Beovox 3800 v 5700

49 replies

Hi snoopy!

Thanks for the offer - very kind - I'll let you know. I haven't heard anyone say the caps are rubbish - but what I have heard often is that all caps do "go off" over time.

Cheers

Nigel

 

The older caps seem pretty resistant! The 70s ones in the M100s were getting tired so Tim measured them and replaced the lot as they had departed from spec quite substantially. The later uniphase range - S80s etc - do seem to have a problem that is more pronounced and replacing these capacitors is almost always a good idea. The actual capacitors in most B&O equipment are usually high grade - the red capacitors famed for failing in the 70s audio equipment were very highly specified but the problem of degradation was not anticapated at the time. Things do age of course! Even moderators! 😂

My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png BeoCenter-9500.png
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Beosound-Stage.png Beosound-Stage.png
Beosound-Moment.png Beosound-Moment.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
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Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-Portal.png Beoplay-Portal.png
Beoplay-Earset.png Beoplay-Earset.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Beolit.png Beolit.png
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I have two pairs of s45-2s.

Until very recently on pair sounded clearly better than the other.

I replaced the capacitors on the older pair using a kit supplied by Martin (Dillen) and now the two pairs sound the same.

The capacitors replaced were small silver cylinders with red writing on.

 

Simon

Well I found some Pentas in really good condition. I opted for the Beovox because I prefer newer Class-T technology to A/B amps. I've bought two 41Hz Amp 10's and are in the process of bridging them for 150W per channel.

Overall I prefer the Pentas to the 3800. The bass-reflex makes them a little less precise (as is always the case with bass reflex) but the bass is thunderous at volume! They are certainly warmer and less coloured, and overall I believe more accurate - especially with the treble. They also are less directional in throwing the top and mid range about.

 And then there's the retro look... 😐

PS) Can anyone tell me how to take the covers off? 

 

The Pentas have plastic catches which hold the frets on. It is a question of depressing them through the fabric and them pulling the frame forward. I broke two of mine doing this so am probably not the best person to give advice though!!

My B&O Icons:

BeoCenter-9500.png BeoCenter-9500.png
Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovox.png Beovox.png
Beovision-11.png Beovision-11.png
Beotime.png Beotime.png
Beosound-Stage.png Beosound-Stage.png
Beosound-Moment.png Beosound-Moment.png
Beosound-5.png Beosound-5.png
Beosound-2.png Beosound-2.png
Beoremote-One.png Beoremote-One.png
Beoplay-Portal.png Beoplay-Portal.png
Beoplay-Earset.png Beoplay-Earset.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Beolit.png Beolit.png
Beogram-400x.png Beogram-400x.png
Beocenter-2.png Beocenter-2.png
The Beovox 5700s, by the way, are very similar to the Celestion Ditton 66s in that they both use the Celestion HF2000 tweeter and Celestion's large dome midrange.  The 5700, however, has a 10" passive radiator and a 10" stamped woofer ( Phillips AD 1056 - W8 ), whereas the Ditton 66 has a 12" cast woofer, and a 12" passive.  The other difference between the two is that the 5700 crosses over at 600 & 6000 hz, and the Celestion 66 crosses over at 500 & 5000 hz.

Puncher wrote:
In light of other posts it would be interesting to hear the M100's from the 5500 and the 5000 to see if the 5000 is genuinely a better amp (I'm biased as I've had the 5000 from new and love it to bits albeit only ever through RL60's)..

 

How do you like your rl60's?    I am really tempted to get rl60 for its design (iconic 80's), but the sound has be decent.

 

sba2 wrote:
The Beovox 5700s, by the way, are very similar to the Celestion Ditton 66s in that they both use the Celestion HF2000 tweeter and Celestion's large dome midrange.  The 5700, however, has a 10" passive radiator and a 10" stamped woofer ( Phillips AD 1056 - W8 ), whereas the Ditton 66 has a 12" cast woofer, and a 12" passive.  The other difference between the two is that the 5700 crosses over at 600 & 6000 hz, and the Celestion 66 crosses over at 500 & 5000 hz.

 

I've found out recently that is the case.    I actually like the sound of Ditton 66, but after extensive listening, found that just like Peter said, a bit "ponderous", but non-fatiguing.

 

 

Peter wrote:

You need to have a chat to Tim. He has been comparing the Beomaster 5000 against the 5500 and reckons the 5000 blows the only slightly later 5500 into the weeds. It would appear the pre-amp is the weak link as this is very different between the models.

 - I am going to use a 4400 which I find to be flatter than the Beolab 5000 (gorgeous though this is!! - and mine is in Bellac anyway!) and I still prefer the sound to that of my 8000.

 

Do you mean you prefer the sound of 4400 and/or 5000 over BM8000?

 

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