Inherited My Dad’s BeoSystem 7000 – Looking For Advice

[Rob]

Hello, I recently inherited my Dad’s BeoSystem 7000 (BeoMaster 7000, BeoCord 7000 and BeoGram CD 7000) and am trying to set it up to be able to play his music but I need some advice with a number of things if anyone can help:

Firstly, my Dad unfortunately never showed me how the system works (I wasn’t allowed to even go near it when I was younger haha!) so I’ve been reading the manuals that I’ve found online and fumbling with the remote (Beo4) to try and understand it but it doesn’t seem the most intuitive to someone new to hifi systems so any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Secondly, I was wondering if modern, non-B&O, speakers can be connected to it and how I would go about doing that if so? Also do I need passive speakers or will active ones work as well?

Thirdly, if I wanted to add a turntable to the system would I be able to connect a modern one? I did see a BeoGram 7000 come up on eBay a little while ago that I was tempted to get to complete the set but I just don’t know enough about turntables to know if I would be better off buying a modern one for the price/function. I read that the B&O styluses are also expensive to replace but I don’t know how often I would need to replace one as I’d probably only listen to a couple of records a week.

Finally, I’ve also seen that you can buy a compatible Bluetooth receiver so I could in theory play Spotify through the BeoSystem. Is there any benefit to doing this or would I be better finding speakers that I can connect to that I can also use an adapter of some sort for the connection to the BeoSystem? I’m new to all this so not sure what is possible/best.

Very grateful for any advice anyone may have!

[TK]

Just my thoughts –

One of the benefits to buying a Beogram 6500 or 7000 is that those two turntables will integrate seamlessly with your system, and be controllable via the remote. I think there are a few other options that will work as well.  Some turntables u may need to provide RIAA as a typical BM7000 will not have one. installed.  If your father had a turntable hooked up to it at one point, you’ll might need to check to see if your BM7000 has a built in RIAA card already.

RE: Bluetooth – look into the Beotooth offering, as it also integrates seamlessly with the 7000. I have one, and it was an excellent purchase. A generic bluetooth dongle will likely also work, but wont integrate as well.

Remote- consider spending the money to purchase a 2-way remote, such as the Beolink 5000, MCP 5500, or Beolink 7000.  They are specifically designed to work with two-way IR systems like the BM7000.  Of those three options, the MCP 5500 will likely be the least expensive option.

The 7000 has both passive and active speaker hookups, so you have a choice for your speaker system.  A Beolab 8000 is a reasonably priced option that will work well. “Period hard core” would be something like a Penta. Shop carefully, as some of these older speaker systems require some TLC/reworking to get back to their original condition.

[Madskp]

Rob wrote:

Secondly, I was wondering if modern, non-B&O, speakers can be connected to it and how I would go about doing that if so? Also do I need passive speakers or will active ones work as well?

Both passive and active speakers will work. For the passive speakers you will need some 2 pin DIN speaker plugs. You can connect any active speakers with analoginput to the Powerlink connection on the BM7000. You will need an adapter from the 8 pin DIN (as not all pin is needed it can also be a 5 pin din) to either RCA or minijack depending on what the active speaker you connect has for input. Try to look at at the site sponsor Sounds Heavenly webshop. he will have the right adapter for this.

Location: Denmark

[Peter]

The Beogram 7000 has the advantage that it will work by remote control – however one normally cleans the record before playing it so one could argue that this is less important. The BG7000 is very expensive these days because it has the RIAA fitted so works with most modern systems as the RIAA is quite often not in the amplifier (I am sure know this but the RIAA is an amplifier to boost the signal from a magnetic  cartridge and also equalise the frequency response.) The BG7000 is an OK record player but for the money I would be tempted to look elsewhere especially if records are unlikely to be your usual media played. The CD player is good and the tape player also fine. These systems originally started as the 5000 system and was a midrange offering – they eventually became the top of the line though the actual devices did not change that much – one could argue that the CD5500 was probably the best of the CD players though all except the CD50 are decent choices. Shame you don’t have the Beolink 7000 as this allows a huge amount of extra functions. However also expensive and becoming a bit less reliable these days. I have used my 7000 system (long since gone!) with both passive and active speakers – Pentas are great but used everything from S45s to M100s and even BBC LS3/5as and all sounded good. I confess I went back to a BC9500 as prefer the styling and user interface though still use the Beolink 7000.

I play my Amazon Dot through one of my B&O systems as it allows voice control – works well!

My B&O Icons:

[Rob]

Thanks so much TK for the pointers! This is all very helpful!

I think my plan will be to keep an eye out for a Beogram 6500 or 7000 if I can find one at a reasonable price. Am I right in saying that they are very similar models so won’t matter which one I buy?

My Dad did have a Sony PS-J10 turntable hooked up which I think had a pre-amp so didn’t need a RIAA card installing in the Beomaster.

The Beotooth looks great! Although I’m struggling to find out where this plugs in though? Would it work for example in the Tape 2 port?

And good to know about the speakers. Is there any benefit to go for passive over active or vice versa?

Thanks again!

[Rob]

Thanks for the info, Madskp, and the pointer to Sounds Heavenly. I’ll definitely get in touch once I decide on speakers.

Much appreciated!

[Rob]

Thanks for the reply Peter! Interesting to know about the Beolink functions. So is there no way to access these on the Beo4 or the MCP 5500 that TK suggested? Which functions would be inaccessible?

Cheers!

[Author]

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