B&O’s New DIY Kit Can Turn Vintage Speakers Wireless

Full streaming ahead — if you're willing to get your hands dir

February 16, 2018 9:00 am

As much as I like my new Sonos —  noise complaints from annoying neighbors aside — I do miss the warmth and style of a vintage speaker.

While there are plenty of third-party doodads and dongles that’ll get your old speakers into the modern age (meaning: Bluetooth streaming), it’s rare that a major audio company takes the leap itself. Thankfully, Bang & Olufsen, utilizing open-source tech and working in conjunction with DIY audio gurus HiFiBerry, has just released the Beocreate 4 Channel Amplifier, a piece of hardware that maintains the look and sound of your classic B&O hi-fi system but adds wireless capabilities.

The amp, which you’ll have to install yourself, offers up to 180W output power and can drive up to four 4-8 Ohm speakers. It’s fully controllable from a Raspberry Pi that plugs into the Beocreate board. Once you’re ready,  you can connect Airplay, Bluetooth or Spotify to whatever gorgeous speaker you inherited from your parents’ living room.

While there’s no soldering needed, you’ll want to have a bit of experience tinkering around with electronics.

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