Got a great sounding pair of speakers gathering dust as they just can't keep up with the connected smarts of the modern musical age? Then Bang and Olufsen may have a solution for you – provided you don't mind getting your hands dirty with some tinkering.
B&O has partnered up with HiFiBerry to offer a new DIY kit that lets you add wireless functionality to legacy speaker sets. The Beocreate 4 Channel Amplifier is a board designed to be paired with passive loudspeakers, acting as a digital amplifier on its own, or adding Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities if paired with a Raspberry Pi.
Running open-source software, it'll let you add Airplay, or Spotify Connect functionality too.
Enthusiast project
Now, compared to some Raspberry Pi projects, the Beocreate 4 is relatively straightforward to set up – plugging into the amplifier, you won't need to do any soldering on the Pi, with screw ports for the cabling. However, there are simpler ways to get your older speakers online, with plug-and-play options like Google's Chromecast Audio being more beginner-friendly.
But with B&O's audio pedigree well known, the amp's capabilities may make it a better match for breathing new life into your old speakers.
You can pick up the Beocreate 4 now, priced at $189 (around £135, AU$240).
