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
I posted a while back and everyone was incredibly helpful. I recently fell in love with B and O components and bought a Beomaster 6500 a few months ago and last month purchased a beocord 6500 on EBay. Never thought I would play casettes again but the sound is unbelievable. I have been searching for a beogram 6500 and so far haven't come up with anything. I have a chance to purchase a Beomaster 5500, beogram 5500 and beocord 5500 along with the remote for a very reasonable price. Having the 5500 seems to make the most sense I'm just wondering if there is anything that makes the 6500 much better than the 5500? IT looks like the 6500 has more power and no pre amp. Is the sound similar or is there a noticeable difference?
Mike
AFAIK, the power output is identical on the two. Correct, the 5500 has built-in phono preamp and the 6500 doesn't. You'll wait a long time finding a Beogram 6500 in good condition and you'll pay a lot for it because they have the built-in preamp, which makes them in demand since they're compatible with new B&O equipment. So you might be better off switching to a 5500 system. Or keep the BM 6500 and buy the BG 5500 along with an external phono preamp.
The other thing is the powerlink connections for active Beolab speakers of any choice including the latest from B&O which the 5500 does not have.
Then there is the color option which you would have to live with also.
Thanks for the help! Looks like I may have a beomaster 6500 for sale if all goes well.... Thanks for the advice
Yeah good luck finding a BG6500. I'm still searching for a 7k (same unit but of course it has to match my other stuff :) ) and the last one I saw posted here that was any good had had its datalink cord chopped off in place of some RCAs and a grounding strap.
5500 Beosystem and 9000 Beocenter have a pretty strong following despite the lack of power link.
I greatly prefer the polished aluminum look of the 6500 series over the brushed alu of the earlier models, but some people are the other way round. Just another thing to consider.
Also, the Beomaster 6500 has one more usable input in case you might want more than one extra source connected to the full stack.
--mika
But the 5500 has a full set of both DIN and RCA connections which makes using it with a computer a doddle! And the brushed finish makes scratches seem less noticeable! Both are excellent though - I have had a couple of 5500s and a 7000 - just have a white 5500 these days which sits under my iMac.
Peter
Peter is right about the scratches! I too have a white 5500 system but I think it does come to down to personal preference about the polished look of the 6500 or the more matt finish of the 5500.
Also the powerlink aspect of the 6500 is a bonus!
Want to thank everyone for the help. I was able to purchase the 5500 along with the turntable, cassette and master control for a song. THe receiver looks a little beat up which worried me but so far all is good. SOund quality is great! The needle on the tt was broken which is why I got everything for so little. If the TT doesn't work properly I'm still okay. My cartridge from Soundsmith should be here tomorrow. I'll keep everyone updaated. Thanks again!