Beosystem 5000 -- what's the deal?

[efhjr]

I recently acquired a Bang and Olufsen system, a Beosystem 5000, I think it's called -- Beogram 5000 turntable, Beomaster 5000 preamp, Beocord 5000 tape deck, and Beogram CD50 cd player. No speakers, however.

Everything's there, including the weird interconnects and the bizarre phono cartridge. I don't know anything about B&O hardware, so I'd love to hear everybody's two cents. Is it tough getting parts or service for these units?

 

[larschr]

I have newer owned a B&O unit myself, but i have heard some. As far as i know B&O is focusing most on the design of the equipment. The sound (that i have heard) is only fairly good. The exception is their turntables which is very good sounding and looking (and expensive/sought after?).

 

[pmsummer]

B&O stuff is very good, keeping in mind the idea that it was designed for small spaces. Tough to work on, parts hard to find, styluses disappearing (originally made by Ortofon?... now some are being made by SoundSmith for a left or right nut).

The sets seem to work best (in my experience) with their own speakers (some tailoring of output evident in design).

Go here for more info: http://www.beoworld.co.uk/

Is this some of what you've got?

http://www.beoworld.co.uk/beosystem5000e.htm

 

[efhjr]

Here's what I've got:
http://www.beoworld.co.uk/beosystem5000b.htm

Man, this stuff just screams "1980s!"

Pity about the speakers; guess I won't be driving my Cornwalls with this stuff.

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi
mediocre technique and (if you like) fabulous awarded designs, interesting ideas in multiroom systems. overrated in my opinion, but still not BOSEish
Helge

 

[pmsummer]

Pity about the speakers; guess I won't be driving my Cornwalls with this stuff.

Aw, give it try. 55 wpc is MORE than enough for the Corns, and you'll really know what you've got (I find Cornwalls to be among the most SYSTEM revealing speakers out there).

 

[Nakdoc]

Many servicers like me have manuals and a few parts, but B&O closed most of their authorized service network and will not let us order parts. I have to buy them through a 3rd party. The big item you will need is a phono cartridge. These are nla, althought they show up on eBay. There is no replacement for these tiny cartridges, only the older MMC20 series.
The 5000 system makes nice cassettes, and has an interesting 2 way remote. If you get Beovox powered speakers you can do the multi room thing ....

 

[Damage]

The mid to early 90s stuff is on par with most high-end equipment soundwise. I played my Beomaster 5500 this weekend for a buncha AKers and they liked it...at least i think they did Maybe one of them will chime in...

Only people that haven't heard a beomaster think its just mid-fi sound with hi-tech look. The 5000 - 8000 beomasters are really excellent sounding.

 

[pmsummer]

What a lot of folks don't like about the B&O sound is the same thing they don't like about Tandberg (and even Yamaha): lack of coloration.

 

[wajobu]

I have a B&O TX-2 (linear off-tangent tracking arm with a MMC2--couldn't afford the MMC1!) turntable and I have always liked it (though getting a replacement cartridge could be a problem at this point!). I always found B&O speakers to be a bit too "delicate" for my taste...certainly very appropriate for classical music, but not anything else IMHO...though I had friends in the 1970s that just loved their B&O systems for jazz, rock and otherwise. I actually like the designs quite a bit...they still make nice stuff.

 

[Damage]

What a lot of folks don't like about the B&O sound is the same thing they don't like about Tandberg (and even Yamaha): lack of coloration.

Huh? The Beomasters are warm sounding amps. Detailed like a tube amp but with more bass.

 

[Nitro]

Soundsmith has cartridges

 

[Beobloke]

I recently acquired a Bang and Olufsen system, a Beosystem 5000, I think it's called -- Beogram 5000 turntable, Beomaster 5000 preamp, Beocord 5000 tape deck, and Beogram CD50 cd player. No speakers, however.

Everything's there, including the weird interconnects and the bizarre phono cartridge. I don't know anything about B&O hardware, so I'd love to hear everybody's two cents. Is it tough getting parts or service for these units?

Wonderful system IMHO and one of B&O's best. Have you got the master control panel with it, only if not, there will be a lot of functions you can't access?

Points to watch for -

Turntable - cartridges as everyone's mentioned! Other than this, no big problems.

Tape deck - Belts both for the mechanism and the loading drawer, but these are readily available. I have also had problems on all 3 i've repaired with a 10 Ohm resistor in the power supply that is under-rated power wise and eventually burns out. This causes the 5V rail to plummet under load and means the drawer stops operating, as does the motor that moves the heads.

CD player - if it stops reading discs, everyone assumes the laser has failed. 95% of the time they are wrong - the spindle motor lubricant dries up and means that the unit can't quite spin the disc fast enough to read it. Motor can be stripped and rebuilt but it's a nasty job and requires careful alignment when reassembling.

Receiver - no problems known other than a propensity for the microprocessor to blow up if the unit suffers a lightning strike, leaving you with a stylish but large paperweight If it shuts off after half an hour or so, check the output DC offset on each channel, which should be 11mV - this can drift with age.

 

[analogue_lover]

I'm gonna buy a B&O TT cheapo, and get a Soundsmith MMC1 replacement. What TT and NEW cart will outdo it for US$ 700.00?

 

[efhjr]

Tape deck - [has] a 10 Ohm resistor in the power supply that is under-rated power wise and eventually burns out.

Well, that would explain the smoke I got after I powered on the unit. :sigh:

 

[pmsummer]

Huh? The Beomasters are warm sounding amps. Detailed like a tube amp but with more bass.

I guess my ears are so colored to that sound that it now sounds uncolored to me! ;-)

 

[wajobu]

More on B&O Sound

Soundsmith has cartridges

Thanks Nitro. Pricey, but relative to inflation and what I paid when I bought my TX-2 probably reasonable.

Have others had good luck with Soundsmith cartridges?

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough about the "sound" of a B&O...Yes, the amps are warm, but I guess it was the speakers that I found too delicate...nice looking though. My ears, at the time (late 70s-early 80s) preferred ADS speakers even with a B&O system.

 

[Damage]

I am not a big fan of their speakers either... but that's just an opinion.

 

[efhjr]

Aw, give it try. 55 wpc is MORE than enough for the Corns, and you'll really know what you've got (I find Cornwalls to be among the most SYSTEM revealing speakers out there).

But how? The Beo system has these weird two-prong speaker terminals.

Well, the Cornwalls do sound tasty with my McIntosh MC2505.

 

[pmsummer]

But how? The Beo system has these weird two-prong speaker terminals.

Well, the Cornwalls do sound tasty with my McIntosh MC2505.

DIN speaker plug adapters are pretty easy to find (eBay, ugh), but they're just bayonets (one pos, one neg). Strip some 16 ga. wire about 1/2 inch and stick it in.