So I bought a pair of these on E-Bay recently and I am finding it a real challenge to get information on how to wire them and set them up properly.
I downloaded the user manual and the diagrams are obvious but there is only a single page of instruction and very little detail.
My setup:
Rotel RMB 1565 5 channel amp
Rotel RSP 1570 Preamp
I am going to wall mount the 18's and run cables in conduit to my preamp and just use that for all my front end sources (Nvidia Shield/CD Player/X-Box/Turntable)
The conduit would contain the power cable, an ethernet cable, an RCA cable and a Toslink). I am running all for future proofing purposes but only expect to use the RCA cables (unless people here say that the Toslink is the far better choice).
My Preamp mentioned above has a full set of Pre Outs, a pair of Tape Outs and a single SPDIF and Toslink digital out). The full picture is attached of the unit's rear side. Which do I use in this case?
Can you guys please advise how I should wire this up? The 18's have amplification on board already, right? And what about wireless operation if I want to bypass the streamer and just play a song from Spotify on my Iphone?
Sorry for all the questions but if there is a better instruction manual I am happy to go digging for answers myself.
Thanks,
Russ
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Beolab 18 - New owner with questions
13 replies
You would just connect the 18's to the PRE-OUT through RCA. There isn't any built in streaming services on the 18's so they would have to be run through some type of amp. If you want to use the 18's wirelessly you need to get the transmitter 1 and connect that to the amp Pre-outs but I don't recommend wireless unless you REALLY have to.
Location: Toronto, Canada
So I suppose the RCA inputs are a better choice than using the Toslink in your opinion?
I am trying to understand how it all works together. I have a 5.1 setup. My rears, sub and center are still going to run off my amplifier but the 18's will be independent and run off the pre-outs with their internal amps?
The Beolab 18 are - as you say - powered speakers, but must be connected to a volume controlled line out of the amplifier/preamp.
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That should not be a problem, if you want to use them for 2 channel listening.
I suppose you also aim at using them as the fronts in a multichannel setup.
This will require a good deal of calibration of the system (adjusting the output level for all channels etc), but should be doable.
The BL18 have a wireless option, but they are not ‘smart speakers’ in the sense, that you can play directly to them - you will need a player (with volume regulated line-outs) or a device connected like you already do with your existing devices.
The wireless option is for transmitting sound from a WiSA enabled sender (like that in the B&O tv products or from 3rd party).
Please note!
The BL18 have 3 wired input connection - these can all be used……there is a priority.
This way you could have your preamp connected via RCA and run a toslink connection from a (volume regulated) 2 channel source (for streaming e.g. Spotify).
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MM
Location: Flensborg————Danmark
If you plan to run them off your AVP as front L&R in a surround sound system then I think you’re going to have to use RCA. If you connect a SPIDF output when playing multi-channel content the AVP is going to output 5.1 via the SPIDF output and the BL18s won’t know what to make of it. Just connect up the RCA’s to the L or R RCA socket on your BL18s and set the ‘role’ switch to L or R respectively and it should work great.
What other speakers are you going to use? I recommend getting some B&O speakers if you don’t already have them and keep the tonal signature the same, especially for the centre.
I have BL18s in a stereo system, but in the other room I have a 5.1 system consisting of BL8000 / BL7.2 / BL6000. They all work great together so I expect if you got a BL7.2 centre and a pair of 8000s for rear (or BL3s or 17s if you want small or wall-mounted) that would go amazingly well with the BL18s.
I guess those are questions for 'Rotel' experts...The rotel will be sending a signal to both pre-outs and speaker terminals simultaneously at all times unless there’s a menu setting to switch one or other off. Either way, it will just work if you connect your front L&R via pre-outs instead of speaker terminals. You need to find the test tone in the menu and use that to get all the speakers at the same level. You can do it by ear or preferably with an SPL meter (or smartphone app).Please Log In to Reply
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