virus has taken hold: Beogram 8000 purchase. what to do first?

3 replies
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macjack (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 17, 2021 at 05:36 GMT
#2226696

Hi all,

I've been relatively recently infected with this wonderful virus, the B&O affliction.

The short version is that I have picked up a Beogram 8000 and it has some problems with the sound that I think are the stylus, but not sure if I should be recapping it first.

Longer version. . .

In the last few years I've slowly assembled (from craigslist)  a great set up for our main living and listening space, including a Beomaster 5000, Beogram 5005 sending signal to a pair of Beolab Pentas and RL 60.2s.  We've been so happy with that set that I have now started looking to get my home office outfitted with a nice B&O system.  For a while I ran a BeoCenter 9000 to a set of RL 45s.  The non- B&O piece is a Harman Kardon T60 turntable.

Then I found a B&O MC20 rosewood cabinet that came with a matching set of rosewood s45s.  In the process of gathering the first Beomaster 5000 set, I picked up a few spare Beomaster 5000's gotta love those "buy the shole set" kind of purchases), and Beogram 7000 CD player.  I want to set up the cabinet with a Beomaster 5000 and a turntable, so I set about trying to find the right Beogram and today picked up a beautiful rosewood Beogram 8000.  

Unfortunately, while the seller has had the 8000 for forty years and clearly babied it, they announced with pride that it has "never had any service - never needed any."  I didn't take that as a good sign, and when listening, I could hear that the sound wasn't quite right.  There was sound from both channels, and mostly it was ok, but some missing tones perhaps and also like the midrange was crackly maybe. I guessed that the mmc20 CL may need to be replaced/retipped.  With that in mind, we settled on a price that I could live with, knowing more investment was coming.

Mechanically, the 8000 cues up and responds well to the buttons, etc.  Aesthetically, the 8000 is in very good shape, and the hinges clearly benefitted from the original owner's gentle touch.

So what now?  

I see a few options:

1. put another used cartridge on it (what fits?).  I looked at a Beogram 1800 from craigslist this week that has an MMC 3 on it.  Unfortunately, standing there in the cold garage, he could not get it to play as it would cue up, drop the needle, then pick it right back up again and go back to "home".  So I passed, even at $30 for the 1800, but perhaps I could get it for the cartridge, gambling a bit that it will be in servicable shape?  I like the MMC 3 on the Beogram 5005 I already have, so perhaps it will be fine, but I'm not sure where to look for what will fit the 8000.  There's even used MMC20 CL's on ebay right now.

2. retip the MMC 20 CL  I am relatively new, so don't know who is recommended to do this work, but I found one website https://www.tonabnehmerservice.de/ that could do it, I know there are others.  I have a lot to learn about the options, like shibata, nude, elliptical, etc.  I don't feel like I am learning what the differences are very quickly amidst all the options.

3. Soundsmith new

4.  Buy "reconditioned" cartridge  Again, I don't know how to evaluate the different options

5.  get a set of caps from Dillen and do that first, see if that solves the sound issues before doing anything with the cart

 

Advice?

I know much of this is just my learning process, and of course there are the difference choices that are personal preference.  But there is also likely an order of operations here for what to do first, or how to approach the situation.  I'm willing to invest in this setup to get it nice, and willing to learn re-capping (I already have a set of caps for an old set of sansui speakers that I haven't dived into yet, so gotta start somewhere, right?).  I have done some rudimentary circuit board soldering on some kitchen appliances like our Kithcenaid stove/oven and our Bosch dishwasher's circuit board, which were successful and quite satisfying, so I'm not afraid to roll up my sleeves, but I also don't want to mangle or somehow hack up this beautiful unit.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

-macjack

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sonavor (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 17, 2021 at 06:55 GMT
#2226697

Hi,

The Beogram 8000 is a really nice turntable. It is most likely that any sound issue is with the phono cartridge, not with the turntable.

As an owner of most of the Beogram 400x versions as well as the Beogram 8000 and 8002 turntables I can tell you that all of those B&O type turntables must be restored by this point no matter how well they have been taken care of. 

The turntables are very durable and it doesn't surprise me that some are actually still running on their original components. However, if they are running then they are running in a degraded state.

The Beogram 8000 and 8002 are a little easier to restore than the BG400x series but only regarding the mechanical adjustments.
The processor controlled, electronic circuitry of the BG800x turntables can be more troublesome though.
The electrical components are packed in a smaller space and the boards are notorious for needed solder connections reflowed (especially at the connectors). The main thing, as is typical with all vintage audio components, is that the old electrolytic type capacitors need replacing after all of these years.

There are a few other things but another important one with the Beogram 8000 is that it has a plastic strobe disc the turntable speed sensor uses to control the platter speed. The strobe markings on that disk are often deteriorated by now (or starting to).  Bang & Olufsen replaced that plastic disk with a metal one when the Beogram 8002 came out. Beogram 8000 units were retrofitted with the metal disk as the plastic ones started to fail.

Cosmetic problems involve the metal deck, the deck lid over the tonearm area and the dust cover.

Do not attempt to detach and remove the dust cover. It wasn't intended for that to be removed. If it is still good then great. If the latch for the lid lowering mechanism has come loose then it can be fixed without removing the dust cover.

When I work on Beogram 800x units I pull out all of the internal components and work on them outside of the cabinet. It is easier that way and eliminates the risk of an accident with the dust cover. link of a Beogram 8000 restoration I did a while back. It will show you the scope of work that is typically due. The link is to all the posts for that project but it starts with the final post and goes backwards. link to just the first post of that project. At the end of the post you can

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macjack (archived2)
Bronze
Posted January 17, 2021 at 15:31 GMT
#2226698

Thanks for the reply, sonavor.  Those restoration posts are examples of high craftsmanship and expertise.

I was a bit surprised to watch the unit perform and function well mechanically, given the likely need for restoration.  What are the telltale signs of the degraded functioning?  For instance I am aware of the plastic strobe  platter degradation, issue.  It is possible that there is something wrong I don’t know about but the digital display remains at 33.33.  It did sound a little woozy a few times, ever so slightly.  I imagine that upgrading to the metal disk would be at least needed, and would help.  

As far as the cartridge, does anyone have thoughts about ways to proceed?  For instance, how do I determine which carts will fit?  Tips on pulling the old cart off?  How do I determine if the suspension is shot?  The 8000 plays well, doesn’t skip when I stand nearby and lightly flex the floor, unlike a problematic 1602 I have that (horrors!) fell off a cardboard box onto concrete and I’m playing around with.  I’m sure there are several disasters in that one, but at the very obvious level, it skips easily.  I’m learning tonearm adjustment, so working on that first, but not sure what part  cart suspension plays.

thanks again in advance!

-macjack

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