bass management like the Transmitter 1, has a wider range of inputs and also has the Active Room Compensation built in. Although they’d probably charge about £10K for it knowing them! I know there are ways of achieving the same through 3rd party kit (I’ve got it), but it’s crying out for one elegant device within the B&O ecosystem.

Curly wrote:

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.

[DT79]

I was lurking with interest, waiting for a reply to this…

I find the diagram below ambiguous (as with many of B&Os user manual diagrams). It does appear to suggest that you can daisy chain PL connections from one BL18 to the next and on the BL19, but nowhere does it state that as far as I can see.

Millemissen wrote:

Study this and/or this in order to get a well balanced sound in the room. MM

[DT79]

Yes I just did a search and the companies house listing came up showing them as ‘in liquidation’. Such a pity.

does anyone know of an alternative maker of aftermarket wooden grilles for vintage B&O?

[DT79]

I got oak grilles for my 8000s, 6000s and 7.2 from him last year. Really impressed with the service and quality. I’ll be gutted if he’s gone out of business.

[DT79]

Thanks, I did see that one, but wasn’t sure if the ability to connect the IR eye was the only thing. If it is then I’ll happily just go for a Mk1 which seem to be a little cheaper and more available.

Tignum wrote:

Hi DT79, There was a thread here: https://archivedforum2.beoworld.co.uk/forums/t/43589.aspx stating the MkII has Type no. 3051. Join-Play version (8089119). The port to plug the IR eye in, can only be the DPL port I reckon? Regards, Johan

[DT79]

I was trying to figure out the difference between the Mk1 and Mk2 Core and found this thread while searching. Hope it’s OK to ask some questions here, as remote control is part of it.

I must say that the lack of clear and comprehensive information from B&O is shocking.

If I have this right the Mk1 Core can only be controlled via the app or Beo Remote 1 (via Bluetooth); the Mk2 also allows IR control via a separate IR eye?

Are there any other differences? I’m looking for a s/h Core and want to know whether I need to find a mk2 one or not.

[DT79]

thank you!

Millemissen wrote:

Info here Be prepared for a steep learning curve! However, there are numerous thread on the forum about this. MM

[DT79]

thank you once again for your extremely helpful and informative replies.

I have a much better understanding of what’s possible now. If I decide to go this route I would definitely want the convenience of controlling everything from a single remote / the app, so I’d try to find the NL/ML converter. Do I need to know anything else about that? What do the letters stand for?

cheers!

Millemissen wrote:

Two ways to do this… You either connect the output of the Core (using an adapter cable from the PL) to a spare input on the oldschool 7000/9000. or You connect the output of the 7000/9000 (again using an adapter cable from the PL – alternatively from the A.Tape of the 7000) to the input on the Core. However in any case, you will only be able to control the Core part with the app/Beoremote One……not the 7000/9000! The 7000/9000 must be controlled with the Beo4. One advantage of connecting the 7000/9000 to the Core is that the Core has autodetection of the incoming signal = it turns on when the 7000/9000 starts playing. The other way ‘round the 7000/9000 will have to be turned on manually/Beo4. The Transmitter must be connected to where the actual sound output would be. P.S. B&O has made a (now obsolete) ML/NL Converter for connecting these two device generations. That would offer additional benefits in terms of controlling everything with the app/Beoremote One. MM

[DT79]

Thanks again for your help. I’m gradually getting my head around all this stuff.

One final question, If I got a Core and something like a Beosound 9000 or a Beomaster 7000 or similar, presumably I could connect the Core to one of those via Powerlink and go Core >Beosound/Beomaster > Transmitter > BL18/BL19. If I were to do that…

a) could I control the whole thing with the B&O app and/or a B&O remote?

b) if I started streaming to the Core would it turn on the Beosound/Beomaster and switch to the right input automatically or would I have to use the B&O app or remote to turn the whole system on and select the right input first?

Just thinking that using a Beosound/Beomaster allows an abundance of inputs (and possibility to add a Beogram CD in case of the Beomaster)

wrote:

The ‘DPL’ port….the mysterious ‘DPL’ port ? Noone really knows – or has revealed – what they thought of back then. Most likely it is a port, that should support a digital output ( = no input port!), that could have been used, if they had developed further down that route. DPL means digital powerlink – which is used on the BL90’s/50’s for the connection between both speakers. In an update, at some point it was converted into a port for an ir-eye. This however, is rarely used, since all newer devices (including the Core) uses bluetooth for controlling. I guess we won’t see any changes there (for the Core as is) – the development of a newer version is rumoured. MM

[DT79]

Thanks. I see there’s only one socket labelled ‘powerlink’, but what’s ‘DPL’? I guess I assumed one of them would be a powerlink input (or equivalent) intended for connecting up older B&O gear. Or is the idea that if you wanted to combine a Core with other B&O Beosound or Beomaster type things that the Core would be plugged from its Powerlink output into a Powerlink input on one of those?

Just trying to get my head around it all. Is there a guide anywhere to all the terminology and connecting together old B&O, new B&O and 3rd party gear?

wrote:

Is it possible to plug a non-B&O analogue source into a powerlink input with some kind of adaptor cable?

No, the PL is an output….for connecting the Beolabs. MM

[Author]

Posts