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B&O Beovox M100-2 Recap Advice

Westlind

Westlind

Rank Amateur
Hi guys! I scored a nice pair of Beovox M-100-2's this week. Overall good shape, but they'll need some work (such as a midrange refoam, no biggie).
IMG_2578.JPG

I tore into them to take a look at the crossovers, which are pretty impressive. They have these big, huge and dessicated capacitors, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to replace them. Any suggestions on what to use? They're bipolar, which I'm not used to and it seems to narrow my options. Would you use film caps, electrolytics, or just what? Any recommendations on brands? There are some issues with fit - the original caps have two non polar leads on one end, and on the other end a lead comes out to hold it to the circuit board - it doesn't carry any current. I could hot glue the new caps into place. And these suckers are huge, so if I went with smaller ones there would be no space issues.

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Another thing I noticed - while these speakers were built to last (Jesus, they are heavy and robust!), they were wired internally with very light gauge wire. I'm tempted to rewire with a heavier gauge-any thoughts on whether that's worth doing?

Thanks in advance!
Dennis
 
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Looks like you got a fun project!

To save a little money you can replace the low pass caps with electrolytic, and the tweeter and mid caps with poly film. Dayton and Erse make good budget caps, but many think they sound a little harsh compared to brands like Solen or Audyn (it's up to your ears-frankly I can't hear a difference).

Don't worry about polarity, just buy non-polar caps. I've done that with all of my recaps with no problems.
 
Thanks Crazy - I've used Solen in the past with good results. Parts Express has Solens and Daytons. My conundrum is that the original caps (despite appearances in the photos) are radial caps, with both leads on one end (and the circuitboard is made to fit, with both cap lead points within a cm of each other). All the crossover caps I can find are axial. I guess I could fit axial caps, but it would mean twisting one lead around to the other end of the cap, hoping nothing shorts out, and that I have long enough leads to do that; alternatively, I could solder wires in place of the capacitor leads and wire them in, I guess. Anyone else ever deal with this situation?
 
How is it going with those nice sounding B&O`s ?

Myself I had a pair of M70`s through the age 17-25,
they delivered in every genre: from Black metal,through pop and elektronika and into classic choir pieces.

Beovox M-series are (as most B&O`s) well worth some time and dollars to fix up.:thumbsup:
 
Dagis said:
How is it going with those nice sounding B&O`s ?
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Dagis, they're great! I ended up using Solens axial caps, with wire to extend the leads to fit. Refoamed the filler drivers, cleaned them up, put on new grills, and polished up the wood cabinets. They look good and sound amazing! Really really great bass, crisp highs, and you can listen for hours and hours with no fatigue.

My only complaint (and it's not much of one) is that they're not as efficient as I would have expected. Compared to my Sansui's at the same volume, they sound way cleaner and nicer, but just aren't as loud. Not a major complaint, more an observation. My amp has plenty of wattage, so it's not a problem. Here are some of the "after" pics:

IMG_2621.JPG IMG_2620.JPG
 
Looking very nice,Westlind!
A lot of good music reproduction to be had from those.:)
 
Westlind said:
Dagis, they're great! I ended up using Solens axial caps, with wire to extend the leads to fit. Refoamed the filler drivers, cleaned them up, put on new grills, and polished up the wood cabinets. They look good and sound amazing! Really really great bass, crisp highs, and you can listen for hours and hours with no fatigue.

My only complaint (and it's not much of one) is that they're not as efficient as I would have expected. Compared to my Sansui's at the same volume, they sound way cleaner and nicer, but just aren't as loud. Not a major complaint, more an observation. My amp has plenty of wattage, so it's not a problem. Here are some of the "after" pics:

View attachment 1012029 View attachment 1012030
Click to expand...

Which capacitors did you get?

I ordered Jantzen for my Beovox S75.

Which vintage speakers of yours sound better than these M100's?

I'm considering Yamaha NS1000 speakers next.
 
Looking at the crossover design, I'm not surprised they aren't efficient. There's a lot going on there! But ultimately, it is how you like them that matters. I have a pair of Kef 105s and a pair of Tangent RS8s, and the Kefs are more efficient. That isn't a problem for me because I'm using separate power amps with a preamp that was designed for quad systems. So I just adjust the power amps so the volume is balanced. I rarely play both sets at the same time.

You did a beautiful job restoring them! :thumbsup:
 
BilboBaggins said:
Looking at the crossover design, I'm not surprised they aren't efficient. There's a lot going on there! But ultimately, it is how you like them that matters. I have a pair of Kef 105s and a pair of Tangent RS8s, and the Kefs are more efficient. That isn't a problem for me because I'm using separate power amps with a preamp that was designed for quad systems. So I just adjust the power amps so the volume is balanced. I rarely play both sets at the same time.

You did a beautiful job restoring them! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I used to have Kef Concerto and Tangent TM1 they both sounded very average and dull to me. I had them connected to Beocenter 5000.

My Bang & Olufsen beovox S30 with new capacitors have ALOT more detail, sounds the Kef and Tangents never played.

The only good thing about the Kef concerto and Tangent TM1 was the bass they were larger speakers after all.

Recapping my Beovox S75 soon.
 
I also have a pair of Kef Concerto's. They are in my family room driven by a McIntosh MC2205. They sound excellent together. Many speakers have been in that location and just didn't work. However, I find Kef and Tangent both need a good high current amp to sound good. What were you driving them with?
 
BilboBaggins said:
I also have a pair of Kef Concerto's. They are in my family room driven by a McIntosh MC2205. They sound excellent together. Many speakers have been in that location and just didn't work. However, I find Kef and Tangent both need a good high current amp to sound good. What were you driving them with?
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Bang & Olufsen Beocenter 5000.
 
That's right! Still waking up.

Well, I wouldn't expect either of those speakers to work well with a receiver rated for 2 by 40 watts into 4 ohms or 2 by 30 watts into 8 ohms. These speakers need lots of headroom, and you just don't have it. I even had trouble getting good sound out of a Sansui 9090! It was only when I put in a Kenwood Supreme 500 rated for 135 watts into 4 Ohms that I heard what they should sound like. That was also when I started to really understand the importance of matching gear correctly. The mc2205 they are currently driven by is a 200 wpc amp. You have to match the right amplification to the speaker if you really want to hear what they were designed to sound like.
 
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