Hi all,

I recently picked up a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 8000. Hoping someone here recognizes the symptom or can point me toward the likely culprit.

Symptom: On Play, the tangential arm carriage travels across to the correct position over the record, but the tonearm itself does not lower.

Access so far: I've opened the top lid into service position, and separately opened the service hatch underneath the tonearm area, so I've had a look at the mechanism from both above and below.

What I've checked / ruled out so far, roughly in the order I did them:

Photos of the mechanism (arm raised, pivot block, area near the solenoid, and the underside service hatch view) attached below.

My best guess at this point is a detached or broken tonearm lowering-raising spring rather than an electronic fault. Does that match what others have seen? If so, is a used donor part a realistic fix, or is professional repair the more sensible route at this point? Is it even possible to fix because of the nearby phono wires?

Thanks in advance – happy to provide more photos or details on request.