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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello all. I'm new to these forums.
A couple years ago I found an old Beovision 2000 RG cabinet in the back room of a Danish Modern store in Los Angeles. The owner planned on gutting it to turn into a credenza but he thought it may be too much work. I got it for a song.
The television was long gone, but it still had the speakers, Beogram turntable and Receiver.
I retrofitted a small LCD TV to fit where the Beovision used to be. The motor on the Beogram ran slow and research online told me that those motors (in the round casing) were near impossible to repair. So I updated the turntable with a minimal Denon one and wired that up to the receiver as well as an Apple airport for airplay.
I replaced the insulation in the speakers as well, but did nothing else to them.
Everything works, but I am confident I'm not getting the best sound. Its a little muted and muddy. I'd love to make use of the speakers and have the thing not just be a decoration.
So my questions are: does anybody know what kind of speakers the Beovision 2000 RG had in them? Any thoughts one where to begin on restoring and/or replacing them?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
- Dan
Hi,
The Beovision 2000 RG is a beautiful piece of B&O history.
I have one in rosewood but mine is waiting for the restoration too.
We had discussion about here BV2000 few times, you can find some information about it here or here.
According to Martin (member dillen) the build in speakers were Tweeters MT 25 HFC and Woofers 28 / 17 TVG.
And of course, welcome to Beoworld!
BR / theomaster
P.S. We love pictures here
Vintage Bang & Olufsen
Congratulations on a piece of vintage art! I really like that you plan on using it as it was intended.
The electrolytic capacitors in amplifiers and loudspeakers of this age have probably dried out. Often gives these symptoms (muddy muted sound). Replacing them with new ones might just do the trick, No need to go for vintage/boutique/expensive film capacitors, just modern electrolytics of the same type, maybe Dillen can make a kit.
Why did you replace the insulation, it was selected by the factory to do its job just right. I don't know what you put in there but there is a chance it might affect the loudspeakers adversely.
This is however a very old set. It will give a 'vintage' sound even when restored, it's something that has to suit you. My first B&O was a BM 1200 set from the sixties. When I heard the newer kit (70's/80's) I found it much more to my taste, more modern sound.
Thank you for the replies, all.
I'll look into replacing the Caps first, and go from there. The foam around the speaker mounts looks clean, but I suppose that would be another thing to look at. Though I did a quick search and had a hard time finding the size.
I replaced the insulation because the original fiberglass insulation was clearly not all there. Some had been stripped, so I went with some polyester speaker fill. You are right, it may be one part of the problem, but is definitely better now than it was before the insulation was replaced. I wonder if there is a better solution to what I've got?
Another question could be if there's anything I need to check in the actual amplifier to ensure its doing its job well?
Adding some pics to show you how its looking. Just snapped with my cell phone so not the greatest quality but you get the idea :)
Thanks again!
dmarsh:I replaced the insulation because the original fiberglass insulation was clearly not all there. Some had been stripped, so I went with some polyester speaker fill. You are right, it may be one part of the problem, but is definitely better now than it was before the insulation was replaced. I wonder if there is a better solution to what I've got?
In that case, good job! Wouldn't worry too much about it anymore and fix those caps.
dmarsh:Another question could be if there's anything I need to check in the actual amplifier to ensure its doing its job well?
Check if it doesn't get too hot. If so, Idle current of the amps should be adjusted. If you can find the advised values (service manual) it won't do harm to do this anyway, after the new caps.
Great pics, did you link the TV up to the receiver?
I hope you keep us posted of the restoration process, maybe with some inside pictures?
Oh and I forgot, welcome to beoworld, full of nice people and lots to learn!
A lovely piece, good to see some vintage threads!
Would love one of these, if only I had the space, keep us updated with how it goes!
How nice to see a thread like this.Surely, we don't see the vintage stuff too often here - let alone the vintage TVs !
Premiumverum: [Check if it doesn't get too hot. If so, Idle current of the amps should be adjusted. If you can find the advised values (service manual) it won't do harm to do this anyway, after the new caps.
[Check if it doesn't get too hot. If so, Idle current of the amps should be adjusted. If you can find the advised values (service manual) it won't do harm to do this anyway, after the new caps.
While this is correct for almost any amplifier, B&O or otherwise, it is not here;
Beovision 2000RG uses a Beomaster 900-based chassis for the radio/amplifier.The dial and rear panel has been printed readable in vertical position, the volume control has individualcontrols for the left/right channels to compensate for the otherwise unreachable balance control atthe chassis rear. These are the major changes.
The Beomaster 900 does not have any idle current adjustments.It's all done by a simple NTC resistor in each channel (placed on the circuit board - NOT at the rear panel!).If it runs hot on the rear panel, it's typically because one output stage transistor has shorted orsomething loads the regulator too much (the regulator also uses the rear panel for cooling).The rear panel should rarely get warm under normal circumstances. After playing a high volumesfor 15-20 minuts or more, it can get "lurky", nothing more.
Now get that Beogram going !It's not as impossible as you may think and most parts can be found.
Martin
Wow, thanks so much for all these details.
Went to jump into replacing the crossover caps this morning, and quickly did a sound test before opening the speakers up. Funny thing is that now, for the first time in a couple years, the right speaker has gone silent. Just when I jump into fix one problem, it turns into a repair of another as well.
More debugging.
I've had a hard time finding a service manual to go off of for parts, so maybe you guys can help with my next question.
The capacitor in my speaker is a Wico cap. But where it was held down with a little metal bracket, the text showing its specs are quite worn down.
I can what looks like a "2" μF. and 25V peak.
Any ideas on the specifics of the cap and how exact I have to be. I understand basic electronics but the nuances of audio is new to me.
Thanks again, everyone.
I think I've deduce its a 12uF Cap. Ordered some replacements. Hope that gets things going and then its on to debugging the left/right issue. Hopefully its not the drivers.
12uF sounds about right.It's no longer a standard value but you can parallel 10uF // 2,2uF to get there.Bipolar types !
I am not sure, if a dedicated service manual was available for the Beovision 2000RG but the Beomaster 900 servicemanual will cover the receiver, the Beogram 1000 the record deck and the TV, unfortunately, is no longer in need as I understand it.
The bipolar caps you will find in any speaker repairshop in LA, or any of the many car audio pimp companies.You dont need to buy the expensive ones.I agree with Martin, it is not impossible to get the beogram motor working.Most likely it is patience.You will get help here.Christian
My re-capped M75 are my precious diamonds.
Thanks again for all the help everybody.
I've made some good progress. I've re-capped the crossovers and I'm now getting sound from both speakers.
The new problem is that, while my left channel is sounding warm and lovely, the right channel sound tinny. I believe that the woofer is not functioning as I can hear any lower tones coming from it.
Checked my crossover connections and they are identical in wiring to the original.
So, the new questions are:
1) Should I (and is there a good way to) test to see if the woofer is the problem or if the problem lies elsewhere? I already tried swapping my stereo inputs and I still got nothing from the right channel's woofer.
2) If the woofer is the issue, which I suspect it is, what are my options? I cannot find any replacement woofers out there, nor can I find modern speakers that are the odd size the cabinet requires.
3) Am I missing anything that could be the problem?
Thanks again, will post pics of the speaker guts once I clean them up a little.
The woofer could be broken or something else on the crossover boards could be. Measure resistors, check coils for continuity. maybe a bad soldering somewhere.
Inspect both woofers after taking them out of the box. Any visible differences? Are (soldered) connections good? Tears, breaks? Measure resistance of the voice coil of both woofers. Check the continuity. Voice coil may have broken (no continuity) or burned out or shorted somewhere (change in resistance). Those things can be fixed but might need an expert (speaker shop) to do it!