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
Hello Everyone,
I've been the proud and happy owner of a Beomaster 5500 system for a number of years, paired to a pair Beovox S75 speakers.
Currently, I'm considering the purchase of a pair of AKG k702 headphones, which require a dedicated headphone amplifier. Does anyone happen to know if a headphone amp can be hooked up to the Beomaster 5500 amp? And if so, how?
I should greatly appreciate any help with this!
Kind regards
Gijs
Why? The Beomaster 5500 has a perfectly good headphone output! You don't need anything else !
Jacques
The answer is yes, if you want to. Most headphone amplifiers have a straight though connection and I attached mine via the line in line out connections by removing the u pieces. Used a Musical Fidelity X3. However I agree with chartz - didn't make much, if any, difference. I used Grado RS1 and Sennheisser HD600s.
Peter
Dear Jacques and Peter,
Thank you both ever so much for your swift replies (to Jacques: merci pour votre réponse rapide :) ).
The reason for my question is that, according to many reviews that I've read on the AKG's, they do need the dedicated amplification in order to get the best out of them. For this reason, I'm considering to build a headphone amp kit (I'm thinking of getting the Bottlehead Crack, a tube amplifier, http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php/products/crack-otl-headphone-amplifier-kit).
For me, then, it's not just a matter of sound quality from the headphones, there's also the fun of building my own headphone amp and using it in combination with the Beomaster.
Peter, I was wondering: is it possible to mute the speakers, and just get sound from the line out (and thus the headphone amp?) If so, how's this done using the Beolink 1000?
Again, thank for your replies, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Kind regards,
The fun of building something I can understand!
The MUTE function only affects SPK1 output, not the line output.
You could use a dummy in the headphone socket for muting.
I myself use a AKG 401. I don't know about the impedance of the 701, but there are several versions with different (studio use) impedances. The higher the impedance, the higher voltage for the headphone amplifier is needed.
That answers my question, thanks! I'm really looking forward to building something again, I'll keep you posted on how things turn out (it may take a while though...)
By the way: the line in / outs are now connected by a U-piece. Once I plug in a headphone amp into the line out, can the line ins be left as they are (i.e. without a U-piece)?
I would short the inputs on that socket. It is the entrance of the output stage.
But just to clearify. Do you still want to use speakers attached to the master? Then you need to maintain the connection between pin 2-4 and 3-5.
What about volume control? Has it to be done the any B&O remote? Or does the external headphone amplifier has it's own volumecontrol?
@Beobuddy:
The k702's have an impedance of 62 Ohms, so not as high as some of the older AKG's.
How would I go about shorting the inputs? Just use one of the U-pieces?
I would like to keep the speakers attached, and would prefer (if possible) to be able to switch between speakers and headphone amp using the remote. The headphome amp I have in mind does have its own volume control.Where are the pins located that you're referring to?
Ik hoor graag!
The way I have described allows you to mute the speakers using a Beolink 1000. the volume of the headphones is altered by the headphone amplifier volume control. You do need a feed from the headphone amplifier back to the LINE IN sockets - the Musical Fidelity has just such a feed. Alternatively, use the AUX socket or Tape 2 as this will give a steady line level which you can then control via the headphone amplifier. I used what i did because the other sockets were all being used.
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Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.
Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.
seethroughyou:Never knew what Beomaster 5500 was as I only got into B&O in 2003 after Uni. Just seen a picture. Both the 5500 and its angled remote look drop dead stunning! Swoon swoon! I was born in the wrong era.
I take it then you have not yet been introduced to the Beolink 7000 that was used in place of the Master Control Panel (the "angled" remote) beginning in 1990 for the 5500, 6500 and 7000 Beomasters (the final evolution of the 5000)... he he he.
I'm not sure yet if the headphone amp I have my eyes on has a feed going back into the amp, but I will figure this out one of these days. I do have a portable headphone amp. I'll try and hook it up to the Beomaster the way you described and let you know what happens. Thanks a lot for your help so far!
@seethroughyou
My Beomaster came with the Master Control Panel when I got it, but unfortunately it broke pretty soon after, beyond repair. (I did get my system second hand) As a replacement, I got the Beolink 1000, which is a bit more mundane, but actually a lot more convenient to carry around the house :)
The lowly BL1000 is in practical use, probably the best terminal B&O ever produced. I'm really not a fan of the Beo4 and the BL7000 while pretty, is just too bulky and too much "touch" oriented to be of daily use. Sure is a beauty to look at, though!
I made the mistake of thinking I had three working BL1000s and it turns out one of them is busted due to leaking battery acid at some point. I gave away one BL1000 with a Beosound 9000 as I thought I was doing better off keeping the Beo4 since I gave the guy a big discount with the Beo4 staying with me as part of the arrangement. However, my other BL1000 went to my family member's home in another state with the BC9500 and Pentas and now I'm completely BL1000-less and quite frustrated as a result!
Just now, I tried this with my portable headphone amp, and it works, also the mute function. Brilliant!
But the Beomaster had a surprise in store for me... When I wanted to connect my mixer to the Tape 2 In, it turned out the left channel didn't work... I tried changing interlinks, yet to no avail... I found the RCA socket to be a bit loose and I feared that the socket had come of the preamplifier PCB. So I opened the Beomaster up, took out the preamp stage and socket panel, and unfortunately, I was right. The PCB had chipped, so resoldering was not an option. In the end I had to solder a lenght of wire in order to "bypass" / replace the copper trace on the PCB, and (yoho!) it worked. I took me the best part of two hours, but I'm glad with the result!
Now, I'm enjoying the new setup, being a combination of the Beomaster Amp, a Technics 1200mk2 turntable with an Ortophone Concorde needle, an AKG k271 headphone, a portable Oatley Electronics K272 headphone amp, the albums "Stella" by Yello from 1985 (extremely well produced), and a cool beer... Could be worse
Well done!
It's pretty common that these traces are broken. Those who use the RCA's regular, are probably having difficulties with withdrawing the leads and uses a bit to much force and break them.
You can maintain the RCA's by blanking the traces with a fiberglass stick and bend the RCA's on the surface of the board. This way you make them more solid and use pieces of blank wire (leads of e.g. a resistor) to repair the broken traces. This way you will keep the master original. I assume that you didn't use a piece of wire to extend the RCA's externally?
Thanks for the compliment! No, I just connected the RCA to the next soldering point on the PCB with a wire, see the attached picture.