Back to old things: Beovox P50…

[matador]

Hi guys,

I tried to search the two old forums but didn’t found an explicite answer to that question:

Do the Beovox panels, P50 in my case, NEED to be wall mounted to sound good.
Or can they be used free standing as any other Beovox?

Bonus question: seller claims they sound “quiet”, I’ve read those speakers are prone to magnet dislocation. If they sound quiet, can this be the cause or more likely (I hope), something in the crossover section?

Thanks all.

[pepps]

Hello,

In my experience the panel speakers from this era did sounds great when wall mounted because the drivers could be mounted at the right height for the best stereo image.
I had a set of P45s which lost some of their clarity when stood on the floor.

Regarding the ‘quiet’ sound I would be concerned about seized drivers. My first pair of P45s had this very problem – the woofers wouldn’t move at all. It was like they had set rock hard.
I acquired a second set which had perfectly agile woofers and which sounded nice and clear and as expected.

Could be a similar thing with these.

See if the seller can take the front baffles off and show you the woofers flexing by hand.

Julian

 

[matador]

Thank you Pepps.

[matador]

Excuse me but after thinking it twice, I’d like to be sure I’ve understood well:

Are you saying the rendering is more affected by the height of the driver than the wall making some kind of reflector or resonator that compensante the box thinness?

Is that right ?

[pepps]

Hello,

The effect of wall mounting to improve the sound is in principal very similar to any non-rear-ported speaker enclosure. On a solid wall they’ll sound stronger than on a stud wall or on brackets.

Similar thinking to placing a rear-ported speaker on a nice solid stand.

The writing from B&O on the topic does suggest something magical will happen, but it’s just good sense to use a solid foundation on which to position the speakers.

Get the tweeters at ear level and you’ll achieve a lovely stereo image. Hang them higher and you’ll get a more bass-heavy and floaty effect, depending on the amount of soft furnishings or reflective surfaces in your listening room.

Julian

[matador]

Thank you again Julian.

[matador]

Hi Alls,

Got the P50!

First of all, they’re big and heavy. Despite being very thin, they make My S45-2 look like a portable speaker!

Second, of course and as expected the 4 woofer are seized. I extract the two woofers from speaker 1 and was able to remove the magnet quite easily. Now the battle is to stick him back with the right alignment. What I’m the most afraid is to damage the coil in my attempts. One of them already has the coil wire flying out of the base cylinder that only begs to be cut!

I’m currently studying the Beoworld II forum about the better process to fix this.

Stay tuned.

[matador]

Hi,

Still thinking on the better way to fix the magnet. In the meantime I’d like advices on something: the frets.

They’re in a coarse and stiff fabric glued on a thin panel made of wood and plastic for the wedge. the fret is fixed to the speaker with weird velcro strips, some in the groove in the edge of the speaker, and more wide bands in the flat surfaces of the front panel (those looks like added afterwards, not originals). The fabric is folded to follow the beveled shape of the wedge and not deformed like in the S45 or C30 I’ve seen.

I’d like to know if this fabric is original or not. It is actually in not so good shape and the speaker will benefit of changing it all (once the drivers are fixed!) but if they are original, I’d rather try to rescue them.

I’ve noticed P45, which seems to be technically identical have everything needed to clip their frets, like holes in the front panel which P50 don’t have.

So the two question I have are:

• Are those frets original (fabric and structure)?
• How where they originally fixed to the enclosure?

Below some pics. Thanks to alls.

[matador]

As another member would say… Progress!

[matador]

Hi,

The two last days where tense. After glueing and testing the first woofer it did work well.

Full on confidence and arrogance I went to the other one and I was punished for my pride.
The coil wire broke, and it was a nightmare to manage to relink it. The tool for centering the magnet broke too and I had to take some distance before coming back (24h) and start it all over again.

Fortunately, the second woofer is drying right now, the contact show continuity and read close to 7 ohms of impedance. It will be mount tomorrow in the evening I hope and I hopefully will be able to listen to one speaker.

Regarding the previous question about the fret, I’ve found pictures on the net that confirm the the fabric is original. I don’t know what to do with it right now because as original I want to keep those speakers, I can’t see a way of attaching the frets without them vibrating. I’ll see when I’ll be there.

A new question arises: the Phase Link driver, it looks like stuck too, no movement at all. I wonder if it’s by design (I hope so because on my S45, it’s not moving too). And also, why is that thing sticky?

Cheers.

[matador]

Hi alls,

I’m excited and a little bit proud to announce the first panel is playing music!
It was a battle to reunite the two ends of the broken wire in the coil but I worked.

To answer my own first question, this speaker is amazing and the bass are round and deep even thought I didn’t push it too far. Maybe not as clear as S45’s but very close and to be confirmed when (if) the second speaker will be repaired.

Drivers 3 and 4 are open on the table and waiting for their glue.

Also thinking to a way to fix the frets, maybe with neodyne magnets?

As it was a stressful first attempt, I didn’t take pictures but will when fixing the other speakers.

Again, thanks to Beoworld for all the useful informations it has provide.

[matador]

Hi Guys,

The last speaker is drying now. Actually it was a bit of a struggle. After glueing it I did notice it was still scratching slightly. Believing it was not be noticeable I let it dry and of course, it was extremely noticeable. So I had to “break” it again and it was hard, violent and painful. But warming it with and hair dryer helped me to extract the magnet without too much damages. It was very difficult to center that one but right now it’s drying and it seems to be well centered.

So here we go for the pictures:

I fitted four bolts to be able to place the speaker on a flat surface without hurting the surround.

I also blocked the cone to prevent the coil from protruding from the base.

Scratching and cleaning the old glue residue.

The base in the 10€ rig and the magnet ready for the wedding.

After a loud “clac” sound, the magnet is ready for adjustment using the 6 screws around the rig.

I had to cut the dust cap to see the magnet core and use it as reference for adjustment. Not completely to be able to glue it back. But if everything works I may offer us brand new dust caps as the glued back are not so pretty.

After roughly 15-20 min of adjustment, the coil release itself around the magnet core and you can do quite fine adjustment. The “precision” of the adjustment is given by the screw you use. Some people uses wood screw, I prefer metal bolts with flat end for better contact with the magnet.

Once the cone move freely (and without any scratching noise) you just have to let it dry.

The most scaring part is what happened with the second speaker: breaking the coil wire or damaging the coil tube made of some sort of tin sheet easy to bend or dent. Thats why it’s important to protect the coil and check for electrical continuity at every step before the magnet is in place and the glue dry to much. The rubber surrounds give a little flexibility for that.

Once it’ dry, I put a bead of glue between the magnet and the gasket base and let it dry again.

Listening session Wednesday if everything goes fine.

Cheers.

[matador]

Wednesday!

And we have two perfectly sounding Beovox P50 panel speakers!

[square4]

Good job, congratulations.

Henrik.

[matador]

Thank you Henrik,

Apparently they were made to complement the 6000 system. Do you own a pair (or more) ?

[square4]

Hi matador.

Yes,i have 2 pairs in white.

Henrik.

[matador]

Mmmm, in white!

Please could you post a shot or tell me how the frets are attached to the front face?

Also something I did’nt find on the old forum: the page link driver doesn’t move when you touch it (like woofers do). Is it normal or are they prone to seizure too?

Thanks in advance Henrik.

[square4]

Hi matador.

Here are some pictures of the plastic clips you are missing

you can buy them at beoparts shop,if you can’t see them there just ask for them.

And my drivers are moving when i press them,but not much.

Henrik.

[square4]

I tryed to send 2  pictures,but only one off them shoved up,here are the missing picture

 

[matador]

Hi Henrik,

I’m starting to figure out I’ve got some sort of Frankenstein’s Beovox:

• Both speakers are P50, but with different serial numbers.
• One fret has P45 badge and holes for the missing pins but the other has P50 badge and no holes in the fret.
• Both speaker, as regular P50, have no holes in the front face.

Luckilly, both sound good enough for my ears and are closer enough in wood shade.

I’m waiting for neodyne magnet to try to keep the fret in place.

Thanks for trying the speaker link driver. Mine are not actually moving, more like “deforming” or “crushing” when you push them. As they seems to sound good or at least not weird, i’ll try to stop focusing on that question. This is where we miss you Dillen!

Thanks Henrik.

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