It's been so very long since I've heard the Pentas I can't really recall enough to compare them to the 8000s, which I own a pair of the early ones. Others will undoubtedly be able to give you sonic opinions, but from what I can tell it's highly likely the midrange drivers will need to be refoamed regardless of how much they were used. And perhaps the caps in the crossovers replaced. The driver foam surrounds deteriorate due age, and as it turned out ozone and the presence of a particular type of fungus that seemed to attack them, which is no longer an issue on new foams but unfortunately were back then.

If you're up for the potential repairs, I'd jump on it, I've always wanted a pair myself for the same reasons, cool speakers, neat display, etc.

Jeff wrote:

It's been so very long since I've heard the Pentas I can't really recall enough to compare them to the 8000s, which I own a pair of the early ones. Others will undoubtedly be able to give you sonic opinions, but from what I can tell it's highly likely the midrange drivers will need to be refoamed regardless of how much they were used. And perhaps the caps in the crossovers replaced. The driver foam surrounds deteriorate due age, and as it turned out ozone and the presence of a particular type of fungus that seemed to attack them, which is no longer an issue on new foams but unfortunately were back then.

If you're up for the potential repairs, I'd jump on it, I've always wanted a pair myself for the same reasons, cool speakers, neat display, etc.

I've heard about the unfortunate problem with the foam deterioration. At least back in the threads from 2007/'08 it was reported at that time that those midrange drivers that rotted were still available from B&o as replacement parts. I'm going to ask the seller to send me photos of the midrange drivers in any case before I make the trip. These would be from about 1998 or '99 so hopefully at the least the caps are still good.

I just purchased some B&O items from a woman who was also selling a pair of Penta III's. On my limited budget, I decided to purchase her BeoLab 8000's and did not take the Penta's. I did, however, remove the frets (the only way... by pulling out sideways on the cloth) and saw my very first set of Pentas with beautifully intact foam surrounds. I touched them gently and they seemed firm but I hesitated to press too hard for fear of puncture.

I graded the drivers for her as in great condition should prospective buyers ask. I have 2 pair of Penta I's here that need full restorations and the foam is totally broken down. So, based on my experience, there is a good chance that the Penta III's will not require new surrounds.

As far as sourcing new drivers from B&O, I believe that they are no longer available. They were available up until two or so years ago for about $60.00 per driver. I called in last year to the B&O store at Tyson's Corner and also to Atlantic systems and was advised that one could exchange your rotted drivers for refurbished ones for over 120.00 each, net. Tyson's actually quoted me $400.00 each but had no knowledge of the exchange end of things which Paul at Atlantic clarified.

I have found a "new" 3" driver made by Visaton - Model FRS8-4 - which is an unusual and required 4 ohm Penta spec at Parts Express for around $10.00. The link is here:

I have a pair of Penta III speakers and BeoLab 8000s. The Pentas sound better by far. If you're used to the shrill sound of 8000s, you may have to bump up your treble response of the Pentas by a notch.The only B&O speaker that beats the sound of Penta III is the BeoLab 5, of course, and you can't beat the $1000 price versus $20,000!

I use Pentas as my main speakers - they are best when you sit down as the tweeters are then at ear level.  Typical old B&O sound - warm and friendly. The top end is not as bright as the proper active range and there is a bass hump at about 120Hz which disguises that they don't go down as low as, say, MS150s, but they are very pleasant to listen to. $1000 is probably top end these days but, in my view, worth it.

Michael Sean wrote:

So, based on my experience, there is a good chance that the Penta III's will not require new surrounds.  

My Penta III's from 1994 had foamrot. I changed them some years ago while the drivers were available.

Penta III's are sold with 2 different type of mids. The first version with a bit  "yellow/green" conus will have foamrot. The newer version with the grey coloured conus didn't have foamrot till today experiences. Time will tell.

Perfect fitted surrounds for the mids will be available in the near future 😕

Playdrv4me wrote:

 

 What I'm hoping based on some what I've seen is that the Pentas are not too far in the OTHER direction and sound like they have socks over them.

With some modification and respect to the original electric schematics/diagram these socks can be removed. Confirmed by several happy (upgraded) Penta owners 😁

These socks has been there since the release of the penta's ( I was at several introductions of the penta at that time and aware of it), but as already mentioned, can be removed.

Interesting on the different midrange drivers of the Penta III's..... The one's that I just looked at were gray colored for sure.  She was asking $1,200.00 US for those so I opted for the BL 8000's at $900.00.

However, hearing people's high praise on here for the Penta III's over the BeoLab 8000's makes me wonder that I may have chosen the wrong speakers to take home.  My primary speakers up until this recent purchase of the 8000's are the BeoLab 3's. I've been running a side by side comparison since I brought the 8000's home and the BL 3 is definitely edging out the BL 8000's.  Yes, very imposing midrange on the 8000's vs the 3's in my opinion. A story for another thread though.....

"Perfect fitted surrounds for the mids will be available in the near future"

Beobuddy, can you elaborate on the expected availability of proper fitting surrounds for the Pentas? I did a comparison on published sizes of Penta midrange foam surrounds a while back from three known suppliers (I have a pair of Penta I's but have not been able to sample them due the fact that the amps and drivers require restoration). It  verified, at least on paper, what some have said on here about available Penta surrounds not fitting as well as they should.

I found that the surrounds offered by USA based Simply Speakers were the closest but also the most costly at $26.00 for a pair which comes out to $104.00 for the set of eight. I telephoned the owner and asked him if he would consider offering a fixed priced set of eight as he does for the Bose 901's (nine per set) and he said he wasn't interested as he doesn't sell very many surrounds for the Penta. My thoughts were that if he offered an 8 piece set for a reduced price that he could see his sales skyrocket based on the obvious demand for new surrounds for Penta speakers. My thoughts only though as he sounded pretty uninterested in the idea at all.

Michael