9300 & Pentas

This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 2 days ago by Nick Davison.

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13 October 2025 at 17:07 #70405

Nick Davison
BRONZE Member

Hi all, just looking for a straw pole on how people use their equipment.

I have a BC9300 with two Penta 3s connected. (Who doesn’t love a good Penta!) Who leaves the BC and Pentas plugged into the power and in standby mode while not in use?

I normally unplug it all but have been thinking of only unplugging the Pentas to give the amp power supplies a rest?

As an aside and which may be of interest I have an apple AirPort Express plugged into the Aux socket and stream tunes from my phone. That nearly brings things up to date and lets me choose from a world of music and give those Pentas a workout.
cheers

Nick

Location: Lincolnshire UK
Favourite Product: Penta 2&3

13 October 2025 at 23:40 #70415

pepps
GOLD Member

Hi Nick, I cannot salute your match-up enough. Penta 3 love the BC 9300 and I like the sound of your streamer connection with Apple Express too!
Regarding the stand-by opton it’s something B&O designed into their products from this era, so it should be the best way. But I too go for periods where I shut down everything for a few days (Penta 2 and BS6500), often midweek, to allow components to cool off. Whether it’s right or not I don’t know, but it feels like I’m giving the boards and caps a break.
I’ve no idea whether it’s effective or not though.

Cue the next responder….

Location: Kent, UK
Favourite Product: Beosystem 6500
My B&O Icons:

14 October 2025 at 11:36 #70434

Guy
Moderator

Great set up, as pepps said! I also use Airport Express, although currently plugged into a BeoSound 1 (older CD/radio type).

Nick Davison wrote:

I normally unplug it all but have been thinking of only unplugging the Pentas to give the amp power supplies a rest?

I have a theory that unplugging a Beocenter overnight (or when away from home) may encourage the processor’s back up battery (a 3V lithium CR2450) to fail earlier. Basically it’s got to do more work to keep the processor backed up when not getting mains power. My mother-in-laws BC9500 (which she used to switch off every night) failed much earlier than the one in my BC9500 (rarely disconnected from mains). Obviously a small sample size, but surely there’s some logic to my theory!

Location: Warwickshire, UK
My B&O Icons:

15 October 2025 at 11:28 #70473

Nick Davison
BRONZE Member

Although I currently have the BC and Speakers on the same plug I will change that so I can leave the BC on standby to maintain the saved settings, although it does needs the battery changing now. I will put the Pentas on a remote switch so I can rest the power supply when not being used.

I am working through re-capping and foaming my other Penta set and then in turn this set, to refresh them for another 30 years. So I want to give them as easy life as possible hence turning them off. Encouragingly, after 30 years of use the pair I have re-capped showed no signs of significant degradation, the max was 20% variation on the nominal capacitance of some of the capacitors, but no bulging, weeping or heating. What I have seen though is the mid range L3 coil on the crossover degrading by possibly getting hot, so I have ordered some new ones and will change them too.

Location: Lincolnshire UK
Favourite Product: Penta 2&3
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