Questions and Answers, guides and FAQsCategory: B&O specific questionsCan I use my Beolab speakers with an AV amplifier/ receiver (without pre-out sockets) to get surround sound?
steve Staff asked 9 years ago

Yes, you can! For the best sound quality and simplest connections (and thus lowest cost), we would ideally suggest choosing an AV receiver with audio pre-out sockets fitted (in which case please see our previous answer for the right details).

However, if your receiver doesn’t have pre-out sockets, and instead uses traditional amplified speaker terminals (theblack and red spring / screw down terminals for bare wires) then our solution lets you connect Beolab speakers using a combination of our attenuators & line-in cables:


 

Step 1) One attenuator is needed for each pair of speakers, assuming your receiver has a separate phono SUB OUT connection:

  • e.g. for 2.1 surround you will need 1 attenuator (for Front speaker pair)
  • e.g. for 5.1 surround you will need 3 attenuators (one for Front pair & one for Rear Pair & one for Centre)
  • one more attenuator may also be needed for your B&O Subwoofer (ONLY IF your receiver does not have a dedicated phono SUB OUT connection).

Step 2) Connect the red and black speaker terminals on the back of the receiver to the special Attenuated Speaker ConverterThis will convert powered / amplified speaker sockets to phono sockets for use with B&O Beolabs.

Step 3) Join your Beolab speakers to the phono sockets on the Attenuator using the correct Line-in cables (one cable is needed per attenuator):

3a) For Beolab speakers with a phono line in

  • Beolab 1
  • Beolab 5
  • Beolab 3000
  • Beolab 4000 mk.1 (excluding Serial nos. 2xxxx onwards, up to late 2007 only)
  • Beolab 4500
  • Beolab 5000
  • Beolab 6000
  • Beolab 8000
  • Beolab Penta

3b) For Beolab speakers with 8 pin DIN Powerlink Line in

  • Beolab 3
  • Beolab 4000 mark 2
  • Beolab 6002
  • Beolab 8002
  • Beolab 9
  • Beolab 12 (12-1 / 12-2 / 12-3) — Please note, extra clip-on RJ45 adapters required!

Step 4) Play some music and enjoy your surround system!


 

Granted this solution may not be the easiest to understand until you start to plug everything in. If this information doesn’t fully answer your questions, please feel free to contact us, as our team of skilled engineers are always happy to help with any enquiries you may have!