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
Thanks Jeff, The problem is that if I buy it, I will want it to work and will end up with 2 working units, I just cant stand slaughtering a salvage able unit, and I will do nearly anything to get them working. BTW, ordered IL Divo, Nana Mouskouri, Passport, and some Xmas songs by Harry Bellafonte, should be here by tomorrow.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Hi Søren,
I completely understand.
I love your choices in music and hope they will all give you much pleasure.
Jeff
Beogram 4000, Beogram 4002, Beogram 4004, Beogram 8000, Beogram 8002, Beogram 1602. Beogram 4500 CD player, B&O CDX player, Beocord 4500, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 8004, Beocord 9000, Beomaster 1000, Beomaster 1600, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 4400, Beomaster 4500, Beolab 5000, Beomaster 5000, BeoCenter 9000. BeoSound Century, S-45.2, S-45.2, S-75, S-75, M-75, M-100, MC 120.2 speakers; B&O Illuminated Sign (with crown & red logo). B&O grey & black Illuminated Sign, B&O black Plexiglas dealer sign, B&O ash tray, B&O (Orrefors) dealer award vase, B&O Beotime Clock. Navy blue B&O baseball cap, B&O T-shirt X2, B&O black ball point pen, B&O Retail Management Binder
Any progress to report on your Beomaster 4400?
Did you ever get those CD’s you were expecting? If so how did you like Il Divo and Nana Mourkouri?
Harry Bellafonte, interesting choice. He was one of my mother’s favourites. Very nice voice, mellow and calming.
Piaf: Hi Søren, Any progress to report on your Beomaster 4400? Did you ever get those CD’s you were expecting? If so how did you like Il Divo and Nana Mourkouri? Harry Bellafonte, interesting choice. He was one of my mother’s favourites. Very nice voice, mellow and calming. Jeff
On the 16th I put this in whats playing right now
I followed a good advice from Jeff (Piaff), bought IL Divo, IL Divo and Nana Mouskouri, Passport, for Christmas Nat King Cole, Christmas songs.
Just finished listening to IL Divo the second time, Thank you Jeff, I really enjoyed this, I will have to listen to these very good voices a few more times just to find out which song will be my favorite, I put it on my Beosound 3000 with the BL 8000s connected, it will be difficult to find a better combination in my house, maybe when the BM 4400 is finished with the P 45s can do it, worth a try.
Nana Mouskouri's voice recommend it self. Amazing.
Nat King Cole, good one for Christmas
I think I will put on IL Divo one more time, again Thank you Jeff.
As you see I bought Nat King Cole and not Harry Bellafonte as I wrote
Still waiting for parts for the BM 4400
Hello Søren,
I am so pleased that you enjoyed both Il Divo and the legendary Nana Mourkouri. Both are virtually religious experiences to listen to.
It is always nice when a recommendation is well received.
Il Divo has a new album which was shipped to me out of the UK yesterday. I literally can’t wait to hear what is new. I am sure the new album will be in the stores in a few weeks.
It has been my great fortune in life to have met both the members of Il Divo as well as Nana Mourkouri. All are quite amazing in their own right, with a special nod to Ms. Mouskouri who is a “lady” in the truest sense of the word.
Nat King Cole is a fine choice, as was Harry Bellafonte. Either one, you can’t go wrong.
Enjoy your music!
P.S. I am still waiting for parts too. Although my BeoCenter 9000 has been playing CD’s flawlessly (for the moment) it will be great to have it do so ALL the time.
Guys, please stay on topic.Music discussions are more than welcome and we have a section more appropriate for this.
Martin
Sorry Martin, Ordnung muss sein, we will keep it separated
Sure Martin, No problem.
Søren, do a quick one line to let me know where on this site you are responding to the music questions.
Piaf: Sure Martin, No problem. Søren, do a quick one line to let me know where on this site you are responding to the music questions.
Here
also try a similar video thread ... http://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/685.aspx
BeoNut since '75
I followed your link and there are 7 pages….. I looked for your comments which I am anxious to hear until I was almost blind. Finally gave up and left you a brief note on the forum you directed me to.
In an effort to commiserate I received an excellent kit to restore my ailing CD player on the BeoCenter 9000. I took extreme care to match polarity and get all the solder points just right.
The 9000 had been playing CD’s remarkably well as of late and I was so looking forward to this being 100% of the time.
Unfortunately unlike your Beomaster 4400 which powered up with issues, my CD player is now totally dysfunctional.
I sent photos of the “before” and the “after” to see if I made a mistake…. and oddly enough, I hope I did.
In addition to the frustration, which I know you understand; one of the glass panels flew off when I opened up the 9000 while I was trying to secure the post to keep the unit open. Fortunately it only landed with a big CRASH, but didn’t break.
Santa came to Mexico today, amplifier restore kits from Martin, these are test kits and I'm the honored tester, it will have to wait until mid January as I bought a new soldering station, a variac and some odd parts and pieces to facilitate the job, these I will pic up in McAllen during the holidays, there will come extensive reports.
Christmas came early indeed. I am truly looking forward to your highly detailed results. Once you have it back in top form, I am quite ready to live vicariously.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Jeff
Thank you for your always supporting comments, it really cheers me up and animates me to do my very best.
I have now, since beginning of 2010 received 5-6 deliveries from DK through Mexpost, non went missing, a survey in the Danish colony here in Mexico shows the same, no one lost posted items, but some took a long time to arrive, this not because of Mexpost, but the Mexican customs.
The envelope with the last items cost USD 10.00, with a courier service it would cost between 100 and 180 USD, So waiting is a saver. And it shows how the courier services are robbing from private users without special agreements with the couriers.
A merry Christmas to you too Jeff
Merry Christmas to the followers of this thread!
At last Søren, everything that you need is with you! I'm confident that the Beomaster will eventually work! We are still here you know...
After all this is what this thread is all about isn't it?
Cheers then amigo!
Jacques
My “supporting comments” are from the heart. What you are doing with your Beomaster 4400 is simply remarkable, a credit to your skill and determination. After so much work most people would have given up, but you didn’t and it was an inspiration for us all.
In fact I believe your determination is infectious as after changing the 5 capacitors on my BeoCenter 9000 CD player debacle I was ready to give up. Martin kindly referred me to Leslie who offered to either repair my CD player and/or send me a donor unit. I was seriously close to accepting the generous offer when I got your “bug” and decided I wanted to have another shot at repairing the CD unit.
Blackrix sent me a detailed list of solder points to check and that gave me an idea. I tried repeatedly to get it to play after really cleaning the lens, but the cleaning had no apparent effect. So with my fondness for British Cars coupled with a touch of frustration I gave the laser arm a good tap and the CD player started playing.
The expected lights did not illuminate but there was no arguing that the player functioned. I then changed CD’s and the player refused to budge, so I tapped it again and this time all the lights illuminated (1-20, scan, and the counter).
So I asked Leslie for patience and I will try soldering tomorrow.
What appears obvious is the capacitors were not the issue, but would be sooner or later, so it was good to change them with Martin’s superb kit. What I probably have is a weak solder point or points.
Should this fix not restore the unit it will be heading to Leslie.
In reference to your Mexican currier services, here in Canada we don’t have that problem, but we do have excessive Broker’s charges. These Brokers serve no real purpose other than to make money for doing basically nothing.
Anyway, best wishes with your Beomaster 4400 repair which has all our attention!
Keep on fighting Jeff, with the help from Blackrix and Martin, you cant go wrong. I cant wait to get at the BM again, at the same time getting to try out my new tools, it will be a lot of fun.
Six hours of soldering on top of five changed capacitors and no change. I now have a pretty good idea of how crestfallen you were when your Beomaster 4400 failed to operate as expected.
Jeff, can you tell us again what it does wrong?
My own 4400 drove me crazy for a while because one of the transistors was intermittent and above all tested good when not powered...
And then there was a defective protection circuit!
http://archivedarchivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/p/41711/346063.aspx#346063
@ Jacques: Jeff is doing his Bc 9000 CD unit, but maybe we can animate him to go on with his BM 4400, saw your thread on yours, will use it when and if I need it.
Hi Jacques,
From day one the CD player was choosy as to which CD it would play. Some it liked and played immediately, others took multiple attempts to be “accepted.”
Over time it became apparent that lack of use caused more rejections so I used the CD daily, which kept it “happy.”
At this point fellow members convinced me that I needed to address the problem so I installed Martin’s fine capacitor kit and the CD player stopped working at all. Numerous tries simply had the CD stop spinning and the door would open.
I then tried cleaning the lens again and this had no effect. Out of both frustration and my years of dealing with British cars I gave the laser arm a good tap, hit play and like magic the CD played.
Please note that at this juncture NONE of the play number lights lit except the playing selection, no search forward or reverse lights, and no counter, but still the CD player was working.
I changed CD’s and again, it refused to play. So I again tapped the laser arm and this time all the selection lights lit, the advance arrows, and the counter. While a delightful improvement this is no way to have the CD player operate, plus I am fearful of damaging the laser arm with all this smacking.
Blackrix suggested un-soldering and then re-soldering virtually every solder point associated with the CD player. This took well over 6 hours, as I reported yesterday. The only positive is now the counter lights, but that the end of the positive list, the CD player does not operate.
I imagine that if I hit the laser arm enough times it will come back to life, but I really don’t want to break the laser assembly, as this is not an SU carburetor.
So now I am deciding what I want to do next.
Søren Mexico: @ Jacques: Jeff is doing his Bc 9000 CD unit, but maybe we can animate him to go on with his BM 4400, saw your thread on yours, will use it when and if I need it.
My Beomaster 4400, hum….. gee, what can I say here without admonishment coming from every direction? Let us just say that the various component failures have stabilized and the pungent burning odor has stopped.
I assume that you also checked the solders at the motherboard connectors.
Then the tap-and-it-works thing also could be a lubrication problem, where the grease has hardened. Please do not put any lubricant where there is none!
On Philips mechs, the lenses can be taken out to clean both sides. In smoking environments, it is a usual problem, and a simple cleaning of what you can see is simply not enough...
Worn lasers are scarce.
Jacques,
As this is Christmas Eve, nothing further is going to be done today, however if you don’t mind me asking how you get the lens out and or adjust it?
I have the service manual for the BeoCenter 9500 as the 9000 is not available and I can read through it like anyone else, but if you (or anyone) has tip/tips to make this easier, I’d surely like to know it.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Piaf:Let us just say that the various component failures have stabilized and the pungent burning odor has stopped.
.....are you saying the bm4400 is working ?
Have mine on now. :-)
Yes, my Beomaster 4400 is working, after a fashion.
I “retired” the 4400 along with my 4500 and reduced the use of the 2400. The 4500 is permanently retired but the 2400 was a false alarm, just a faulty switch.
Pretty much on a whim I plugged the 4400 back in and it seem OK…. not perfect by a LONG shot, but OK.
With Christmas coming and with us entertaining the whole family (OMG) I have spend a lot of time in the dining room and have used the 4400 in preparation for the big event.
As Søren advises, I let the 4400 warm up before asking it to “work hard” as Søren puts it and this has worked out satisfactorily thus far.
Whatever components are failing in this Beomaster have stabilized, for the time being and that God awful odor has completely stopped.
I have taken GREAT care to notice any overheating, of which there hasn’t been any.
I don’t plan to use this amp a great deal after Christmas, but it is nice to know that at least it works.
The 4400 still has its problems in that if pressed for volume it responds badly….. I don’t even try. The treble can get “peculiar” at times, and on occasion the volume dips where it shouldn’t. Otherwise it is OK.
On the plus side, the 4400 produces WAY, make that WAY too much bass, which I rather like.
So in answer to your question, yes the 4400 is working, but if it were pressed into daily use I don’t think it would last indefinitely. As such it is destined to light use until I can have it repaired properly.
No genuine news from my B&O family, other than I am waiting to see if Leslie can find a suitable CD unit for the BeoCenter 9000. Mine is “no longer with us.” (Dead)
Any time to work on your Beomaster 4400? As you possibly may have read I have my Beomaster 4400 in limited service, as its problems have stabilized and I am enjoying its unique, if bassy sound.
Guys, I know you hate it when we deviate from subject, but I just have to tell Søren how excited that I am having found yellow rice at a local Mexican specialty store. Yellow rice is more Spanish or Cuban than Mexican, but it IS my roots and it cost something like $50 to have a friend send me a pound from Florida. I am so pleased. ¡Via con Dios!
I am heading to turn on my Beomaster 4400 to celebrate chicken and yellow rice with No Fear singing Please Don’t Go in Spanish, of course.
Sorry about your 9000, I really hope someone can help you with a spare CD, but why not ship the unit for repair.
As for yellow rice, I never heard about it, my favorite is Uncle Bens wild rice, precooked, fast to make and very tasty, if you want it yellow add a little azafran
I caught a nasty flu up in McAllen and I´m fighting the same since my return Monday, I now has to catch up with waiting work, so B&O will have to wait a little, now waiting to do is, 1 pair of P45s (crossovers and grills), BG TX2 (total overhaul), BM 4000 (a lot) and to get to know my new soldering station, build a dim bulb tester, find out how to use it and my new variac, But as my clients are keeping my phone lines busy I have to concentrate on that first. What a nice quiet life I could have without them , the only thing that bothers me in life is, that I will have to work to finance it .
Thats all for now, off to work and a happy new year to all of you.
Sorry to hear about your cold, as they are nasty this time of year. I can hear my mother saying, “Try a little chicken soup…. it couldn’t hurt.” Truth is chicken soup is actually quite therapeutic and will help with your cold.
The 9000 situation is entirely my own fault as I seem to have become impatient in my dotage and this annoys me to no end as I generally am exceptionally patient, or at least WAS.
I am not ignoring your question about shipping the CD unit out for repair, but let’s just say to save me embarrassment that it makes more sense to install a replacement rather than try to fix the one I have.
I can always take the CD unit out of my Beogram 4500 as with its 7-pin connector it can only be used with the Beomaster 4500 (which is non-functional) or the BeoCenter 9000 as an accessory unit. However I hate to ruin a perfectly good Beogram so I’ll just keep waiting for Leslie to see if he has one available.
As for the yellow rice, I am learning more about this every day. I had incorrectly assumed that yellow rice was associated with Mexican food, which I now know it isn’t. The Mexican food store I purchased the rice from didn’t even know they had it, and in the end, it is not the “right” stuff. Sigh.
This yellow rice is made with onions and garlic, two ingredients that I especially love, however the rice I was looking for is made with saffron which gives the rice both its distinctive taste and colour.
The yellow rice I have in mind is served in virtually every Spanish restaurant as well as in the few Cuban restaurants where I grew up. It was also well stocked in every grocery store in town.
It appears the Iranians and Indians use similar rice, but I don’t know if either is the same as what I have been craving. More patience needed.
By the way all your new tools sound incredibly impressive if from my perspective also intimidating.
All the best in the New Year!
I see no word of progress on your Beomaster 4400 project and I for one am dying to hear how things improve!
In regard to my BeoCenter 9000, help is on the way as Leslie has sent me a functional CD player.
A cassette tape managed to get ensnarled like I have NEVER seen before producing a metal-like pin of tape that extended from the cassette and made removal impossible. I had to open up the 9000 and still removal was a real pain, but once removed, all was well.
The CD player left Holland today and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.
I virtually think of you every time I power up my Beomaster 4400 which has stabilized, as mentioned previously, and now produces rather nice if BOOMY sound.
True if I had purchased this Beomaster new, I would have returned it as defective as the volume is inconsistent, the treble questionable and INCONSISTANT, and my 4400 can NOT play music at high volume…. my Beomaster 2400 play louder sans the drama….. but say what I will, it is mine. Handicapped as it is, I feel it is trying and that is good enough for me.
So what I really want to hear from you is how your 4400 is performing and hopefully giving you much deserved pleasure.
As I have a lot of work at moment, little is done B&O wise, but I still have to do some smaller things before getting to the BM 4400 again.
Build dim bulb tester, restore P45s, finish small repair in BM 901, find source for small "hum" in BG 1202, This to get my workspace free for the BM 4400.
I have problems concentrating if to much unfinished is around me, I have strong orders from the FS, not to buy anymore B&O, but I have my eyes on a Beocenter, but then I will have to buy more speakers. Would be nice for the garage though.
Which BeoCenter are you looking at?
In regard to the later BeoCenters I believe the best of the series is the BeoCenter 9500, which is an updated and enhanced version of my BeoCenter 9000. The BeoCenter 9300 while later than the 9000 is a cut-down version of the 9500 and would not be my first choice.
Another note, for love of God if you buy one, buy one that does not require immediate work as these units are complicated beasts, to put it mildly.
One more word of caution IF you open one up the adhesive holding the two black glass panels will have dried out and when you open the unit they tend to fly off easily shattering….. and not easy to replace.
This has happened to me twice, the first time an excusable and blood chilling surprise. The second time I simply forgot about this issue but fortunate I caught them both times. OK, one hit the counter, but didn’t break….. luckily.
I understand the need to keep things “copasetic” at home, but I believe you would enjoy one of the gorgeous BeoCenters.
Piaf:I understand the need to keep things “copasetic” at home, but I believe you would enjoy one of the gorgeous BeoCenters.
Well Jeff, not that sophisticated, a "simple" Beocenter 3500 will do, I just love that BM 3000-2 design.
Got my S45s nearly finished, tomorrow grill fabric and one crossover, then assembly and test with my BM 4000, still playing like a charm.
Learned a new word today, "copasetic"
Well considering that you speak Danish, English, and Spanish this is an achievement on my part. As my Spanish is Castilian, which is laughable in most parts of the world you are way ahead of me, my friend.
The BeoCenter 3500-2 is a beautiful design, very similar to the Beomaster 4400.
Glad to hear that your S-45 speakers are coming along well.
The ones that came with my BeoCenter 9000 needed only a replacement woofer in one and a replacement mid-range in the other. An easy fix as I had donor unit in my basement.
I really like the S-45 speakers, but admit my preference to the S-75’s. The folks here at BeoWorld feel the S-45 is a superior speaker and I would not think of challenging their vastly superior knowledge of things Bang & Olufsen.
I have a pair of S-75’s mated with my Beomaster 4400 as well as the BeoCenter 9000 and I recommend them if you don’t already have a pair.
Sorry Jeff, P45s, not S, I do have a pair of S45s though, playing in my workshop with the BM 2400, Castilian is good in Portugal, Brazil and most of Spain.
Did I ever mention that I speak Swedish and German too
Swedish and German too, OMG you are a genuine linguist.
Sorry, my mistake as I am unfamiliar with the P-series speakers.
And trust me Castilian Spanish is useless in Portugal and Brazil as they speak Portuguese which resembles Spanish but is its own language.
I tried communicating with a Cuban employee who howled at my class room Spanish….. but said, “Well at least you really try.”
Hi guys!
I only speak French and English... I understand Spanish, and I have a few notions in German but not much... Let's say barely enough to buy on a German website!
By the way, there is no Beocenter 3500-2, is there? I have a fully restored BC 3500 with SP12 (what a heavy beast!) too but I have lusted after a Beocenter 9500 for some time now, because my stepmother in law has got one and I just love the design! But I'm pretty sure I'd be disappointed by the sound quality. The use of integrated amp modules is not a good sign. Am I wrong?
Also, I obviously look for a non-functional one for less than €100
I don't think there was a BC 3500-2, but in the last year of production, 1978, they changed the front face to black.
Dom
2x BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 5000, BeoSystem 6500, 2x BeoMaster 7000, 2 pair of BeoLab Penta mk2, AV 7000, Beolab 4000, BeoSound 4000, Playmaker, BeoLab 2500, S-45, S-45.2, RL-140, CX-50, C-75, 3x CX-100, 3x MCL2 link rooms, 3x Beolab 2000, M3, P2, Earset, A8 earphones, A3, 2x 4001 relay, H3, H3 ANC, H6, 2014 Audi S5 with B&O sound, and ambio