Amplifying RL140? Possible with Beomaster 4500?

Hi there.

I got some family who just bought some RL140, for dirt cheap.

 

Problem is now that the 4500, doesn't exactly have the guts to drive them properly, and I can't seem to see a output on it.

Is the only solution f.ex. a Beocenter 9000 with a power amplifier attached or the more expensive Beomaster 8000?

If it was possible it would be great if there could be a solution with the current 4500.

Hi,

I drive a pair of RL140 speakers with my Beosystem 5500 without any issues. The Beomaster 5500 is rated at 2 x 50W at 8 ohms while the Beomaster 4500 is rated at 2 x 55W at 8 ohms.

-sonavor

I know it's not a problem, there connected and functioning with the 4500. But the speakers are listed at 150W per side, so the 4500 is still a 100W short on juice, which is why we're curios about potential solutions

The wattage rating on the speakers is to show how much they can handle, maximum. Not what is required to operate them. So the RL-140's can handle quite a bit of power but they don't require anywhere near that to operate them. 

-sonavor

To me the ideal solution (I mean in the B&O world and coherent in terms of age/vintage) would be 2 Beolab 200 mono power amplifiers (basically the base of the Beolab Penta) which used to be sold also as a standalone power amplifier in the 90's.

You could connect it to the Beomaster 4500 via powerlink. Then the RL140s would connect to the Beolab 200 with the usual passive speaker cable.

The only problem in my suggestion is to find a pair of Beolab 200... as they are so rare...

mauro

The sound pressure level, SPL, for a typical listening level is in the 80dB range. At 96dB SPL the RL-140 speakers use about 2W according to their specification.

The real concern I would check on regarding getting a dirt cheap pair of RL 140 speakers are the condition of the foam surrounds of their bass drivers. Those surrounds do not last forever and if they are still original then they are likely deteriorating. I replaced the surrounds on my RL 140's before I could use them. There are a number of posts on the Beoworld Workbench forum that talk about that.

-sonavor

beolit39:

To me the ideal solution (I mean in the B&O world and coherent in terms of age/vintage) would be 2 Beolab 200 mono power amplifiers (basically the base of the Beolab Penta) which used to be sold also as a standalone power amplifier in the 90's.

You could connect it to the Beomaster 4500 via powerlink. Then the RL140s would connect to the Beolab 200 with the usual passive speaker cable.

The only problem in my suggestion is to find a pair of Beolab 200... as they are so rare...

mauro

Mauro is right to suggest the BL200 and right that they are rare to find for sale.

Beoamp 2 has a similar output, and is easier to find.

You’ll need an 8-pin DIN to RJ45 Powerlink cable between the BM4500 and the Beoamp and normal speaker cable with a really weird green plug (comes with the Beoamp from new) and wires at the RL140 end.

Lawrence

Hi Fred 94,

I agree with sonavor- the wattage numbers is only a part of the story. The efficiency of the speakers comes into it i.e.high efficiency speakers need less amplifier power while low efficiency speakers need a lot more power.

I'm not familiar with the RL140,but I would be very surprised if they needed more than the 4500's 55wattsper channel to "perform" properly.

I'm running a 4500 with JBL speakers that are rated at 80 watts, and there's no sense of "not enough power". In fact ,the danger of not having enough headroom in the amp is if it's maximum power output starts to "clip" i.e. distortion,and speakers definitely don't like square waves.Result ? blown speakers.

But with the Beomasters, there is a built-in safety net.

The 2 x 55 watt/8 ohm amplifier had a newly-developed, well-balanced interplay with the power supply which gave the output extra strength. The power reserve encompassed the entire frequency range and gave stable sound quality no matter what the volume. Beomaster 4500 also had automatic power handling control that prevented overloading, no matter how many loudspeakers were connected.

regards

Noel.