I'd say from my point of view, that the RL140 was a very reasonable speaker and by far the best of that series. The RL45 was all midrange and the RL60 could sound bland in the wide scheme of things. Capacitor upgrades could work wonders here, as the innards look to be very well made indeed otherwise. At least the 140 could rock, given half a chance and has a real sense of scale.

If they suffer foam rot (I only saw inside blown up smaller models), then people like Wembley Loudspeakers could repair any drivers fitted to them and possibly advise if the foams could be replaced with something longer lasting (I don't know). 

This is going to cost far more and forgive me for suggesting it (I'm still new here), but I'd almost suggest putting the Penta's in the Kitchen and maybe consider something else for the lounge. Does the 8000 have preamp outputs? Your speaker world is your oyster if it does, as the current fully active models could be considered (are Beolab 1's cheap enough yet?), along with a whole world of wonderful conventional speakers which won't look as good I'll admit. The Beomaster 8000 will definitely not be the limiting factor.

I have owned my RL140s from new (at launch) having traded them in for a pair of RL60 that were the standard speaker with the BS 5000.  I have replaced the foam on the 4 bass drivers myself and find the sound very pleasing, with a good bass.  They are large (but not overly) - I have them on floor stands at present but have had them wall mounted in the past.  Both arrangements work well and I would recommend them.  Make sure you find a set with good speaker grille cloth - unless you plan to recover them!

Brian

Hi, You can get  Tang Band replacement drivers that sound great compaired to the original drivers that are rubber and you will never have to worry about them again beside caps. driver # is w6-1721 under hung midbass. The 140 box size is 1.34 cubic ft. 41 hz with 3in by 6 in port.

and there on sale from 90 to 50 bucks!

Crank

Brian,

where did you get the foam for your speakers or do yoy know of a place where I can have the work done.  I keep hearing this needs to be done.

Try a search on Goodhifi on ebay

tony s