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
Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster! I've only recently joined up as I've wanted to ask a few questions. I have a pair of Beovox S45-2 that were bought for my birthday 2 weeks back. I've seen a fantastic post about sanding and oiling them in the archives so I've got all the bits and bobs together to sort that out. One of the woofers also had the magnet slip issue that I resolved thanks again to the forum. They sound magnificent but I think they would benefit from being recapped. I am in a bit of a jam as whenever I search online there are a plethora of Capacitors that is just confusing to me! I have fairly decent soldering skills and am a capable DIYer with the right instruction. Can anyone direct me to suitable replacements?
Also, I have just bought a Beomaster 1000 from eBay. The outer case is MINT! I bought it as I had my suspicions it had never been touched... and I appear to be right! It has more dust than the Sahara Dessert inside and has the little schematic inside which never been opened (until now!). It "works" but has a few issues. FM radio is lovely and loud but sometimes the sound fades away. When you turn it off or depress/wiggle the FM key a few times the volume returns. I also have a Beogram 1700 with an MMC-20EN cartridge fitted which is really quite quiet when I hook it up to the QII connection. I have the speakers connected up to the right inputs and I have the record player hooked up to the right input before I'm asked to check :)
The speakers and turn table work perfectly well with a modern amp. I have bought some contact cleaner to try to see if this makes any difference to the Beomaster, but yet to use.
In summary, I'd like to know what capacitors to get for my speakers and what can I do to improve my Beomaster? I know some of the caps need replacing. Which ones are most important? I'm not looking to do a complete rebuild but just replacing the important bits. Does anything else need looking at?
I know I'm probably asking the (Beo)world, but if you don't ask... you don't get. Right?
The amount of dust is not uncommon for a 50+ year old unit with a top grill.
I would replace the three large cans (power supply filter/reservoir and the two output series capacitors).Try to go as close to the original specs as possible(2200uF would be fine as replacement for 2000uF etc.).And no low-ESR cap as the power supply filter.
Your Beomaster has the optional stereo decoder. If it doesn't work as intended, it could also benefit from a recap.Feel the output stage transistors. If running warm in idle replace the idle current trimmers and readjust the idles.
I can supply good replacement capacitors for the Beovox S45-2 speakers and the correct lamps etc. for the Beomaster and lots of other parts if needed.
Martin
That’s brilliant, thanks Martin! I’ve just given the whole thing a very thorough vacuum, removed the keys and sprayed a bit of contact cleaner into the dials on the front and the key switches and it’s sounding brilliant already. I’m struggling to get the FM radio to illuminate the “stereo” indicator when tuned. It sort of flickers as I’m tuning but never latches on and fully illuminates. I do get sound from both speakers without the mono switch depressed when tuned. The lamp does illuminate and works when I hook up my Beogram. Strange. Perhaps it does need a recap? That said, I’ve ordered a 300ohm (I think that what it is!) bunny antenna to see if that makes a difference? Not sure. Could someone please let me know the best way to clean up the residual dust and gunk off of the surface? I have Isopropyl Alcohol and q-tips... bad? good? Advice please :)
Martin - please let me know how best to contact you. I’d love to get my hands on some decent capacitors for my speakers and possibly some of your recommend parts for the Beomaster. Also, do you know where I could source some of the little Beovox logos for my speakers? My ones are really really scuffed up and I’d like a nicer pair :)
thanks again!
-David
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Just PM or e-mail me.
Thanks for that Martin. I’m probably not looking properly... I can’t find a PM option. Conversation sent to you instead. Hope it works!