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
longtime lurker and fan of B&O (for decades).....
Always loved the Beograms - but never had any records.....
A few years ago, I purchased a used Beogram 8002 (here in the US) - and while I plugged it in and it appears to be working.... I now want to give it to my college son who is getting into vinyl (yeah).
Few questions:
1) It needs a needle/cartridge - I have been searching and the prices are all over the place - I dont want anything cheap that will destroy his records, but some of the prices for NOS, etc are insane
2) It has the standard B&O DIN connector - I have several DIN-RCA connectors for my other B&O stuff - but will those work to go to RCA and then hook up to the Phono or Aux of his system?
3) Phono pre-amp? I know nothing about the different types of phono stages......
thoughts? advice? suggestions?
thank you
-michael
1.Contact Hans Henrik at pickupservice@outlook.dk
2. DIN is not a B&O standard. It's an international industry standard.RCA is non-standard so don't use that.
3. B&Os cartridges are neither MC nor MM.Connect the Beogram to a suitable Beomaster and you'll be fine.
Martin
Martin -
Thank you for your prompt reply.....
which of course, is raising more questions.....
As mentioned, I have several B&O kits that have the DIN (or whatever it is called on B&O) plugs (power/master link...never really understood the different - but that is a different topic?) that allow me to connect to the Aux of non-B&O stuff (i.e. headphone output from laptop to a BeoSound-1 on my best) - are you saying that whatever I plug into the back of the 8002 can not be plugged into anything other than a Beomaster or something Neo based?
...essentially, maybe the question is: can I plug the 8002 into something other than a B&O kit?
(are there needle cartridge options that are not B&O NOS, refurb, etc that are reasonably priced? (which I know is a relative term) - and that maybe can be purchased in the USA (the ebay stuff is $$$$$ - wow)
again, thank you
mfirst: Martin - Thank you for your prompt reply..... which of course, is raising more questions..... As mentioned, I have several B&O kits that have the DIN (or whatever it is called on B&O) plugs (power/master link...never really understood the different - but that is a different topic?) that allow me to connect to the Aux of non-B&O stuff (i.e. headphone output from laptop to a BeoSound-1 on my best) - are you saying that whatever I plug into the back of the 8002 can not be plugged into anything other than a Beomaster or something Neo based? ...essentially, maybe the question is: can I plug the 8002 into something other than a B&O kit?
Yes, if you do it right. (Separate chassis ground etc.) and have an input that accepts the level of the MMC.
mfirst: (are there needle cartridge options that are not B&O NOS, refurb, etc that are reasonably priced? (which I know is a relative term) - and that maybe can be purchased in the USA (the ebay stuff is $$$ - wow)
(are there needle cartridge options that are not B&O NOS, refurb, etc that are reasonably priced? (which I know is a relative term) - and that maybe can be purchased in the USA (the ebay stuff is $$$ - wow)
Nothing but a B&O cartridge will fit directly.That's how it was made.
You can sometimes find a nice B&O cartridge on Ebay but you have to be cautious, ask a lot of questions and you really should be knowledgeable with B&O cartridges to make a purchase like that.As Martin suggested, you will have much better success going through a B&O cartridge retipper/retorer like the pickup service he mentioned.If you want a brand new cartridge then you can go the route of buying a Soundsmith cartridge.I have done both.Regarding what you connect the Beogram 8002 up to...It was designed to connect to the phono input of a B&O preamplifier section which of course has a proper RIAA preamplifier in it.You can connect to a non-B&O phono preamplifier section (either stand alone or part of an integrated amplifier) using RCA jacks but you will need an adapter. B&O originally made and provided such an adapter. My Beogram 8002 that I purchased in 1983 came with one. The adapter converted the DIN plug to two RCA jacks (left and right) as well as a single grounding wire to connect up to chassis ground of the non-B&O amplifier. You can buy an adapter like that today from Soundsheavenly (see their advertisements on Beoworld).Again, the adapter will break out the wiring you typically need for a non-B&O amplifier connection but that amplifier input must be a proper phono preamplifier section.I hope that doesn't confuse the topic :-).
-sonavor
thank you... all so far very helpful..... my concern is mainly the cartridge....while I would love to get this up and working, I am not a hardcore audiophile and all of my music is now digital..... the costs for the cartridges and the limited options for them might be the rate limiting step here.
I would look for a rebuilt MMC-4 then. They are good performers and shouldn't be too costly.I wouldn't buy one from Ebay that hasn't been restored. That series of phono cartridges from B&O are know to have suspension problems at this point in their life. The suspension is something a retipper place would have rebuilt so that is why it is best to go through them.
Good evening,
Is there a specific thread or any available document describing the "anatomy of a cartridge" and specially what actually is the suspension and why it is important?
matador43: Good evening, Is there a specific thread or any available document describing the "anatomy of a cartridge" and specially what actually is the suspension and why it is important?
Hi,
There were nice brochures from Bang & Olufsen that discussed their Moving Micro Cross system back when the cartridges were new (early 80's for the MMC-1 through 5). I will have to look through my archives to see if I have any of those publications.-sonavor
There are often B&O phono cartridge brochure documents on Ebay.Here is one, and here is another. I think I have those somewhere.Those are not the MMC-1 through 5 series of cartridges though but there should be similar documents on that smaller size cartridge as well.-sonavor
Thank you Sonavor,
Should be interesting reading.