Beolink, Mozart and Power Link: how a modern B&O system connects
Bang & Olufsen has designed its products to work as one system since the 1990s, when BeoLink let one B&O product control another around the house. A current system connects in four layers:
- Beolink Multiroom joins current B&O speakers and soundbars over the home network. The Bang & Olufsen app grows a system from one speaker into stereo, multiroom or surround, with up to 20 connected speakers.
- Power Link is B&O's wired speaker connection on an RJ45 socket. A Beosound Theatre has eight Power Link outputs, and each Beolab 28 has one alongside two Ethernet ports.
- Wireless Power Link (WiSA) and Digital Power Link carry surround channels without speaker cable. Digital Power Link connects speakers built on B&O's Mozart platform, over a wire or wirelessly.
- Beoconnect Core is a small hub with HDMI eARC, Ethernet, Power Link and a line or optical input. It lets older B&O speakers, a Beolab 18 for example, play from a third-party TV or projector and join the multiroom system.
Each current speaker also streams directly through AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect, so guests can play music without learning a new app.
Why B&O owners want it inside a smart home
People rarely buy Bang & Olufsen to hide it. A pair of Beolab 28s on the wall, or a Beosound Theatre beneath a large OLED screen, is part of how the room looks, and owners expect the controls to be just as considered. The usual frustration is the opposite: the B&O app, a Beoremote, the TV handset, a lighting keypad and a heating app, each doing part of the job.
Bringing B&O into a smart home addresses that in three ways:
- the TV, soundbar and speakers start and stop with the room's scenes rather than with their own remote;
- music in the kitchen, garden room and study can be started from the same touchscreens and keypads as the lights and heating;
- the network that Beolink Multiroom depends on is designed and looked after as part of the house, not left to the broadband provider's router.
The Beosound Theatre shows how far B&O already goes towards this on its own. One of its four gigabit Ethernet ports is reserved for an LG OLED TV, so the TV and soundbar are controlled together from a Beoremote One or the B&O app.
One master system: planning B&O alongside Control4 and Lutron
- Pick one master. B&O has its own home automation route: Beoremote Halo works with BeoLiving Intelligence to run lights, shades, temperature and music. That suits a house built around B&O. In a house already run by Control4, we would usually keep Control4 as the master and let B&O handle sound and vision, so there is one set of scenes to maintain.
- Wall positions and cables. A Beolab 28 can be wall-mounted or floor-standing. On a wall, each speaker needs power and ideally Ethernet at the bracket, which has to be agreed before decorating.
- Visible or built in. For rooms where speakers should disappear, B&O offers the Celestial in-ceiling speakers and the Beosound Shape wall panels, and it positions Beoconnect Core as the hub for built-in setups like these. Ceiling positions need the same checks for joists and lighting as any recessed fitting.
- Wired or wireless surround. Wireless Power Link is convenient in a finished room. In a renovation, running cable to the surround positions keeps both options open.
- Mixed brands. If other rooms use different speakers, plan one control layer over all of them so the household learns a single way of choosing music. Our multi-room AV page explains how zones are laid out.
