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
I have recently acquired a Beomaster 4000 with a teak case from EBay (£33 including the shipping). It was cosmetically good with the case responding well to sanding and linseed oil. One channel of the radio was dead, but after some head scratching the fault was traced to a 390k resistor providing the base bias to T24 having gone open circuit - a new resistor fixed the problem. A good spray with switch cleaner has also made the sliders and switches all quiet. It looks like it has never been touched internally - it still has orange caps and a unopened schematic in a brown envelope. The caps all look fine.
A recap may be in order in future, but the BM4000 is now set up as my workshop radio and is sounding excellent so I think I will just enjoy it as it is for now. The radio receiver is much more sensitive than the Quad FM3 I use in my garage. I am pleasantly surprised how much receiver you get for your money with one of these. It sounds very good, it is sensitive, it is more than powerful enough for all normal use, it is easy to use, and it looks great.
What would others suggest as the best value in B&O vintage kit? I can feel an urge to collect and enjoy some more vintage B&O products.
If you are handy with fixing electronics, look for the 1967 Beomaster 5000 tuner and Beolab 5000 amplifier. These are often available for little money due to component failure and are beautifully built. They were designed to be the best hi-fi available - 60W a channel in 1967 was quite something. The FM radio is superb and they are a delight to listen to. Also Beomaster 2200 - lovely design and one of B&O's best amplifiers. Agree completely about the 7700.
Peter
Not vintage as such, but the CX100 is an amazing speaker for it's size and can be picked up for next to nothing if you're happy to re-foam a pair.
As for the 'real' vintage products, anything from 1967-1975 seems to be well made and worth restoring.
Lee
9 LEE: Not vintage as such, but the CX100 is an amazing speaker for it's size and can be picked up for next to nothing if you're happy to re-foam a pair. As for the 'real' vintage products, anything from 1967-1975 seems to be well made and worth restoring. Lee
You're lucky, over here in the States people want exorbitant prices for rough cabinet CX100s with rotted drivers. The used market over here is very frustrating.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Thank you for the replies. Those all look great. What is the advantage of the 7700 over the 7000?
Jeff:The used market over here is very frustrating.
Swings and roundabouts Jeff, there are other things than B&O far more available stateside than in Europe.
Peter: If you are handy with fixing electronics, look for the 1967 Beomaster 5000 tuner and Beolab 5000 amplifier. These are often available for little money due to component failure and are beautifully built. They were designed to be the best hi-fi available - 60W a channel in 1967 was quite something.
If you are handy with fixing electronics, look for the 1967 Beomaster 5000 tuner and Beolab 5000 amplifier. These are often available for little money due to component failure and are beautifully built. They were designed to be the best hi-fi available - 60W a channel in 1967 was quite something.
Oh yes!
Jacques
I have a Beocenter 7000 and two 7002 they can be bought cheap if you are lucky, it is the MMC20EN cart that cost. The stock faults take a couple of hours to sort out and I had one or two other malfunctions. I have been using one 7002 for a few years now and have a SC70 stand for it and very pleased with the sound (40w per channel) and its looks not bad for 34 years old.
John.
What about a cassette player, I was lucky to get a Beocord 901 for 99p on eBay, looked as new and I don't think it had been used much, the sound is amazing thru a Beomaster 1500, and as for recording it's quite unbelievable, having a lot of fun with it
The later 7xxx Beocenters had the MMC3-4 cartridges as the arm changed. The 7700 had a metal top covering the record deck and the MCP control. However they are all fantastic music centres.
Best value?
What you like!
It does not really matter the year or if it is a Beocord, Beogram, Beogram cd, Beomaster or Beocenter. All that matter is you can get into the B&O experience and find the value in that.
Some B&O products will always be more desirable than others like mentioned 5000 from 1967 or Beomaster 8000. Beosystem 6500-7000 keeps their prices for second hand B&O dealers.
One rule of thumb I can say is that if it still works 100% then it gets the most value. Knowing that you can find the deals as not many do research for getting B&O proper serviced. And most of it has been enjoyed regulary until 20 od years + later when the signs of small troubles here and there starts to show. Mean while technology has moved on.
Also keep in mind that B&O never really had a cheap product line where they could save and build to the bare minimum. That is why the old stuff can surprice you on how it works and sound.
Beocords are the best example and since the 80% of consumers do not follow that anymore then you got great devices that no one cares about.
There are some tendencies in the US that older hifi regardless of medium get higher and higher prices due to supply and demand but also the opportunity for making some money. This is going on mostly on Ebay.com.
I bought a Beomaster 6000 on EBay. It was advertised as suffering a shutdown after 3 mins. Adjusting the no load current and DC output level fixed this problem in a few minutes. Sadly the unit also had a non functioning motor driving the volume potentiometer (not mentioned by the seller). Stripping the motor showed one of the brushes had failed. This was fixed to get the motor running, but the belt slips a fair amount so I think I may need Dillen. An upside is the cosmetic condition is good and the unit sounds excellent.
The unit has the IR board fitted, but didn't come with a remote. There is a Beomaster Terminal remote on EBay, but the price is more than the BM6000. Are these remotes rare?
Hi there,
Probably not the best place for your post really but in answer to your question, the remotes are not especially rare. In my experience they come up on eBay from time to time so be patient and one will appear.
The one on eBay is presumably the one from LifeStyle AV?
Ben