I thought as much. Something that I would like to try is the following:
Connect 218 to Speakers via Speakerlink Out. Connect G68 to speakers via coaxial Connect 218 to G68 via coaxial out Connect legacy commms to SpeakerLink in on 218. Setup an extra source e.g. Roon Tri Configure speakers to change input depending on source
I would like to think that this would MQA via speakerlink and Trifield via coaxial.
Is there another way to route comms to your other speakers? Sounds like they never get the comms signal. My guess is since I use an AC11 and star config it's send comms everywhere.
Maybe coax/BNC to the center and one of the rear speakers?
Not easily... and definitely not for the rears as the cables are chased in the walls and have been decorated over.
Also, since doing the test of the routing the SpeakerLink via the 218, the Display button on the remote has stopped changing/blanking the 861 and speaker displays even though everything now cabled back as it was. Any ideas what would have caused that to stop working?
This is from Des which hopefully will help everyone.
Originally Posted by Des
Connect SpeakerLink out from processor to SpeakerLink input on the 218.
In addition to the standard SpeakerLink connections, it is necessary to connect the BNC comms output from one of the front speakers (either Master or Slave can be used) to the BNC comms input on one of the “non-218” Slave speakers. Again, it doesn’t matter which one; it might be most convenient to connect one of the front speakers to the centre-channel.
Without this connection, the non-218 speakers won’t follow the front speakers.
Bear in mind that the BNC connection can be made using a basic RCA-to-RCA lead with BNC adapters on each end.
Having the 218 in the signal path introduces a delay which can be dealt with most simply in MConfig as follows…
As the 218 adds 16 milliseconds of delay, the front left and right speakers should be 'moved' 16 feet (4.9 metres) further away in the program. It may feel counter-intuitive, but increasing a distance causes delay to be reduced.
If there is an extreme case where the distances are so big that an additional 16 feet cannot be added, then the same effect can be achieved by 'moving' the “non-218” speakers (centre, sub, and surrounds) 16 feet nearer to the listening position.
I hope this helps, Richard.
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Connect the master Front SpeakerLink OUT of the 861 to the SpeakerLink IN of the 218 Connect the network input to the 218 Connect your front speakers to the 218, either daisy chain or home run. Configure 218 for SLS on network and all other inputs SpeakerLink Set both 861 and 218 to Auto
That appears to work from an audio point of view but not from a Control point of view.
In the above configuration, the centre and surround speakers never get turned on. I've tried both 868 and 218 set to Auto, 218 set to not controller and 868 set to controller and vice versa; but in all three configurations only the main left and right come out of standby regardless of what input I select.
Tim,
Your problem with the centre and surround is you've lost the slave comms return from the master (left I presume) speaker, as the 218 is now in the way. Although it's my suggested solution if you have SE speakers, as it allows the 218 and main SE speakers to provide MQA.
The remedy is to use an additional speakerlink cable to carry the slave comms back to the 861v6 / v8 speakerlink outputs, so the 861 can distribute the slave comms to the other DSP speakers. This slave comms signal can come from the front slave speaker (right) or if the front speakers are daisy chained from the 218, it could come from the slave speaker output of the 218, which may be easier for cabling. Run this new speakerlink cable back to the Slave (the one without the green stripe) L&R Speaker output of the 861v6 / v8. The 861 will then distribute this returned slave comms signal to all the other speakers in your system, so they will now wake up, switch sources and track volume.
It doesn't matter how 'good' this cable is, as it's only running comms.
In this configuration, with 861 > 218 > Front Left and Right speakers, you MUST have one of the front L&R speakers set as Master. It won't work with Centre as master speaker.
Remember master speaker has three configuration necessities: 1) Set the speaker as Master, using an MSR remote, so it has a red led on it when in standby. No other speakers should be master in the system.
2) Set the matching speaker as Master in the Meridian Configuration program and upload to your 861.
3) Make sure the master speaker is plugged into the Master speaker output (green banded) on 218 (or in general the 861 if not using 218)
Ok, this is sort of working. All speakers now coming out of standby ok regardless of whether first source used is the 861 or the 218. If the first source chosen is a surround source, the volume level of the centre (and I presume also the surrounds) is not showing the same as the L/R. Presumably that is because the 'start volume' of the 861 is set to 'Last Valid' so no volume level is sent to all the speakers? I could therefore get round this by setting a defined start volume for the 861.
However, the Left and Right speakers (connected to 218) are not showing the custom source name. For example I have renamed the TV input as 'SkyHD'; but when I select that source the centre speaker correctly displays 'SkyHD' whereas the left and right speakers display 'TV'...not the end of the world but not ideal. UPDATE: Realised I can solve this by also entering the custom names in the 218 settings
Having added the required 4.9 m to the left and right speaker distances, will I need to run room correction again? Is this really accurate enough not to screw up multi-channel timings from all different sources?
Finally, the 'Display' button on the remote is still having no longer having an effect. It no longer allows me to see signal details on the left speaker (so can't confirm if i am getting MQA) and I can no longer blank all the displays for watching movies, I presume I've inadvertently altered something in Mconfig, but not sure what?
I'd be grateful if someone could help with this 218 crackle problem:
I'm using my 218 as a Sooloos endpoint in my study. Inputs are (1) Sooloos via ethernet and (2) audio input from a computer via a DAC. The 218 outputs to a pair of DSP 3200s via SpeakerLink. That all works well.
Sometimes I want to listen via headphones. So I am outputting from the 218 via coaxial digital to a Mojo headphone amp. However I need to mute the 3200s because otherwise the Mojo outputs a horrible crackle to the headphones.
When the 3200s are muted (via the Sooloos IP control iPad app) it works well and the sound is good. But the mute turns off - i.e. the speakers become unmuted - when the Sooloos music queue switches from one album to another.
Is there any way to have a permanent mute, like the headphone mode on the 818v3?
I ran a Stax energiser off an 818v3 while also feeding a pair of 8KSE's and using headphone mode worked perfectly, note that headphone mode actually brought the DSP's out of standby but at 0 volume. Looking at the 218 manual (I do not have a 218) it does not appear to have a headphone mode, also in the manual is the following table
Analogue Out to amp or active speakers SpeakerLink out to DSP's
and
Digital coax output, use this to connect to the digital input of another 218 or a Distributor 1, using a 75Ω digital cable.
So it looks like what you are trying is not documented as being available, sorry I can't be more specific.
?? Why you are not using the digital input from the 218? Sorry that make no sense for me - is there a special reason why you do that?
You can use either SPDIF (electrical) or TOSLINK (optical), so you avoid the bad D/A conversation in your PC and avoid also the A/D conversion in the 218.
You can try to make this and it guess it should work without cracks to your Mocho.
The volume is done correct in the 3200 (over IP control and SL) and the volume control for the headphones is done in your Mocho to make it correct without loose resolution.
So just turn the volume down for the 3200 and they are quiet, and the Mocho only have to play without crackling noise when it get a valid digital signal, otherwise the problem is the Mocho "logic".
Input (2) - audio from my iMac (e.g. when watching a film) - the 218 doesn't have a USB in so I am outputting from Mac > Arcam DAC and then outputting Arcam DAC > 218 > audio input.
I am then outputting from the 218 in 2 ways:
Output (1) - SpeakerLink > 3200s - this works perfectly for input (1) and input (2). No problems at all, apart from the slightly clunky selection via the iPad IP Control app.
Output (2) - in order to output to headphones I need to go via a headphone amp. The Mojo has 2 inputs, digital optical and digital coaxial. I am connecting the 218 to the Mojo via digital coaxial.
I get loud crackle via the Mojo *unless* the 3200s are muted. This is the case on input (1) *and* input (2). Turning the volume down on the 3200s does not make a difference. They have to be muted.
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