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 have read that the overloads can get oxidized over time and cause the speaker to sound strange. Is there any way to open it up and clean it. or maybe just to trip it a couple of times to try and clean it? What about just buying new ones to replace the old ones?
cbn700: I have read that the overloads can get oxidized over time and cause the speaker to sound strange. Is there any way to open it up and clean it. or maybe just to trip it a couple of times to try and clean it? What about just buying new ones to replace the old ones?
The overload switch does indeed oxidize over time however apparently there are no replacement switches available as even my best source (Martin) came up empty.
And yes I imagine that one might be able to open up these switches, but from the looks of them, one had better be a trained expert, which unfortunately I am not.
The sound really did get distorted and eventually one speaker failed completely due to these aging switches.
With no replacements available I took a small piece of brass that fitted quite nicely between the two female connections, and as a result I have a nice tight fit bypassing these failed switches completely.
It was said to me, “OMG you are running your speakers without an overload switch,” in absolute horror. Well NONE of my other speakers has overload switches and as the MC 120.2 is rated to handle 120 watts and is point in fact being powered by a 75 watt per channel amp, if anything they are being under-powered rather than risking being over-powered.
None the less, thank you for the suggestion.
Jeff
Beogram 4000, Beogram 4002, Beogram 4004, Beogram 8000, Beogram 8002, Beogram 1602. Beogram 4500 CD player, B&O CDX player, Beocord 4500, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 8004, Beocord 9000, Beomaster 1000, Beomaster 1600, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 4400, Beomaster 4500, Beolab 5000, Beomaster 5000, BeoCenter 9000. BeoSound Century, S-45.2, S-45.2, S-75, S-75, M-75, M-100, MC 120.2 speakers; B&O Illuminated Sign (with crown & red logo). B&O grey & black Illuminated Sign, B&O black Plexiglas dealer sign, B&O ash tray, B&O (Orrefors) dealer award vase, B&O Beotime Clock. Navy blue B&O baseball cap, B&O T-shirt X2, B&O black ball point pen, B&O Retail Management Binder
Well I guess the nest time I have them opened up I am going to try that. thanks
Could not sleep tonight(gotta love trying to switch back to days after 5 weeks of nights), downloaded the "speaker pop" app from apple, and gave it a try. Apparently my right speaker is reverse polarity. The woofer, mid and tweeter. Swapped the "+" and "-" and did it make a difference. The soundstage is so much larger! Now the drums seem to just jump out at you. Also this song has 2 guitars and could not hear one until now. Very nice. Will have another update after the re cap. Hopefully this week they will arrive.
cbn700: Could not sleep tonight(gotta love trying to switch back to days after 5 weeks of nights), downloaded the "speaker pop" app from apple, and gave it a try. Apparently my right speaker is reverse polarity. The woofer, mid and tweeter. Swapped the "+" and "-" and did it make a difference. The soundstage is so much larger! Now the drums seem to just jump out at you. Also this song has 2 guitars and could not hear one until now. Very nice. Will have another update after the re cap. Hopefully this week they will arrive.
OK, the question that outright BEGS asking, do your like your MC 120.2 speakers? If so you are the first person who has ever said so to me. People have commented on how to fix this and that, but no one, and I mean no one here at BeoWorld or outside BeoWorld has even once said to me they enjoy the MC 120.2 speakers.
Judging form your positive comment I assume that you do and therefore there is still something yet wrong with my own pair. But OMG if true what a problematic speaker this is! I mean they required being re-foamed….. my two pairs of S 75’s and the 1 pair of S 45 didn’t need re-foaming.
This was followed by a lengthy and futile search for replacement overload switches that in the end had to be bypassed, negating the protection circuitry.
Then they had to be re-capped, my S 75’s and S 45’s didn’t require re-capping. Neither did ANY of my other speakers, not forgetting my all original McIntosh MC-2’s which are 42 years old, for God’s sake! [For the record I checked with McIntosh and was informed that the ML series speakers under normal use do not require re-capping.]
Onward with yet another pointless quest, that is in search of out of polarity speakers. In your case, I am pleased it was the case and that solved the problem. In my case, I spent an inordinate amount of time checking for a fault that wasn’t there.
And after all this effort my speakers still sounded like crap, low volume and virtually no bass.
Only then the suggestion was made to seal the cabinet to the speakers frame. I really didn’t think that a trip to Home Depot for some household window sealer was going to “transform” my errant speakers when all else had failed and failed miserably….. but it did.
After all that work it was almost insulting that applying a rubber seal would improve the MC 120.2 speakers to the extent that it did.
Now before anyone thinks my kvetching means I didn’t appreciate all your advice and help, let me say emphatically, this is not the case as I really, but really appreciated everyone’s helpful input. Thank you! I also am pleased that one gentleman solved his problems in a more direct manner than I.
Genuine gratitude notwithstanding, I still have a pair of MC 120.2 speakers that my gut tells me there is still something wrong with. They are not terrible anymore, but “acceptable” is not an adjective I would have liked to attribute to a Bang and Olufsen product.
I can say that I like these speakers. There has been a bit of work to get here, and they needed a bit of love. I am still pretty much a newbie in the world of hi fi, and learning as I go. I think these speakers have an acceptable amount of bass. They do not have bass that will rattle the walls and make things fall off the shelves, but they do ok. As I have been working with these, the soundstage is starting to open up nicely. These will be going along with a Marantz DC170 amp and 3200 pre amp to my dad's for Christmas. I think it is going to be a nice package for him. He mostly listens to country and western music from the 60's and 70's so it should work nicely.
cbn700: I can say that I like these speakers. There has been a bit of work to get here, and they needed a bit of love. I am still pretty much a newbie in the world of hi fi, and learning as I go. I think these speakers have an acceptable amount of bass. They do not have bass that will rattle the walls and make things fall off the shelves, but they do ok. As I have been working with these, the soundstage is starting to open up nicely. These will be going along with a Marantz DC170 amp and 3200 pre amp to my dad's for Christmas. I think it is going to be a nice package for him. He mostly listens to country and western music from the 60's and 70's so it should work nicely.
Well I am impressed by your attitude and determination. I also like the fact that you really enjoy yours; this is as I said, a first for me. Plus as you like yours, it provides a ray of hope for mine.
Much has been said vis-à-vis the S 45.2 speakers and their accurate sound (which is unquestionably true) and their comparative lack of bass (which isn’t.) I LOVE my S 45.2 speakers and they can literally vibrate themselves off-center on their stands while sounding absolutely lifelike. How B&O got such sound out of such a tiny box it beyond me, and this powered by an ailing but still wonderful Beomaster 2400.
Now the S 75’s are just special, they have abundant bass, BUT the upper end is every bit as impressive AND real sounding. They are a tad less accurate as compared to the S 45.2’s, but their added “kick” more than makes up for this, in my opinion.
As far as the MC 120.2 speakers, you are right; they will never rattle things off the shelves like my S 45.2’s did the remote control. (Thank God for wall to wall carpeting) However my real problem with them after this prolonged nightmare is they don’t sound “real.”
Now having said that I think I need to give them another shot as I have been playing a very poorly made disco-like record for the sole reason that it is a very bassy recording and I wanted to see how the bass was doing. I think I’ll try Toccata and Fugue in D and see how they handle that.
Now all I MUST do is make absolutely certain that my record is CLEAN as my MMC 6000 cartridge manages to gather crud like it was its sole purpose in life and the sound suffers greatly….. and immediately.
And I really think your Christmas gift to your father is an excellent and generous choice. MC 120.2 speakers and country western sound like a great combination.
Yes I think it will be a nice little combination, that will provide him with hours of entertainment. He will probably get it a bit early so he can listen to all the Christmas albums they have as well.
cbn700: Yes I think it will be a nice little combination, that will provide him with hours of entertainment. He will probably get it a bit early so he can listen to all the Christmas albums they have as well.
Well may I be the first to wish your dad an early but musical Merry Christmas!
thanks
I tried to download the signal and nothing happened, repeatedly.
So as I am technically challenged with anything Apple, how do you do this?
I am guessing that there is a wired connection between the iPhone and the speaker. Am I right?
Further guessing that you use the earphone connection for this purpose, then let the iPhone listen through the microphone.
Did I get this remotely right?
And if I did what sort of wire do you use?
Thanks,
Yes you are correct. Download the app, then you need a 1/8 phono cable out of your iphone that has the rca jacks on the other end. hook the rca connectors to you stereo and you are set. Turn on the stereo, turn on the tone generator on the app. Face the iphone to the speaker and check for signal strength(adjust volume for this) and look for the + or -. Very easy. Took me 5 minutes to do. If I can do it anyone can
I should have asked, are you using the app "speaker pop" ?
cbn700: I should have asked, are you using the app "speaker pop" ?
Using the app, Speaker pop would be getting ahead of myself as I do not have the phono jack. I have merely looked into this.
May I assume that this RCA jack is readily available?
I am really ready to try this as my patience, which is considerable, is about exhausted with these damn speakers.
My dream is to be able to find a speaker or speakers out of phase and viola great sounding speakers. Oh how I dearly would like to end this thread (my part thereof that is) with that statement.
The way it is, I tried a Columbia Masterworks pressing of Toccata and Fugue in D and while it sounded better than my disco record, compared to the S 75’s, it was still crap.
I think I got my cable on e bay, but I am sure you can pick them up at any electronic stores like Visions or Best Buy
Just a quick update, my crossover caps arrived in the mail tonight. Installed in 1 crossover so I could compare the 2 speakers, one re capped the other not. The re capped one is much smoother now. Vocals especially womens are clearer and more precise. The highs are better as well. Going to listen like this tonight and then do the other in the morning.
cbn700: Just a quick update, my crossover caps arrived in the mail tonight. Installed in 1 crossover so I could compare the 2 speakers, one re capped the other not. The re capped one is much smoother now. Vocals especially womens are clearer and more precise. The highs are better as well. Going to listen like this tonight and then do the other in the morning.
Sounds like you have made real progress. Congratulations!
Other one is done and now it is time to start to enjoy these speakers. Thanks to everyone for their help in this project.
Ah the sweet smell of success!
Yes indeed, do enjoy your speakers….. and I hope your father will appreciate them especially considering all the hard work you put into them!
I think he will. Nice to do something nice for him after all the great stuff he has done for me over the years