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
Piaf:That said the big Mac does not have the delicious sound of the Beomaster 4500.
Are my eyes fooling me here?? Do you really prefer the tone of your 4500 over a Mac?!
Beo4 'til I die!
Evan,
Please don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but praise and respect for McIntosh products which have always been built to the highest possible standard and meant to last. In particular I singularly proud of my McIntosh 2255 with its powerful 500 watts of continuous power.
That said all four amplifiers have their strengths powering a collection of power hungry inefficient speakers.
The McIntosh is virtually bulletproof and produces accurate reproduction to well beyond its 500 watt limit. I use this amp as my home theater as well as my primary stereo system with remarkable results. However as previously stated, the sound quality is cold and impersonal, if that makes any sense at all.
The Beogram 2400 is an unstoppable workhorse powering all three sets of speakers to a rather high sound level and always without the slightest complaint. The downside to this amp is the modest power and the utterly unremarkable sound, boring in a word.
The BeoCenter 9000 is stunning in visual design and most convenient with the remote control. Sound quality is good, but not outstanding and like the 4500 does not suffer being pushed well.
Finally the Beomaster 4500 which is my absolute favorite in sound quality reproduction produced this gorgeous mellow warm sound…. in a word: perfect. The downside here is the 4500 is fussy about being driven and is all too quick to go into a self-defense mode which I find annoying.
So no, your eyes were not fooling you….
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
Hi Jeff,
I don't think that your tech is being greedy at all at $600-$750. If he does at least the same job as I do, to the same zero-fault-tolerance for at least the next 5 years, then his price is quite fair.
I have done 2 BM4400's and a number of BM4000's, and at the end, they look new, and perform better than new. Capacitor and resistor replacements, upgrades to the signal path, trimmers, deep-cleaning inside all the potis, full cosmetic detailing, and sometimes custom part fabrication when new ones are unobtainable.
My price for restoration on these units is $600 (the unit belongs to the customer). On some my labor is less, on others my labor is more, depends on the cosmetic condition.
Then again, in Israel, I don't need to charge $75/hr for labor, so 3-4 full workdays is generally enough to do the job.
Menahem
I haven't listened to my 4500's amplifier section since Todd and I refurbished his RL 60.2s. During that time I spent listening to the 4500 and the RLs I remember being absolutely blown away at just how amazing it really was. I thought I was crazy as I don't see many people here going on about their 4500's amplifier section. I blamed the greatness on the RLs!
This discussion is very timely as I plan to move out soon and in doing so will be altering my system drastically. I use my 4500 as a preamplifier only, it drives a total 4 amps in the form of a pair of BeoLab 5000s, Yamaha P2201 and Niles SI-275. From all of this I will be going down to my BeoSystem 4500 and a pair of active monitors. After reading your post from yesterday I feel I should change my speaker choice to passive. I want to do both now really...
Originally (and for a long time now) I wanted to get a set of Fostex PM0.4n monitors but now I want to get a set of NHT SuperZero 2.0 speakers.
Hi Menahem,
Greedy would not be a proper description of my tech, more correctly he is an artist who expects to be paid for his work.
I sent him my Beocord 8004 and the job he did was truly amazing. I sent him a Beocord that played slightly fast and what I got back was a Beocord that performs EXACTLY like it did when new.
True he got carried away and replaced all sorts of parts, some that really didn’t scream to be replaced, but I was delighted with his intent to get everything just right. I wasn’t looking for a bargain repair and he understood his client. In the end we were both happy.
As for the 4400 it looks extremely nice. The only negative is there is surface rust under two of the rubber feet, which I am told is normal for these units.
Once my tech is through with his testing I have zero doubt that the 4400 will perform like new.
As for the cosmetics, I don’t think he does much in that area, but he is replacing the clear plastic guard for the six varactor tuning presets which has yellowed with age.
Hi Evan,
Thank you. I am glad not to feel alone in my respect for the seldom mentioned Beomaster 4500.
My future Beomaster 4400 is still being tested and I have no interest in rushing the process. However once it arrives I “may” have a new favorite amp. We’ll see.
That said I have never once heard a Beomaster 8000, of which there is so much talk. However Peter said the Beomaster 4400 was the best, so I went after the best 4400 I could find.