Beogram 6500 with Beomaster 5500 issues..

Hi all,

Bronze member and first post so please bear with me!

 

I am running a Beogram 6500 & Beogram cd 6500 through a Beomaster 5500 into Ruark sabre II with an MCP 5500.

Background

Im a music fan and collector and bought this set up as a solid all rounder as it ticked all the boxes in terms of both form and function. Im no whizz with electronics but am game for getting stuck in and will have a bash at fixing most things with a bit of guidance.

Isues

Im having issues with the whole thing really - in particular the MCP and the Beogram. I will list them in points and try and be as plain as possible (I have searched and searched to no avail) Really hope someone has had similar issues or if we can find a workthrough to help myself and others.

1 Beogram is playing mono only out of the right speaker - this does not occur when playing a CD.

2 when headphones are plugged in Sound comes out of the speakers also (mono if through the Beogram).

3 The mute button does not work when pressed directly on the amp or on the MPC.

4 the Beogram is producing very poor sound quality - distorting the lows and mega grainy even on clean vinyl.

 

My thinking is correct me if wrong...

I cannot use the full functions when using items from both the 5500 and 6500?

I have a cartridge or tonearm problem?

All 4 are not talking to each other in one way or another?

 

Hope this strikes a chord with you kind people!!! Any troubleshooting advice would be brill!!! If anyone knows anywhere within 50 miles of Manchester where I could get a service that would also be good and Im having a tweeter issue with the Ruarks so If anyone does freelance repairs in similar area let me know.

 

Thanks a million in advance people - I can answer any questions that may help

 

Jared

 

Make sure you are using the right speaker outputs. Output 1 are muted, output two are not. As far as the BG goes, you might have a bad cartridge. To test this, you can carefully remove the cartridge and put it in up side down. Put an old record on and press play. Catch the tone arm before it drops all the way down to the record and lightly brush the needle with your finger. See if the sound is still mono and if it switches channels.

The BG6500 has a built in RIAA , and so does the Beomaster 5500. If plugged into the Phono socket of the BM5500, the sound will be loud and distorted. You can see if the BG6500 is working normally by unscrewing the two extra pins of the DIN plug, and then plugging the Beogram into the tape socket. Use the MCP to select Tape and then start the Beogram manually (the two pins are used for the remote control and are two way so if you leave them in, the Beomaster will get confused!!) You should have undistorted sound now - whether you will get stereo is another matter. As alluded to above, the MMC cartidges can lose one channel. If it is still only playing one channel, take the MMC off and look at the pins. You may find one is loose - if it is , tap it with a small hammer very lightly so it is looking the same as the other pins. If you are very lucky, it will then work when put in the arm - if this happens, do not remove it again unless you are going top replace it!

I also agree about the speaker connections - I reckon you are using Speaker 2 rather than Speaker 1 - changing the sockets over will fix this - though the muting circuit of the 5500 is well known for having problems and one channel can often stick causing it to stay muted.

Long term, look at either getting a Beomaster 6500/7000 as this will work normally with the BG6500, or get a BG5500 or 5000 which will work with the 5500. The 5000 is better sounding despite being radial rather than tangential.