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
Hi,
This is my first post in the forum. I consider myself as a B&O newbie and has recently started to buy some older equipment. Beeing a forum lurker from time to time I really enjoy the reading, especially the workbench section.
Yesterday I found a set of two active Beolab Penta speakers with a Beocenter 9500 and a beolink 5000 remote. The Beocenter was in a sorry state, the lady selling the stuff said that it had blown a fuse during a teenager party and did not power up at all. The lower glass was also cracked straight across.
But the speakers powered up and was in a restorable condition cosmetically but dirty. All stuff has a slight tobacco smoke odour. She thought they worked anyway. So at 200Euros for the lot I decided to take a chance thinking that the speakers alone would be worth it, even if they would be broken and could be fixed. The surrounds did not show any signs of rot, but didn't have time to look closer.
Late last night I did a first test with my Overture without any greater success. Upon inspecting the speaker closely I learned that they are indeed a Mk3 version.
The first one powers up, lights the green display ok. Sound is only coming midrange and very low with the volume cranked up. Occasional crackle and pops come and go.
The scond lights the display but no sound at all.
I will make a new test today with new powerlink cables as the included ones seemed a bit dodgy. Hopefully I will have more info for you as I would really appreciate your help to bring these beauties back to life. Any suggestions you might have are welcome.
Regards,
Mikael
Beocenter Overture | Beolink passive | CX100 | CX50
That's a nice combo you just bought Mikael (for the price you have paid).
Beolab Penta is a nice restoration project. Can't help you with technical details (enough techies on this forum who can help). What about the Beolink 5000? Display still in good working condition with no pixel failures? If you're looking for a lower glasspanel BC9500, I might have one!
Brengen & Ophalen
Excellent buy!
1. BC9500 - possibly the best music centre made by B&O - take up Leslie's offer of the glass plate and you will have a great system.
2. Pentas - an odd speaker as not really active so has the advantage that you can test the speaker and the amplifier separately. Means you can work out where the problem is. I would suggest getting help with the amplifiers as the electronics are quite tightly fitted and the circuit boards are fragile.
3. Beolink 5000 - to show I am not completely biased, this remote is the work of the devil!! Lousy battery connections which usually cut out when you are programming. As with all poor B&O products, you need the instruction manual to get it to work. Compare ergonomics with the 9500 which is the best B&O ever did!
Peter
Thanks! I think so too but ofcourse it worries me that nothing works at the moment. I will hopefully know more tonight when I get a chance to try a bit more methodical approach.
I'm definitely interested in the glass, but the BC9500 must come back from the dead first. I have no clue yet to how bad it is until I have looked inside.
The beolink remotecontrol display has a dead area in the center, you only see the lower part of the text. Don't know if that is possible to fix.
Update on the speakers:
I just came back from the small storage where I keep the pentas until I've cleaned them up. There is a big smile on my face! At least one of them is alive and kicking!
The problem was the powerlink cables that came attached to the speakers. I had purchased a brand new Bosscom Mk II Powerlink previously which I hooked up instead. And presto, sweet music to my ears. Unfortunantely I could not easily test the other speaker without moving around a lot of stuff. But I'm hopeful that the cable is the culprit on that one as well.
But listening to just one speaker still proved that the penta is a great performer after 19 years.
I also looked more closely on what needs to be done cosmetically before I bring them into the house. Both speakers are missing a part of the copper trim (one upper left and right). So I need to find that somewhere. The stainless steel is relatively ok with some not to noticable bumps and scratches. The base plate is badly scratched but I think it can be improved upon with plastic polish. The cloth on the grills has a cigarette burn and is filthy in general so I will recover all of them. One ofthe grills is broken and needs glueing. But before that happens they need a good general clean up, there are layers of dust and sticky muck. A labour of love as I see it...
Mikael: I also looked more closely on what needs to be done cosmetically before I bring them into the house. Both speakers are missing a part of the copper trim (one upper left and right). So I need to find that somewhere. The stainless steel is relatively ok with some not to noticable bumps and scratches. The base plate is badly scratched but I think it can be improved upon with plastic polish. The cloth on the grills has a cigarette burn and is filthy in general so I will recover all of them. One ofthe grills is broken and needs glueing. But before that happens they need a good general clean up, there are layers of dust and sticky muck. A labour of love as I see it...
Fun job to do! Have you seen my Penta's that I have just "refurbished"? Show us pictures whenever your Penta's are done! Graham (Joeyboygolf) sells these copper trims on Ebay.
Nice find, and nice price! You can find the copper strips, base plates, etc. on ebay.
Try this at Grahams, fair price, I could use the small top one. Don't look at Ebay US, ridiculous prices!
I actually won the Ebay bidding for a complete trim set for one speaker. I hope the left and right sides are interchangeable as I need two top right sides. Leslie: If you need the top piece then let me know.
I have also tested and cleaned both of the speakers now. I guess someone had spilled a half can of cola on the base. It was really icky.
There is maybe a problem with one of the speakers. The midrange section is very quiet. Maybe dead. I could not crank it up because the family was sleeping so I need to test more. Maybe a problem in the crossover or the PCB connector?
Mikael: Leslie: If you need the top piece then let me know.
Yes Mikael, that would be great! Let me know what the costs are will you? We already have each others email adress...
Update:
I have ordered a capacitor kit from Mr Dillen so once I have it I will sepparate the amps from the speakers concentrate on the crossovers to begin with. The midrange drivers are beginning to rot I'm affraid. I accidently touched the foam surround and it was like sticky mush. So a refoam in the near future then...
Mikael:So a refoam in the near future then...
Do it now when you have them open.
Pics please
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.