Beocenter 8000 questions

[Primal Sage]

Hi everyone

After a 15 year break, I am planning to get back into B&O. I once owned a Beocenter 8000, which I really liked but then my circumstances changed and I did not have room for it anymore so I sadly sold it. But now I have room again and I am still in love with the design. So a week from now I am going to visit a seller who has a Beocenter 8000 and a pair of Beovox 3000 for sale.

So the question is, what should I be looking out for? Seller says everything is in working order but I am obviously going to get a demo. Tapedeck and CD are obvious things to test but is there anything in particular I should be looking (or listening) for? I also have zero experience with Beovox 3000. Back when I owned the Beocenter I believe I paired it with two Beovox C40 and later a pair of M150. How would the Beovox 3000 compare?

Also, while we’re at it, if I buy the Beocenter, I will probably start looking for a Beogram to match with it. I would like it to fit designwise so I think Beogram 8500 or 9500 are my best bets?

 

thanks for any help.

[CharlieWednesday]

Just seen this and you may have bought it by now, but in case this is still of any use to you, I have a Beocenter 8000 (in fact, it’s for sale on eBay at the moment as I replaced it with a Beocenter 8500).  Here’s what I found with mine:

• The tape deck needed new belts.  There are two different models of tape deck on the Beocenter 8000 thru 9500 range but I think the 8000 was only ever fitted with the type 2.  The belts are not very easy to fit (the large belt in particular is tricky to get in place). You can get the belts from Beoparts.  If you try to play a cassette in it and it tries to switch to side 2, and then just stops, it’s likely in need of new belts.
• The type 2 tape deck also has another common fault, but is fortunately quite easy to fix – I managed to fix mine with this this very helpful advice from @Dillen – Beocenter 8000 tape deck clicking issue.
• The CD player worked fine on mine, but there is a common fault where faulty capacitors (and I am no electronics expert so forgive the explanation) cause the laser power to be reduced, meaning it can struggle to read discs.  I did not have that trouble with my 8000 luckily, but I did have it with another 8500 I used to own, but sold for parts.  Kits to fix this are available from Beoparts shop cheaply, but you need to know your way around a soldering iron!
• The glass panels may have come loose, in fact I have owned a total of 4 of these Beocenters, and the glass panels had come loose on all of them.  I removed the old glue very carefully basically by rolling it off with my thumb (very carefully, it took hours).  I then used as strong double-sided tape to reattach it.  Some of the black paint did come off the back of the glass around the edge while I was removing the glue despite the care I took, but that was easily fixed with black Airfix model paint.
• As for a matching turntable, alas I don’t believe that B&O ever did produce a turntable that matches the lovely gunmetal aluminium finish of the BC8000.  The nearest match is the Beogram 8500 which has grey panels rather than gunmetal black panels.  I used mine with a Beogram 3000 at first, then later a Beogram 8500.  Neither matches the gunmetal finish but they still complemented it quite well.  Note that as the BC8000 has a built-in phono stage you are looking for a Beogram that does not have a built-in phono stage. See here to find out which do and which don’t, with thanks to @Guy.

Good luck with it and let me know if you need any help with it.  I really did love the look of my Beocenter 8000 more than the 8500 that I replaced it with (the black gunmetal finish is really nice), but I needed something that would work with active Beolab speakers, and I also wanted to add extra speakers using an MCL multiroom box.  The 800o is not suitable for those, whereas the 8500 is (as are the 9000 and 9500, and I think the 9300 is too, but I never owned that one).

 

[CharlieWednesday]

Should also have added – ehile I did not have this problem with my 8000 or 8500, I did have this problem with my (older) 9000 and the 8000 could have the same issue – check the Speaker 1 outputs are working, in case the mute relay has stopped functioning.  Again an easy fix, but requires soldering.  See https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beocenter-9000-restoration-2-issues/

I have ordered a new mute relay for my 9000 from Beoparts; it was cheap and was delivered earlier this week, I just haven’t got round to fixing it yet.

[Primal Sage]

CharlieWednesday wrote:

Just seen this and you may have bought it by now, but in case this is still of any use to you, I have a Beocenter 8000 (in fact, it’s for sale on eBay at the moment as I replaced it with a Beocenter 8500). Here’s what I found with mine:

• The tape deck needed new belts. There are two different models of tape deck on the Beocenter 8000 thru 9500 range but I think the 8000 was only ever fitted with the type 2. The belts are not very easy to fit (the large belt in particular is tricky to get in place). You can get the belts from Beoparts. If you try to play a cassette in it and it tries to switch to side 2, and then just stops, it’s likely in need of new belts.
• The type 2 tape deck also has another common fault, but is fortunately quite easy to fix – I managed to fix mine with this this very helpful advice from @Dillen – Beocenter 8000 tape deck clicking issue.
• The CD player worked fine on mine, but there is a common fault where faulty capacitors (and I am no electronics expert so forgive the explanation) cause the laser power to be reduced, meaning it can struggle to read discs. I did not have that trouble with my 8000 luckily, but I did have it with another 8500 I used to own, but sold for parts. Kits to fix this are available from Beoparts shop cheaply, but you need to know your way around a soldering iron!
• The glass panels may have come loose, in fact I have owned a total of 4 of these Beocenters, and the glass panels had come loose on all of them. I removed the old glue very carefully basically by rolling it off with my thumb (very carefully, it took hours). I then used as strong double-sided tape to reattach it. Some of the black paint did come off the back of the glass around the edge while I was removing the glue despite the care I took, but that was easily fixed with black Airfix model paint.
• As for a matching turntable, alas I don’t believe that B&O ever did produce a turntable that matches the lovely gunmetal aluminium finish of the BC8000. The nearest match is the Beogram 8500 which has grey panels rather than gunmetal black panels. I used mine with a Beogram 3000 at first, then later a Beogram 8500. Neither matches the gunmetal finish but they still complemented it quite well. Note that as the BC8000 has a built-in phono stage you are looking for a Beogram that does not have a built-in phono stage. See here to find out which do and which don’t, with thanks to @Guy.

Good luck with it and let me know if you need any help with it. I really did love the look of my Beocenter 8000 more than the 8500 that I replaced it with (the black gunmetal finish is really nice), but I needed something that would work with active Beolab speakers, and I also wanted to add extra speakers using an MCL multiroom box. The 800o is not suitable for those, whereas the 8500 is (as are the 9000 and 9500, and I think the 9300 is too, but I never owned that one).

Thank you for the very detailed response! You are quite right, I already bought one. Or rather,.. I bought three. I got one of each:

Beocenter 8000

Beocenter 9300

Beocenter 9500

All three of them gave had the deck belts replaced and the 9300 has also had its CD parts replaced. All three look like they were new.

So far I have the 9500 in the living room with a pair of Beovox 3000 (the wall speakers). It’s a great combo (will have the cable situation sorted soon). In the home office I have the 9300 with a pair of Beovox CX100. Total overkill for such a small room. I love it.

So far I only have one issue. The 9500 has a constant low power-like hum when in standby mode. I’ve tried chsnging between 220v and 240v but I can’t hear any difference. Anyone else experienced this? The 9300 in contrast is completely silent in standby.

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[Guy]

Primal Sage wrote:

So far I only have one issue. The 9500 has a constant low power-like hum when in standby mode. I’ve tried chsnging between 220v and 240v but I can’t hear any difference. Anyone else experienced this? The 9300 in contrast is completely silent in standby.

I had this when my BC9500 was placed on wooden bookshelves – the shelves seemed to amplify the hum.

I tried replacing these: https://www.beoparts-shop.com/product/transformer-bushings-beomaster-3500-4500-5000-5500-6000-6500-7000-etc/

The old ones were rock hard, like plastic.  However, I am not convinced that the new ones made much difference!

The problem is mentioned half way down this page, where there’s a suggestion of using cut up squash balls as feet!

EDIT:  I found my post about fitting them: https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/p/189/345429.aspx#345429

[CharlieWednesday]

I never had this problem with my Beocenters but I did with one of my Beograms; new rubber feet and a more solid shelf solved it for me. If I hold my ear close to it there’s still a hum, but you can’t hear it normally.

[Primal Sage]

I don’t think it’s the rubber feet. I’ve tried having the BC9500 on other surfaces (one even of rubber) and the same thing happens. It definitely sounds like the sound is coming from the internal power supply.

[CharlieWednesday]

I happened to have a transformer unit in a drawer from a Beocenter 8500 which I broke down for parts – I’ve just taken a look at the 8 rubber bushings and they are rock solid; in fact one of them broke to pieces while I was inspecting it.  My understanding is that the transformer unit (part ref PCB64) is the same in the 8500 and 9500 – not sure if anyone can confirm that?

Since the bushings are so cheap and the transformer unit is relatively easy to remove, I think it would be worth a try.  There’s a reasonably good chance that they are the cause.

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