Beogram 2200 issues

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jonthedweeb Posted: Mon, Apr 5 2021 6:00 PM

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Hi everyone - new to the forum and to B&O. I grew up with my father's system - he had various B&O items over the years - and when he passed away 5 years ago, I inherited his Beocentre 9300 and Beolab 6000s, and am now looking to get these up and running. I don't have the speaker cables yet, so what follows is being tested on headphones connected to the Beocentre.

With a view to getting the system up and running, I bought a Beogram 2200 locally today. The guy I bought it from said it had been a wedding present to his parents in the late 70s, but they had never used it, and it has literally remained boxed (although opened) until now. It is certainly in immaculate condition, but I have encountered the following issues. I am hoping these have more to do with my lack of familiarity with B&O than issues with the unit itself, so I am hoping the collective wisdom here ca help me!

The main issue is: When I press Start, the arm swings across to the right position, drops, and then the stylus immediately slips off the edge of the record.  I have played around with the counterweight slider, but probably ineptly, as the one thing that was missing was an instruction manual (weirdly there were instructions for a Beogram 1000 in the box) to no avail.

I took the cartridge off, and looked as closely as I could with my over 50 year old eyes, and to my eyes the stylus part itself looks smaller than pictures on the internet would suggest.  But there is definitely something there, and it had the stylus guard on, so even if the arm had swung around in transit over the years, it can't have done that much damage surely.

Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions etc gratefully received.  Many thanks.

Jon

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Dillen replied on Tue, Apr 6 2021 6:37 AM

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Check the actual tracking force. The calibration may be out.
Will it play correctly (from this position) if you push the tonearm to a place well in over a record and press start?

Martin

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jonthedweeb replied on Tue, Apr 6 2021 12:07 PM

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Thanks for the reply.

If I start the tonearm from a position well in, the same thing happens - the arm skids to the right and off the record.

How do I adjust the tracking force? From the instruction manual, it seemed I just adjust the screws inside the counterweight compartment, but it also said you have make the adjustments with the counterweight in position, which is impossible.

Thanks

Jon

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Dillen replied on Tue, Apr 6 2021 1:56 PM

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You need a tracking force guage to calibrate the dial on the tonearm.

I have a couple of these and find them good value for money (though I didn't buy from this particular seller - neither do I know or endorse him, so just for reference).
VISION Stylus Tracking Force Scales +BATTERIES Tonearm VTF Turntable Gauge Setup | eBay

Martin

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jonthedweeb replied on Tue, Apr 6 2021 2:16 PM

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Thanks Martin.  I found similar on Amazon with next day delivery so I will give that a try :-)

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jonthedweeb replied on Sat, Apr 10 2021 12:21 PM

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Hi again!

So now I have a tracking force scale, and also a pre-amp (which I didn't realise I needed, so I can actually hear results now!), but I am still having great trouble getting it to behave properly.  Despite anything I do, the stylus either skips intermittently (and the sound quality seems very poor by the way), or won't track at all.

Here are my problems:

1. I can't use the scales because the Beogram 2200 tonearm is automatic, so I can't lower it without a record on the platter and pressing start. I even tried taking the belt off, but the machine is too smart and knows this apparently, so the arm will still not lower.
2. Following the instructions in the manual is nigh on impossible,  The screws you adjust to get the stylus height right and the arm balanced are inside the counterwieght compartment. The manual says make the adjustments with the weight in place, but then you can't get to the screws, so it is a sort of trial and error process that I am not winning!
3. I am still not convinced the stylus is in full working order anyway. Although I have no reason at all to disbelieve what the seller said which is that this unit has been boxed from new (it was an unwanted wedding present to his parents!), and when I got it the stylus protective cover was in place, the stylus tip itself looks much smaller than photos on the internet. But it is so tiny, even with a magnifying glass it is difficult to be sure.  On the few occassions I have been able to get it to track properly for a short time before it skips, the music sounds very distorted and muffled, so I think maybe the stylus is actually the root of all the above problems. Could this be the case?

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Dillen replied on Sat, Apr 10 2021 12:30 PM

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1.
Lift off the platter, take off the belt and fit the platter back.
Rotate the platter by hand and press Start with aa record on the platter.
Keep rotating until the tonearm lowers. Catch the tonearm, stop rotating the platter, place the guage on the record and place the needle on the guage.

When done, rotate again and pres stop to have the Beogram run through its stop and park sequence.
Then fit the belt again.

Martin

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jonthedweeb replied on Sat, Apr 10 2021 2:20 PM

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Thank you Martin - much appreciated!

So I tried this - successfully - and after a little adjustment to get the force right (1.5g for the MMC20E), I can see that the arm is tracking successfully, i.e. it is not skipping or skidding around.

BUT... now I have a very load buzzing noise, with no music audible at all.  If I switch off the Beocentre and/or the pre-amp, I can just about hear from the stylus that it is playing ok, but no sound is coming through the speakers except this very load buzzing when the amp and pre-amp are switched on.

I read that pre-amps can cause such buzzing, but mine is grounded, it is new, and this wasn't happening before, just the tracking issue!

So I am really confused. Has my pre-amp suddenly developed a fault? Help!

Many thanks

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jonthedweeb replied on Thu, Apr 15 2021 11:26 AM

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Hi - did anyone have a view on the buzzing issue above?  Keen to get this 2200 fully operational!  Thanks