istreich Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I currently use two older B&K CT600 (6 zones, 12 channels each) to power my ceiling speakers. While the sound is great and power more than sufficient, I have been struggling with the "integration" of those amps with my Control4 HC250/Matrix Switch install. I am not looking to do anything fancy but the one thing I want to and can't is to get those beasts in and out of "standby" mode. First, they get very warm and use tons of power. I would like to be able to put them in sleep mode when not in use and wake them up when playing music. Second, we have a lot of very short power cuts and every time, those units go in "standby" mode. Which means that when I want to play music, I have to go to my rack and manually use an old IR remote to turn them back "on". I don't know if there are discrete on/off codes for those amps and I am interested in any suggestion to deal with that. They are really great units and with the exception of this problem (not trivial especially when I am not around and my family tries to listen to music...), they work great! I looked into the driver for them but not much success. Would there be another driver I could use that would allow better control. Those amps were pretty sophisticated for their time and they have a detailed built-in software for zone management. But not much is picked up by the Control4 driver. In parallel and in case I can't find a good solution, are there any suggestions of good "dumb" multichannel amp that would work well with Control4. I need to power 10 zones / 20 speakers, all regular stereo ceiling speakers (with the exception on one zone that is outdoor Sonarray system but still fed as regular stereo speaker config). Focus would clearly on cost/value as I did not plan (still hope not) to replace my existing amps. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StroTek LLC Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 a dealer can write a simple driver that using your existing remote to learn the IR codes.. you will then use the driver to bring it in and out of standby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istreich Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Johann, the problem is that the driver needs to read the status of the amp before sending a on/off command. Otherwise, there is a risk of switching off when on for ex and vice-versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StroTek LLC Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 I have a old panasonic plasma TV that doesnt inform control4 of its power status.. I have a work around, by setting variables when its turned on and off.. I then have a timer that resets the variablle to "off" after some time, since the TV will go into standby its not perfect.. but its a pretty workable solution.. I have also mapped a button to send a power on command any time I noticed that the TV is off, when it should be on and vice-versa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istreich Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 Makes sense as work around. I agree that at least having a programed button that can send the power on/off command makes sense. At a minimum, I can "reactivate" amps from Control4 remote. Not sure the variable path will help me as the change of status is pretty "random"... Thanks for that and still interested if anyone found better ways to control those B&K amps. I know they are pretty common in larger home install as they are pretty much bullet proof :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 just looking briefly there looks to be decent RS232 documentation. Or a simple 12v trigger will turn them on and off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istreich Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Matt, thanks and you are correct. I managed to find on the old B&K web site a series of documents that includes HEX codes to control the boxes. [Company unfortunately closed years ago...] Excuse my lack of knowledge here, but does it mean that my dealer could send a series of HEX commands via serial to either switch on or off the unit. There is a B&K driver in Control4 but functions are very limited. The good news is that those units are built with a lot of flexibility and discrete commands, including discrete on, discrete off and not only on/off toggle. I have to admit that I looked at those B&K docs (http://www.bkcomp.com/fileadmin/content/bk_support/Protocol/CT_610_20010.pdf) and they are foreign to me :-) Is there an easy way to translate those (page 29. ALL B&K POWER OFF ; ALL B&K POWER ON) translate into a line of command sent to the boxes as part of the "LISTEN" and "ALL OFF" routines. I am not sure how familiar my installer is with those custom instructions as well as HEX and if I can help him by telling him exactly what to write and do. I know I could have Control4 learn the instruction via the remote but I unfortunately don't have the original B&K remotes and the one I have is a generic one that does not have the discrete buttons but just a toggle button that does not help me. Thank you very much again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 what specific commands are you looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istreich Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Only power on and power off i use those boxes solely as dumb amps behind my Control4 matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 +12v will be very easy to program. and give you on and off individual zones i think with multiple relays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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