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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I have inherited a Beogram 1900, Type 5702 that had long been my dad's. It has a bunch of problems, but I am excited to attempt to restore it and see it in working order again.
First question. The dust cover is broken. I plan on watching eBay and other likely places (any recommendations?) for a replacement. I'm wondering if there are any models besides the Beogram 1900 that share the same dust cover geometry. Will the dust cover for any other Beogram models besides the 1900 fit on the 1900?
Potential candidates: The 1100 and the 3400 are in the same family and are apparently largely the same parts, so perhaps those dust covers would fit? What about the dust covers for the 1102, 1902, and/or 3404? Do any of those match the 1900? Also, looking at the servicing manuals, it looks like both the BG 1902 and the BG 1700 have very similar dust cover lids. But it is hard to tell from the drawings if they are identical, or merely similar. If I get a dust cover for the 1902 or the 1700, will it fit on my 1900?
Second question. The turntable came with two cartridges. The one currently installed on the tone arm is a MMC 20E. There is also an MMC 4000 in original (opened) packaging. It appears the former was a lower end cartridge for stereo sound, whereas the former was a higher end stylus for quadraphonic sound. But I'm a little confused on this point; is the Beogram 1900 even capable of reproducing quadraphonic sound? Would this turntable get any benefit out of using the MMC 4000 instead of the MMC 20E? If it turns out they could both be restored, but I can only afford to restore one of them, is there a reason to go with one over the other?
That's it for now. I'm sure I will have many, many more questions as I dive into this project.
After a bit of research, I can answer at least part of the second question. The service manual lists the MMC 4000 as the correct pickup for the Beogram 1900. So presumably it gets something out of it and can use the quadraphonic cartridge. (This is a good thing in my case, as my MMC 4000 stylus has its cantilever still, whereas my MMC 20E doesn't. I think it's more likely the MMC 4000 can be rebuilt successfully. Though it could still be the case that either can.)
Charlie Kilian: Is the Beogram 1900 even capable of reproducing quadraphonic sound? Would this turntable get any benefit out of using the MMC 4000 instead of the MMC 20E? If it turns out they could both be restored, but I can only afford to restore one of them, is there a reason to go with one over the other? That's it for now. I'm sure I will have many, many more questions as I dive into this project.
Is the Beogram 1900 even capable of reproducing quadraphonic sound? Would this turntable get any benefit out of using the MMC 4000 instead of the MMC 20E? If it turns out they could both be restored, but I can only afford to restore one of them, is there a reason to go with one over the other?
No and no and no.Apart from the optics.I would have the MMC4000 restored.
Martin
Well, I can partially answer my first question: Not all dust covers that look compatible necessarily are. I can state definitively that the Beogram 1600's dust cover is the same width and length, but not the same height as the 1900. Ask me how I know. ;)
Beogram 1900 shares dustcover with Beogram 1100 and 3400.No others.
Thank you for all your help so far, Martin.