beoplay connection hub & beolink passive

19 replies
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Posted January 14, 2024 at 03:49 GMT ? Edited May 5, 2024 at 16:28 GMT
#688504
Hello all, I was planning to use a Connection Hub, and a Passive to drive 2 BeoVox speakers from a Samsung TV, controlled by the Samsung remote. At my parents in law, for ultimate remote control ease and good sound. I sourced the Hub, tested it with the optical out of my Mac, a PowerLink speaker, a PowerLink Mk 2 fully wired cable and an (LG) IR remote. It works just fine. Now I just received the Passive and am testing it, but it does not switch on when the Hub switches on. Now I have two thoughts: 1. Could the Passive be in the wrong option? 2. Do I need to fabricate a cable that connects pin 1 'Power on' and pin 4 'speaker on/off'? Maybe someone has been here before and can let me know, also if there is something I am overlooking. Thanks! Regards, Johan

Location: Netherlands

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Guy
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Posted January 14, 2024 at 04:58 GMT ? Edited January 14, 2024 at 05:16 GMT
#706882
Could you elaborate on the 'Connection Hub'?  I assume that it is simply a digital (optical) to analogue converter? But is it something more complex with a PL output?
Guy
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Posted January 14, 2024 at 05:19 GMT
(Hence the need for fully wired PL cable in some setups, so that both pin1 and 4 are connected from B&O PL source to Passive)
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Posted January 14, 2024 at 17:16 GMT
Hello Guy, thanks for thinking with me. The hub I refer to is the is the BeoPlay (S8) connection hub: Good to hear you trust it is not in the option setting. I now believe the trick could be in the signal the Hub provides. I reckon it puts 5V on pin 4 (for regular BeoLabs to switch on), but the Passive expects a signal on pin 1: (snip of the service manual) Now I hope that the Passive expects the same 5V voltage for pin 1, so I can make a specific lead (RJ45 to 8pin Din) What do you think? Regards, Johan  

Location: Netherlands

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Posted January 14, 2024 at 17:27 GMT
#706890
Great stuff Guy. I will see to fabricate a cable and report back. Many thanks! Regards, Johan

Location: Netherlands

My B&O Icons:

Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
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Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
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Posted January 17, 2024 at 21:43 GMT
#706965
I got it working. The only thing to do (at least for a Passive 1656) is to get the trigger signal from the 'speaker on/off' (DIN pin 4) onto the 'power on' (DIN pin 1). In the end I decided not to cut/solder funny cables, you never know when you will fool yourself with it later :-), so just wired a two port RJ45 terminal this way: All that is needed are those 5 connections. I = in, O = out. I run a Cat7 patch cable from the Connection Hub to the terminal in (I), and a PowerLink Mk2 RJ45 to 8 pin DIN cable from the terminal out (O) to the PowerLink socket of the Passive. PowerLink Mk2 is needed as it has the 'Power On' wire going to pin 1. Hope it is useful to someone sometime. Thanks Guy for your interest and support. Regards, Johan

Location: Netherlands

My B&O Icons:

Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-H8i.png Beoplay-H8i.png
Beoplay-A1.png Beoplay-A1.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Guy
Guy
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Posted January 18, 2024 at 11:42 GMT ? Edited January 18, 2024 at 11:42 GMT
#706972
Thanks for the update and great news that you got it all working - I am sure that this will be useful to others.  I am a big fan of the often-overlooked Passive. Just for completeness, you referred to B&O's Powerlink Mk2 RJ45 to 8-pin DIN cable so I thought I would post a pinout diagram of this cable here so that others can see exactly what is going on with the grey 'power on/up' wire:  

Location: Warwickshire, UK

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Posted January 18, 2024 at 11:44 GMT ? Edited January 18, 2024 at 11:44 GMT
#706973
Same logic, but with a little more elegant box (to put into the TV cabinet of my parents in law):

Location: Netherlands

My B&O Icons:

Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-H8i.png Beoplay-H8i.png
Beoplay-A1.png Beoplay-A1.png
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Guy
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Posted January 18, 2024 at 11:53 GMT ? Edited January 18, 2024 at 11:53 GMT
#706976
^ Very neat - what make/model is the little 2 port terminal box?

Location: Warwickshire, UK

My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beotime.png Beotime.png
Beosound.png Beosound.png
Beosound-Explore.png Beosound-Explore.png
Beosound-Essence.png Beosound-Essence.png
Beoplay-P2.png Beoplay-P2.png
Beoplay-M3.png Beoplay-M3.png
Beoplay-H4.png Beoplay-H4.png
Beoplay-H3.png Beoplay-H3.png
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Beoplay-A2.png Beoplay-A2.png
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Posted January 18, 2024 at 11:54 GMT ? Edited January 21, 2024 at 09:11 GMT
#706977
Thanks Guy! This should help anyone replicating the solution. Some commercially available RJ45 to 8pin DIN cables seem to differ a bit nowadays from the table on the right. The 'Data GND' is a separate copper strand in the cable (not a shield around the white 'Data' wire). The 'Signal GND' wires are not braided copper shields but green (R) and brown (L) isolated wires, marked with a thin white stripe, per pair isolated with aluminium foil. The total bundle of wires is shielded with a braided shield. See below pictures:

Location: Netherlands

My B&O Icons:

Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovision-10.png Beovision-10.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
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Beoplay-A1.png Beoplay-A1.png
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