can I fix my Beomaster 8000

[CPADave]

I tried to create an 8000 “system” near Portland, Oregon, USA by connecting a pair of Beolab 8000 speakers to my existing Beogram 8000 turntable and Beomaster 8000 receiver.  The sound was great for a couple minutes before “POP”, smoke and no more sound from the Beomaster 8000.

1. Did I permanently KILL the Beomaster 8000?  If not, where can it be repaired?
2. If I repair the BM, can/should the speakers be connected to the headphone jack instead of to either pair of the 2-pin speaker outs?
3. If I substitute a less powerful Beomaster 24000 into the system, again, can I connect the speakers to the 2-pin outs or to the headphone jack?

[Dillen]

Running the power output of Beomaster 8000 to the input of another amplifier (Beolab 8000 is an active speaker) could easily destroy both.
How did you connect it?

Martin

[CPADave]

I made custom cables: 2-pin din at the Beomaster end and RCA at the speaker end.

[trackbeo]

Alas.  See above.  The 2- or 3-pin DIN outputs arexxx were speaker-level (amplified) outputs.  The RCA inputs of the Beolabs are line-level inputs.  Get a portable music player (rather than running the Beomaster in a broken state) and wire up a headphone jack to RCAs, to see if the Beolabs are still functioning.  They have an automatic power-up circuit when they hear sound on the RCAs.

[auric]

Dave:

Two places to get your BM8000 repaired:

https://atlantic-systems.com/
https://www.esc-website.net/Services.html

Once upon a time, I believe B&O did have a special cable for connecting the output of an amplifier to a low level input. It was called a “z-coupler” or  something like that.

Maybe Steve at Sounds Heavenly can make something for you.

I’m not sure things will sound all that great, although I have never tried. The BM8000 was never designed to drive active speakers.

 

Derek

[CPADave]

Derek thanks for your suggestions!  My Beomaster 8000 is VERY heavy and I live near Portland, Oregon.  Is there a repair shop in the Pacific Northwest?

[auric]

Dave:

Those are the guys that know vintage B&O well, especially Paul over at Atlantic Systems. I’d send it him, but call first.

Just pack it really well with lots and lots of foam and styrofoam sheets to line the inside of the box. Then double box.

I couldn’t find anyone here in California. L&M Electronics in SF knew B&O, but closed several years ago. I tried Pyramid Audio in Austin, TX, but I didn’t have a great experience with them.

Derek

 

 

 

[Glitch]

CPADave wrote:

My Beomaster 8000 is VERY heavy and I live near Portland, Oregon. Is there a repair shop in the Pacific Northwest?

Your desire to use a competent, local repair shop certainly makes sense. In the event that you can’t find one, you may want to consider alternatives.

Have you considered shipping just the amp boards for repair? This would solve the shipping weight problem.

There are (of course) downsides to this suggestion:

1. You would need to do some rudimentary debugging to isolate the problem to a particular board. I suspect that several people here would be willing to help with this step.
2. The main amp boards are buried pretty deep within the BM8000. They are not the easiest boards to remove.
3. There is a reasonably high chance that you will break at least one other thing within the receiver while removing/replacing the boards. IMHO, this is why many shops won’t touch B&O equipment. BTW, simply shipping could also cause new issues with the receiver.
4. I don’t know if any repair shops will work this way. On one hand, it helps them avoid the issues in #3 above. On the other hand, they open themselves up to having a customer botch the reinstall and try to lay the blame on the repair shop.

Glitch

 

[CPADave]

Derek, Thanks for the referrals!

[CPADave]

Glitch, Sorry, but my skills are not high enough to attempt dis-assembling the Beomaster8000.

[CPADave]

I will re-configure the entire system around a pre-amp (not yet delivered) until such time as I can get the Beomaster8000 repaired.  Until then, no receiver (radio) but some stations such as NPR are available on line.

[CPADave]

Trackbeo wrote “wire up a headphone jack to RCAs, to see if the Beolabs are still functioning”

Thanks, but the Beomaster8000 needs repair.

I also have a Beomaster2400.

1. Is the headphone jack on a Beomaster2400 the equivalent of a preamp?
2. The BM2400 has significantly less power than my BM8000:
   1. 30W with 2 speakers or 15W with 4 speakers.
   2. Do I need to connect 4 speakers to drop the power to 15W, or,
   3. do I simply need to move the 2nd speakers switch from Off to On?
   4. Can I connect the Beolab8000 speakers directly to the 2nd speakers connection on the BM2400?

[LukeS]

As far as I’m aware the beomaster 2400 doesn’t have a powerlink or line level output. Connecting your beolab 8000s to the speaker level outputs on that amp would simply replicate the issue you had with your beomaster 8000.

[auric]

You need something like this:

https://soundsheavenly.com/line-in-connection/33-power-amplifier-to-beolab-line-in-attenuated-convertor-kit.html

 

This thread: https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beocenter-8000-and-active-speakers/

and in particular Steve’s response applies to your scenario.

Derek

[CPADave]

I agree with Steve’s solution.  Unfortunately, I need to fix my Beomaster 8000.

Thank you, Dave

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