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
About a year ago I came across a classic B&O- set in eBay.co, a Beomaster 5000 tuner and Beolab 5000 amplifier, both from the same seller. The Beomaster was described as non-working, Beolab as working. I grabbed both items for the grand total of 150 eur.
I was able to repair the tuner myself; the fuse holders near the power supply were so badly oxidized that they didn't make contact at all. The Beolab was working, but it was obvious that it would need a lot of work (slightly humming, rusty bottom plate, some marks of mold at the bottom, missing letters from the front panel etc.). I decided to send a mail to Frede Kristensen at classic-audio.dk. Soon Frede sent me information about the restoration process and prices. Even rather expensive, I decided to send the Beolab for his restoration.
The amp was sent to Denmark on 11.4.2012. When it arrived, Frede sent me a link to a personal status page where I was able to see how the restoration was moving on.
Today was the day the Beolab returned!
I quickly ripped the parcel open and first noted the file with all the test certificates and a copy of the user manual (+ a CD with the service manual). Also all the replaced components were there inside a plastic bag.
And then there was the Beolab 5000 itself:
The front panel (with the texts) was replaced, and it's now good as new!
The Beomaster 5000 tuner was soon added:
The Beomaster (which was not serviced) has quite scratched top panel so having the units stacked nicely hides that.
I have done only a little testing yet, but I can say: it sounds great! All switches move smoothly without any crackling sounds and the sound is just awesome, high frequencies are crips and detailed and bass is strong. The tuner, with only a piece of wire as aerial, picks more channels than any other tuner I have.
Due to the space, I couldn't test the system with speakers. As some of you might know, the Beolab 5000 doesn't have a headphone socket, due to the two ampilifiers working in opposite phases (see http://beocentral.com/beolab5000amplifier). Also near the speaker connectors, there is a warning that the left and right speakers must not have a common ground. Because of this, headphones cannot be connected directly to the speaker outputs.
The original sollution was to use a B&O adapter box, but they are very rare. I got a copy of the schematics of the adapter from Frede. I exchangeg some emails with Mika about it, and he suggested to use a small generic audio transformer with a couple of resistors (just as the original does). I made up a small test-circuit and it works nicely! As I write this, I am listening to the Beolab with headphones.
Care must be taken with the volume levels, as there is a LOT of power available!
Final words: Frede's service was very professional and friendly, and the Beolab is now in totally like-new condition. In addition to the restoration itself, the certificate and all the measurements are very interesting to read. Thanks again, Frede!
Great job Lausvi!
I am so tempted to go for a BL5000 restoration!
You will see in the old forum that I had a white BM2000 restored by Martin (Dillen).
Good job we have these competent restorers!
Graham
I'm sure it sounds as good as it looks! Congratulations
--mika