Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

11 replies

Does anyone use a Euro model B&O system with a voltage converter here in the US??  I found a nice deal from Austria, but am curious about use of it here in the US/

I have been running a Danish Beosystem 6500 with converter and directly from 2 phases here in Mexico, no problems, but in the BG i had to adjust speeds, but that could be because of new caps and new belt.

Location: Mexico city

Retired
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Restored various 1960-70 items
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Thanks for the reply. 

I figured I would simply need a reliable converter, but it never hurts to ask!  I also called a NYC B&O store and the rep there said that would be all that was neded.

So, I picked up a light green Beosound 1 for $400 shipped from Austria to use in my office.  We'll see how it works out.

I just sold a completely restored BeoGram 4004 to a US customer. All he needed was a 110V to 220V step-up transformer.

I also gave him instructions how to adjust the rotation speed potentiometers for 50Hz instead of 60Hz, but he said that the speed was spot-on, and didn't require any adjustment at all.

So if the speed is correctly adjusted before shipping, there would not likely be any requirement to readjust in the new country, unless a belt or other electronic components were changed.

Menahem

Location: Jerusalem

My B&O Icons:

Beoremote-Beo4.png Beoremote-Beo4.png
Beovox.png Beovox.png
Beomaster.png Beomaster.png
Beogram-400x.png Beogram-400x.png
Electronics Technician in Jerusalem Israel. B&O fan for over 50 years.

Ran UK Penta IIIs off of converters rated at 600 watts; each was the size of a shoebox.  Never any trouble, even with extended (loud) listening.

I think you can convert a Beosound 1 for US by simply connecting a jumper on the power supply board. You also might need to set the tuner mode using the service manual if you intend on using FM. It looks like they have the service manual here on the site.

Didn't much of their vintage equpment have a voltage selector that you could set?  Wonder why that was discontinued.

Eric, that is a widespread practice within B&O - probably the alternative to including a voltage selector. 😕

Location: San Francisco

I'm an automotive audio and acoustic engineer. I design loudspeakers and full sound systems for new automobiles. I also dabble with studio, consumer and pro audio projects from time to time.

Most stuff can be converted easily.  I have one connected to a Beolit 1000 power source (Beopower). 


However, once you get in to the powered beolab speakers that draw a lot of current, you will need huge converters and they will not become practical at this point.  For example, you wouldn't want to run BL5s off of a converter

Update:

Received the Beosound 1 from the seller in Austria: slight damage to the front bottom corner where some plastic cracked, and the very bottom corner of the metal grill was flattened: out of view next to my desk anyway.  Purchased a voltage converter from RadioShack on the way to work.

Plugged it in: no juice.

Called another RadioShack in the area to verify if they had a replacement: brought the Be in with me and it worked: original converter was faulty.

Popped in a CD: scraping noise!  checked it out, and a piece of the broken plastic had somehow worked it's way into the CD section: removed and working fine!

Total cost, including shipping from Austria to US: $400.00, converter $42.79.  I'm pretty happy with the find: bass response could be better on these units, and the lack of treble/bass adjustment is a bummer, but not bad for the office, given the price. Now to find a cheap remote so I can bring the Beo4 back home!  Thanks all for your input.

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