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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello everyone. I just purchased a Beogram 1700 on ebay. It is in great condition, and the seller did a pretty good job packing it (though he did not have the original packaging), but there seem to be some adjustments necessary. In particular, after screwing the transit screws back in (clockwise), the platter was lopsided and scraping against the metal chassis deck when it rotated. At the seller's recommendation, I was able to solve this problem by tightening (clockwise) the three black screws next to the transit screws all the way, which raised the platter and the tone arm. This fixed the lopsidedness, but I'm not sure if I tightened these screws too much. The platter and tone arm no longer "float" (I'm not sure that's the right word for it, but I hope it makes sense). I tried loosening each of the black screws a half turn (counter clockwise), which made everything "float" again, but then the whole system became incredibly sensitive to vibrations, causing the record to skip every time I took a step. So I tightened the three screws again (clockwise), and now the record doesn't skip.
My question is: are the black screws supposed to be tightened all the way like this? There seems to be a pretty complicated suspension system that is no longer really in effect with them tightened all the way. But what is the purpose of the suspension if it causes rather than prevents skipping? The documentation I have been able to find (including the user and service manuals, which the seller sent with the turntable) is pretty sparse/vague. I am guessing that I am doing something wrong here, and would love some advice if anyone has any to give.
One side issue: Regardless of how tight the black screws are, when the tone arm is in a "resting" position, it hovers *very* close to the deck, to the point where I am afraid that a vibration might cause the stylus to hit the deck. Given the cost of replacing a cartridge, I obviously want to minimize the chances of that happening. Is there any way to fix that?
Thanks a lot!
Matt
The black screws are not supposed to be tightened all the way, check the manual again and adjust just like is described there, remember to use 2 x LPs.
If the deck, after correct highs adjustment, is sensitive to vibrations, something else is wrong, Highs adjustment of tonearm, anti skating, or just cleaning and lubricating of the tonearm shaft or center position of the platter.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Hi, Soren. Thanks for your reply. I'm having a bit of trouble making sense of the instructions in the manual. I'm looking at page 4-1. It says first of all to remove the covers from the black screws. What does that mean? What covers? How do I remove them? Then it says that the motor should clear the transit bushings and "see point B." Again, I'm not sure what that means. I don't see the motor, and I'm not sure what point B is supposed to indicate (it looks the same as D). Finally, in making sure the distances between C and D are the same, how do I measure these? I can't really even see these spaces.
Do I need to take the record player apart first? All I've really done is take the platter off so I can see the screws. Is that not enough?
Thanks for your help.
Also, any tips on how to fix the other problems you've mentioned? To adjust the tone arm height, the manual suggests adjusting a screw that the 1700 does not appear to have. And anti-skating involves an oscilloscope and 'test record 3631045," neither of which I have...
Give me some hours, and I will try to walk you through it, can you post a pic of your 1700, and a close up of the tonearm support. If we are lucky, Eugene will join in he has a BG 1700.
Were you able to get these adjustments done?
I just got a 1700 and the arm does seem to be a bit low. The 1700 was delivered across town without the transit screws engaged.