Looking for remote options for Beomaster 5500 for testing purposes only

Hi all...I first must add that I had never heard of Bang & Olufsen until last week...I am not a big time audio phile and live in a small fairly remote town so please forgive me...lol

A woman brought in a couple of units last week and asked if I could do some research on them..get them tested, check to see if they worth repairing etc. I was quite impressed with the quality of these components and couldn't believe how much the one (Beomaster) weighed.

ANyway, I got them both powered up..

Beomaster 5500
Beogram 5500

Now I am wondering if it's possible at all to test these out without a remote?

If not...can you tell me what remotes may work for these, including any cheap brands..or Beo brands so I can keep an eye out for her.

She is very financially challenged (like many of us up here) so I doubt buying a $100 remote is even an option for testing these. They came from a family members estate (they probably had no idea what the remote was and sent it off to the charity place...errr..lol)

Thank you in advance...just opening these units up and looking at the quality has made me a fan....lol

 

Welcome to beoworld.

The 5500 was a transition point in the 80s between older and old generations (there have been new and newer (currently unfolding) generations since then.

I am more familiar with the 5000 which and MCP (like the 5500) but also a Terminal.

I don't think the 5500 had the small hand held Terminal.

The issue with B&O remotes is they operate at a different infra-red frequency from 99% of the rest of the world - make that 98% as there are some universal remotes that do support the frequency. But you still need an original remote to teach them ?

The 5000 had a front panel flap that unfolded to displace some controls ... How did your little old lady used to operate it ?

On the BeoTech sister site you will find some tables of compatibilities. You could check there using a web browser - my phone is way to small to cope with that desktop oriented site. Sorry !

You can use the MCP5500 or Beolink 1000 (I believe) to control the BM5500.

The Blink 1000 handset works fine indeed. I use it everyday with my BM 5500.

But you can't access everything. For instance, no tone controls!

Beo 4 can also control BM 5500. But when you connect Beogram and push play BM 5500 should switch on and play  If sound is dead at speaker connections 1 try connections 2. Connection 1 can fail because off faulty mute relay (easy fix).