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Life expectancy of Beolab speakers?

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pauljrog
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pauljrog Posted: Sun, Dec 20 2015 11:09 AM

Hi,

I am a long time owner of Bang & Olufsen equipment and I have quite a lot of the equipment around my house.

I have 2 sets of Beolab 4000, one pair is was manufactured in 2002 the other pair 2003/4 and Beolab 3500 is 2002.

I'm thinking about purchasing a secondhand Beolab 2 subwoofer for my music setup, the one i'm currently looking at was manufactured in 2002, which is about 13-14 years ago.

I don't want to purchase it for it to have lots of problems like foam/rubber speaker problems or driver electronic problems, so does anyone know the life expectancy of Beolab speakers, or the Beolab 2?? 

Thanks.

 

9 LEE
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9 LEE replied on Sun, Dec 20 2015 1:21 PM

Well, I see a lot of B&O - and I've never had a modern product (such as BeoLab 6000 or 8000) which has simply 'died of old age'.

Early BeoLab 6000's (c.1994-1997) now suffer with issues where the driver rubbers split, but that's it really.  The cloth frets of the BeoLab 8000's can rot and/or go 'baggy' but that's just material and not the actual speaker.

BeoLab 2? Bulletproof..  It doesn't matter what age you're looking at - I think I've repaired maybe two in ten years of trading and literally sold hundreds.

Lee

Michael
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Michael replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 11:21 AM
I have a pair of BL8000 that required new PCBs but works excellent after that.

Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, 
BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, 
BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, 
BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, 
BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)  

Mark-N
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Mark-N replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 1:27 PM

Out of curiosity how long do capacitors usually last?  This is the one thing I know people have to replace on vintage equipment...

Lee
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Lee replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 1:50 PM
Capacitor life varies considerably depending on several factors. Some are good for 50yrs others don't last 5.
seethroughyou
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The capacitors in the Voyager space probes are still working after nearly 40 years. 

.

 

 

Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.

Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.

.

Mark-N
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Mark-N replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 3:47 PM

seethroughyou:

The capacitors in the Voyager space probes are still working after nearly 40 years. 

For the price the government probably paid for the capacitors you would hope so! Big Smile

I hope B&O uses the same grade in their BeoLab speakers!!!

 

valve1
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valve1 replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 4:02 PM

seethroughyou:
The capacitors in the Voyager space probes are still working after nearly 40 years.

Martin supplied them !  Big Smile

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Mon, Dec 21 2015 4:04 PM

Mark-N:

seethroughyou:

The capacitors in the Voyager space probes are still working after nearly 40 years. 

For the price the government probably paid for the capacitors you would hope so! Big Smile

I hope B&O uses the same grade in their BeoLab speakers!!!

 

No kidding! I remember the high cost of components for just standard mil-spec ground applications. I got to work on a project for an orbiting bit of kit once, and the special component and construction requirements were amazing, and not only on components like caps. Hardware, cadmium plated screws were a no no because the cadmium would sublime off in a vacuum and redeposit on something else that was colder, which usually meant the optics. Silver plated screws would grow whiskers during long duration exposure, little spiky crystals growing off the screws and such that could eventually bridge a circuit and short it. Teflon was about the only insulation approved for wires and such. Been a long time but I remember some of the oddities that went with space projects.

Of course, a lot of caps in audio, especially the electrolytics in may speakers, are total crap to begin with and don't age well.

 

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

seethroughyou
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The Naim fanboys would have you believe you need to re-cap every 10 years and once done it would be a 'night and day difference with a veil lifted....' Big Smile

.

 

 

Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.

Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.

.

Orava
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Orava replied on Tue, Dec 22 2015 9:12 AM

seethroughyou:

The capacitors in the Voyager space probes are still working after nearly 40 years. 

Big Smile Capacitors on my Beocenter 3500 are still working after nearly 40 years

 blah-blah and photographs as needed

rxcohen
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rxcohen replied on Thu, Dec 24 2015 5:28 PM

My BL1's are from 1999 and continue to work perfectly with daily use.

BV11-55, BS9000, BL1, BL19, Transmitter 1, Beo4, Beocom 6000, BeoTalk1 200, Sennheiser HD600, McIntosh MHA100

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Thu, Dec 24 2015 6:55 PM

My BL8000s are from 1997 and still work fine, knock on wood.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

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