BeoSound 5c
A Recreated Classic

(Optional) Add support for PowerLink speakers

To get audio out from PowerLink (or S/PDIF or line out), you need to connect audio from the Raspberry Pi to the daughterboard. You can use a Pi HAT with digital audio, such as the InnoMaker Digi One (~$40) or a HiFiBerry — the InnoMaker says it doesn't support the Raspberry Pi 5, but it works fine in this setup — or alternatively a USB to coaxial S/PDIF adapter. The software supports both and will auto-detect your setup.

Next, build a cable between the digital output from the HAT or USB adapter and the S/PDIF input on the daughterboard. The easiest approach is to reuse the existing cable between the old motherboard and the daughterboard that connects to S/PDIF — cut it and attach a single RCA connector. Polarity shouldn't matter for digital audio over coax, but I connected the outer ring to black and the inner pin to red.

You only need this if you want to use the local player and route audio to a local port (PowerLink, S/PDIF, or line out). If you use Sonos or Bluesound as your player, skip this step.

There is also a hybrid option: if you're not using Sonos today but want its convenience while still getting local audio out, you can use a standalone Sonos device with digital out — such as a Sonos Port, Sonos Connect, or Sonos ZP90 (available on eBay for ~$25). Connect its digital out to the daughterboard using the cable described above, then configure the software with player = Sonos (with the device's IP) and VolumeAdapter = PowerLink.

Flash Raspberry Pi OS

Use Raspberry Pi Imager to flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) to an SD card. Enable SSH and set hostname to something you like, e.g., beosound5c.

Clone the repository

SSH into your Pi and clone the project repository. If git is not installed, run sudo apt install git first.

Run the installer

The installer takes care of everything: dependencies, USB permissions, HDMI configuration, service setup, and walks you through connecting your integrations. It will prompt you for your Home Assistant URL, Spotify credentials, and help you pair your BeoRemote One Bluetooth remote if you have one. All Bang & Olufsen IR remotes work out of the box through the original hardware. Got a BeoTime lying around with no use? Bring it out!

To reconfigure individual components later, run e.g. sudo ./install.sh configure player, configure audio, configure bluetooth, configure menu, etc.

beo-ui                 # Chromium kiosk for the interface
beo-http               # Local web server (port 8000)
beo-router             # Core event routing
beo-player-sonos       # Sonos player (auto-detected)
beo-player-bluesound   # Bluesound/BluOS player (auto-detected)
beo-player-local       # Local player for PowerLink/S/PDIF/HDMI
beo-librespot          # Spotify Connect via go-librespot
beo-source-spotify     # Spotify playlists and playback
beo-source-tidal       # TIDAL playlists and playback
beo-source-apple-music # Apple Music playlists and playback
beo-source-plex        # Plex music library and playback
beo-source-cd          # CD playback from BM5 drive
beo-source-usb         # USB file playback
beo-source-news        # Guardian news headlines
beo-input              # USB input from wheel, buttons, laser
beo-masterlink         # IR remote and MasterLink via USB
beo-bluetooth          # BeoRemote One Bluetooth

{
  "device": "Living Room",
  "player": { "type": "sonos", "ip": "192.168.1.100" },
  "volume": { "type": "sonos", "host": "192.168.1.100", "max": 70 },
  "home_assistant": {
    "url": "http://homeassistant.local:8123",
    "webhook_url": "http://homeassistant.local:8123/api/webhook/beosound5c"
  },
  "transport": { "mode": "mqtt", "mqtt_broker": "homeassistant.local" },
  "spotify": { "client_id": "" },
  "bluetooth": { "remote_mac": "00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E" },
  "cd": { "device": "/dev/sr0" },
  "showing": { "entity_id": "media_player.apple_tv" }
}

HA_TOKEN=your_home_assistant_token

Optional: Configure Home Assistant

The BeoSound 5c integrates with Home Assistant - receiving button presses from your remotes and displaying dashboards when triggered. This isn't required to use the BeoSound 5c, but it is what really makes it shine beyond just showing Sonos artwork. If you don't have Home Assistant already set up, you can install it on the Rpi. Running the BeoSound 5c software on HA OS is most likely possible, but untested.

# automation.yaml
- alias: "BeoSound 5c - Next Track"
  trigger:
    - platform: webhook
      webhook_id: beosound5c
  condition:
    - "{{ trigger.json.action == 'right' }}"
  action:
    - service: media_player.media_next_track
      target:
        entity_id: media_player.living_room

# configuration.yaml
http:
  cors_allowed_origins:
    - "http://beosound5c.local:8000"
  use_x_frame_options: false

# automation.yaml
- alias: "Doorbell on BeoSound 5"
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.doorbell
      to: "on"
  action:
    - service: rest_command.bs5c_show_camera
      data:
        title: "Front Door"
        camera_entity: "camera.doorbell"

Try it!

The installer reboots automatically when done. After reboot, you should have:

• Now Playing with Sonos album artwork and playback controls
• Music section with your Spotify, TIDAL, Apple Music, or Plex library browsable via the arc interface
• IR remote support - all B&O IR remotes (Beo4, BeoRemote One, Beolink 1000, etc.) working through the original hardware
• Bluetooth remote - BeoRemote One paired and connected (if configured)
• News — headlines from The Guardian, browsable in the arc like everything else
• Wheel & buttons - the original BeoSound 5 navigation working as intended

If something doesn't work, check the service logs with journalctl -u beo-*.