Dreaming of Beolab Pentas – seeking advice

[sorenfelden]

Hi Beoworlders,

As a teenager, my wildest dream was to own a pair of Beolab Pentas, but they were simply out of reach financially. Now, after all these years, I can finally make that dream come true – if it’s technically possible. To me, they’re still the most beautiful speakers ever made. So, here’s my plan: I’d love to buy a pre-owned pair of Pentas and have them fully refurbished, if needed. I’m also thinking of pairing them with a Beolab 2 subwoofer for that extra bass depth. But I have a few questions before I dive in, and I’d be so grateful for any advice!

Refurbishment help: I’m not technically inclined, so I’d need someone knowledgeable to inspect the Pentas and handle any necessary refurbishing. Can anyone recommend an enthusiast or service for this?

Connecting to my TV: I’d like to use them with my LG TV. Would I need to cable them directly, or could I use a wireless solution with a Beoconnect Core and B&O transmitters?

Display functionality: I assume the displays on the Pentas won’t work with this setup. Is that correct?

Volume control: I read the non-B&O TV itself cannot do this? What then? Can Beoconnect Core do that?

Power on/off coordination: Finally, would the speakers be able to turn on and off in sync with my TV (or with music if streaming via Beoconnect Core)?

Anything I’ve overlooked? Thank you all in advance for any insights you can share. I’m thrilled at the thought of making a long-held dream come true!

• This topic was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by sorenfelden.

[Peter]

Pentas can accept both line and amplified inputs so I suspect can take input from your LG set. I use a pair of Pentas with a Beolab 2 though with a Beovision. I do also have an LG set I use with a B&O Stage and it works very well. Pentas are getting quite long in the tooth now – I would contact Multicare for further advice – they may be able to offer more advice and certainly can refurbish a pair. The Beolab 2 is great with films though I am less convinced that it is great with music. I have a blue one!

[CharlieWednesday]

I managed to get a pair of Penta’s myself earlier this year, and probably for the same reason as you want them – they may be a bit old now but they are the speakers I dreamed of when I was a teenager!

The foams on the mid-range speakers are prone to degrade – there are four in each speaker.  Kits are available to replace these, and I was able to carry out this work myself on mine.  I am no engineer, but with a bit of patience I was able to do it, and they sound great now.

I use them with a B&O TV/HiFi setup but my understanding is that if you use them with non-B&O equipment and connect them via the Speaker Link or Line In sockets rather than the Powerlink sockets, they switch off after a few minutes of receiving no signal, so you should be okay there.

The displays definitely won’t work for you – they are 100% only for a B&O setup.

You might want to consider getting the passive Beovox Penta instead of the active Beolab Penta, and then adding your own amplifier.  Beovox Penta will come cheaper, and have no display, but look just as good.  Due to having no amplifier in the base, they are about 6″ shorter.  They also of course don’t need to be plugged in to the mains.

[Tignum]

Hello Sorenfelden, these speakers are considered to be sounding really well, but are getting (very) old now. Beobuddy (a.o.), one of the forum members, has been writing about renewing also the relevant electronic components to bring these speakers back to great performance again. You could try and contact him to speak about the refurbishing of a pair?

Do you know about the BeoPlay S8 Connection hub? It is a (now discontinued) device to connect (and power up) B&O speakers when used with non B&O TVs. It came with the s8 speaker set originally, but could be obtained separately too. Sometimes they can be seen offered on eBay and alike. They are normally quite affordable, especially compared with Cores. Could be an option maybe? See also this thread: https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beoplay-connection-hub-beolink-passive/

Keep us posted! Regards, Johan

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