ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Goodday,
I own a set of BeoLab 3 Penta speakers that I inherited from my grandfather. Fantastic speakers that still to this day produce amazing sound. The only problem is that recently the two BeoLab 200 amplifiers in the base of the speakers started giving in, until they died completely. I brought them to a B&O dealer and after they did some research they gave me the sad news that the amplifiers were just worn out from almost 40 years of service and a lot of components had to be replaced. But due to the fact that some of those components are very high-end or hard to find nowadays such a repair would cost me €500+ per amplifier and as a poor student that is simply way over my budget. But obviously I don't want to render these beautiful speakers useless so my plan is to bypass the BeoLab 200's alltogether and hook up the Penta's directly to an external amplifier with some speaker cable, basically converting them to BeoVox Penta's (I've checked, this is possible). Now, I understand that by dismissing the BeoLab 200 I will lose a lot of the quality of the sound and hooking these speakers up to a budget-friendly medium-quality amplifier might be considered a waste to some. But for me it's better then not being able to use them at all, and besides I'm not that much of a music connoisseur to really hear the difference very well. So on to the question what amplifier to buy. I'm not an expert in hifi so I had to do some research and it all didn't seem that hard; just buy an amplifier that matches the impedance of your speakers and has at least the same power handling capabilites and preferably a bit higher. Even more so; I figured if I just look for amplfiers with the exact same specs as the BeoLab 200 I should be safe. But after checking the specs of the Penta and the BeoLab 200 there are a few things that are still not totally clear to me and that I would like to understand before spending money on a receiver:
- There's RMS output and there is peak output, all very understandable. But then there is also something called IHF power output, which from what I can find basically is the same as peak power output?
- The spec sheet for the BeoLab 200 that I found on this site (https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=381) gives an RMS output higher then the IHF power output. How does that work? Should that not be the other way around? And it also lists a 'power output music' that is even higher?
- The spec sheet for the BeoLab Penta (https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=808) lists a long-term power output of 320 watts, which is more then double of what I thought the Penta's are capable of. It also states a maximum noise power of 150 watts. Shouldn't long-term power output be lower then maximum output? Am I interpreting that wrong?
- Multiple articles I found advice that it would be best to choose an amplifier that has about a 1,5 times higher output then your speakers. But the Penta's and BeoLab 200's match up exactly at 150W (from what I understand). So should I also be safe with a 150 amplifier or should I look for something higher?As you might have noticed I've gotten a bit lost in all the different numbers and power ratings. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to explain my troubles as clearly as possible. I hope someone can help me make some sense of it so I can buy the right amplifier for my speakers.
Thank you!
Hello tbj17 and welcome to Beoworld
I wouldn't completely write off the BeoLab200 amplifiers yet. There is an highly recommendable source (Beoparts) where you can find a service kit for the Penta amplifiers: https://www.beoparts-shop.com/product/beolab-penta-amplifier-capacitor-and-service-kit/with this it might be possible to bring some new life to the amps.
I can relate to the budget issue (I can remember that back from when I was at the university), so it might be worth a try to ask among family and friends if someone has some soldering skills (and the needed equipment) and might be able to help you restoring the amps.
CheersFoxtrott
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."
William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4
I'm not sure if i can answer your technical questions but until fairly recently i was using a pair of Beovox Penta's with a Sonos ZP100 amplifier (i've no idea what the impedence or output is!)
I had my doubts that it would be able to drive the speakers properly but it was absolutely fine and i didn't notice much of a difference between it and my Beomaster 5500 which i think is the correct receiver for that period. I don't get a chance to listen loudly anyway as we have young children - using the sonos kit allowed for voice control of streaming services.
if you are not after an audiophile solution you might find that its worth a try - you can get those old Sonos amplifiers for £50 on ebay these days.
Beocenter 8500 / Beolab 4000 / Beosystem 5500 / Beolab 8000 / Beogram 2000 / Beosound 8 / Beovision 6-26 / Beovision MX4000 / Beomaster 1900-1 / Beovox CX50 / Beoplay H4 / Beoplay A1 / Beocom 1401 x2
(sorry for duplicate post!)
What is your ideal source for music for the amplifiers?
If you remove the Beolab 150/200,you can fit ICEpower 50asx2 modules inside the cabinet of the pentas. That will look very clean (the pentas are prettiest without the Beolab 150/200 in the bottom).
There is a link to my project in the Beohack-thread.
"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"