Bang and Olufsen type 6501

["ItsTooLoud"]

Where the port is in my RL140's looks like what WAS a large rectangular hole. I'll have to take a closer look when I get it apart again.

The directable wall mounts would be nice! I'm pretty darn happy with my current set-up anyway.

 

[rollei35guy]

Where the port is in my RL140's looks like what WAS a large rectangular hole. I'll have to take a closer look when I get it apart again.

I'm thinking maybe the passive radiator was dropped in favor of a tuned port. And your version uses the same mold for the shell. Just a guess. They look very similar.

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

I was looking at Beocentral and noticed that dropping passive radiators in favor of tuned ports was a common change B&O made across speaker lines. Higher efficiency, I would guess.

 

[rollei35guy]

I was looking at Beocentral and noticed that dropping passive radiators in favor of tuned ports was a common change B&O made across speaker lines. Higher efficiency, I would guess.

Did some poking around at Beocentral and the passive radiator was replaced with a tuned port in the RL60.2.

A tuned port would be cheaper than the radiator and more reliable too. I want one! (or in this case two )

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

Did some poking around at Beocentral and the passive radiator was replaced with a tuned port in the RL60.2.

A tuned port would be cheaper than the radiator and more reliable too. I want one! (or in this case two )

If you had 140's I would make a mold for you!

Also, $ worked out on the surrounds I'm expecting, so I hope to get the things on my drivers before Christmas.

 

[rollei35guy]

If you had 140's I would make a mold for you!

That's it, rub it in.

I'll have to look for some 60.2s and get a measurement on the port. Would be easier than trying to restore the ABR.

Good to hear you worked out the foam prices. Could you not use generic surrounds available on the web?

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

I'll have to look for some 60.2s and get a measurement on the port. Would be easier than trying to restore the ABR.

Good to hear you worked out the foam prices. Could you not use generic surrounds available on the web?

You know, if you knew the tuning frequency of the port, you could just make your own ports without having to look for another set of 60.2's. You might get the info you need from:

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/20.aspx

The generic surrounds I found on the net were $10 each. The surrounds I bought were made for the RL140 specifically, and were $21 for two, and they gave me their recommended glue for free since I bought four total. I think having the proper surrounds for just a little more outlay and longer shipping (7 days) is worth it. Come to think of it, being in The Netherlands, they may be able to help you with your RL's:

http://www.goodhifi.com/

 

[rollei35guy]

Hey, thanks for the links. There is an article about refoaming the ABR that looks pretty straight forward.

It's going to be a 'refoam winter'. So far I have to do:

2 - B&O RL60s (ABRs and probably the 2 woofers in each)
2 - AR 3a
2 - Large Advents (masonite grill)
2 - Large Advents (metal basket)
2 - generics with 8" woofers
4 - small speakers with 4" woofers

Yikes!

 

[Mazeppa]

Another RL 140 owner here, and from a border state no less. Also had to refoam my woofers right off the bat. Was all excited about getting them going, but when I fired 'em up, something just wasn't quite right.

Turned out one of the tweeters had low, poor quality output. Subsequent removal of said afflicted driver revealed the same voice coil DCR as the good one, so I'm assuming some mechanical damage has occurred. Arrrrrgh! Looked for a replacement for months, no dice. Finally picked up a pair of Peerless tweeters I think may work out, but they require a little finessing to get them fitted properly and I keep letting myself getting distracted by other projects. Your enthusiasm may get them moved up the list. If they show promise with the new tweeters, a recap will be in order which may be a bit of a challenge as we both know how tight it is in the enclosure. I like to use poly cap.s and they're larger than similar rated electrolytics.

I don't notice speaker wires running down the wall from your B&O's. Kudos on going to the trouble of fishing the wires inside the wall. Very nice looking installation.

Finally got around to installing the Peerless tweeters yesterday morning. Took a little bit of filing on the mounting flanges to get them in, but nothing drastic. Discovered that the tweets and mids are reverse phase to the woofers. Hooked those babies up on my garage system for a test drive and was very pleased with the result of my experiment in driver substitution. Walked away from them for a few hours to ensure I wasn't "hearing" my wish for a good result. Came back, listened to my main system for a bit. then put the RL-140s in place of my main speakers and I remain impressed. Still working on getting them in their optimal position on the floor stands. Started out horizontal, moved them to vertical with the tweeters both on the inside is noticeably better. I'm excited about the potentail of these speakers. They don't get much favorable press here in the States, but I'm starting to like mine very much.

Details of tweeter substitution and installation available on request if it would be helpful to anyone.

Next step is to recap them. Surely it won't take me a year to get them in like it did with the tweeters.

BTW, my main speakers are Klipsch Chorus that have been recapped, the transformer and tweeter diaphrams upgraded. They are very, very good. The RL-140s compare surprisingly well to them.

BTW II, I have a PDF of the service manual, not a great copy, but useful none the less. Includes other RL's of this series as well. PM your e-mail address to me if you want a copy.

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

PM sent. Thanks!

I was listening to 'Bjork - Live at the Royal Opera House' on DVD today and noticed that my center channel is terrible. Telling my preamp that I didn't have a real center so that a phantom center would be made sounded much better. I guess I'll be looking for some matches to the tweet, mid, and woofer in the RL140 so that I can make a matching center channel. I think I found a guy with a BOATLOAD of B&O drivers in Europe. One more addition to the to-do list.

 

[Mazeppa]

PM sent. Thanks!

I was listening to 'Bjork - Live at the Royal Opera House' on DVD today and noticed that my center channel is terrible. Telling my preamp that I didn't have a real center so that a phantom center would be made sounded much better. I guess I'll be looking for some matches to the tweet, mid, and woofer in the RL140 so that I can make a matching center channel. I think I found a guy with a BOATLOAD of B&O drivers in Europe. One more addition to the to-do list.

Please let me know if your source for B&O drivers pans out. While my RL-140's sound very good with the substitutes, I have one good original tweeter and still may like trying an all original pair.

Say, I saw a listing for a cosmetically challenged pair of RL-140's with woofer foam rot on e-bay for $145. Depending on the cost of replacement OEM drivers perhaps a partner purchase on something like that would be economically feasible for us. You could take one and rebuild it for a center channel and I'd take the other for spare drivers.

SM should be on your inbox, please advise if it needs to be resent

I like your quote. Reminds me of one I heard about raising children, "Isn't it amazing that God left the most important job in the world to amateurs?"

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

I recieved your email and downloaded and saved the service manual. I didn't expect it to cover the entire RL series. Thanks!

I just sent a message to the guy with the B&O parts. I'll let you know what I find out, and if potentially high prices from him make the ratty pair of 140's on ebay an attractive alternative solution. Judging from his posts on Beoworld he may be a BO tech, or maybe just a capable enthusiast!

 

[chadnliz]

They sure do look purdy on the wall!

 

[chadnliz]

You know, the entry level Magnepan center channel speaker would look awesome between those and right at home, I owned one a few years ago and for $300 its stupid good!

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

Thanks!

Magnepan? I'd hate for my center to sound better than my mains! Really, I'd like a center that's not much bigger than my main amp. If it needs to be tall so that it's not wider or deeper than my PM-94 while still providing sufficient volume, that's fine. A little tall so as to provide space for a front firing port would be great, actually.

Come taxtime the my entertainment center is going bye-bye, a 50" plasma is going on the wall, the mains may be moved another 2' away from one another, and the amps, processor, and source in going into a smaller, WELL VENTILATED cabinet of some kind. I'm still not sure if I want a tall and narrow stack (hence the desired center shape), or double-wide and low. I only have five componants (DVD player, preamp/tuner, and three amps), so stacking them under four feet shouldn't be a prob. It's leaving room for ventilation that has me concerned. The amps spend most of their time in class A.

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

Just recieved a reply from Martin:

"Hi Sam,

There are two woofers in each RL140 cabinet.
I have two original woofers in stock, used, but refoam'ed, aligned, tested good and ready.
Sadly, I cannot help you with tweeter, mid or a crossover board.

Martin"

So, Mazeppa, the ratty ebay RL140's may be the better solution. Perhaps the seller can ship one to each of us directly? I'll be building my own speaker box for my center, in case my previous post didn't make that clear, so the aesthetics don't really matter to me, as long as nothing more than new foam and caps are needed. $72.50 + shipping is the cheapest I'll be getting this done, so let me know!

 

[chadnliz]

Magnepan will be wider for sure but its only 3inches deep.

 

[Mazeppa]

Just recieved a reply from Martin:

"Hi Sam,

There are two woofers in each RL140 cabinet.
I have two original woofers in stock, used, but refoam'ed, aligned, tested good and ready.
Sadly, I cannot help you with tweeter, mid or a crossover board.

Martin"

So, Mazeppa, the ratty ebay RL140's may be the better solution. Perhaps the seller can ship one to each of us directly? I'll be building my own speaker box for my center, in case my previous post didn't make that clear, so the aesthetics don't really matter to me, as long as nothing more than new foam and caps are needed. $72.50 + shipping is the cheapest I'll be getting this done, so let me know!

Sadly that listing was not to be found when I went back to look. However I Remain open to the idea if a cheap enough pair can be found. We are in agreement on aesthetics and that's what will keep the cost down for us.
So, let's put out the radar for a suitable pair. Shipping to different addresses would be ideal, but if that's not an option... Do you ever get to Tulsa? I have a brother who lives there that would hold them for us. Maybe AudioKarma will bless us w/the perfect pair for our needs from Craigslist in T-town.

 

["ItsTooLoud"]

Tulsa is about 3 hours away, so that sounds great! As far as shipping goes, the speakers are so large and oddly shaped that I don't think that shipping to different addresses would be a problem. If I happen across any around here I can always drive one to your brother's place.

'Martin' followed up with me, letting me know that he has a pair of crossovers and recapping kits available. He is in Denmark, but shipping isn't as bad as you'd think. My surrounds were only $8 to ship to there to here.

 

[derekva]

These things sound NICE. Enya's 'O Come Emmanuel' sent chills up the spine, and Tourniquet's 'Acoustic Archives' CD was almost TOO revealing, there were so many new sounds I've never noticed it was distracting!

They were also pretty easy to hang on the wall (having small, healthy children made this decision for me). The floor stands have a built in wall bracket that is apparantly made to remove, if wanted. The hardest part was deciding whether or not to move them down 4.5" and leave four more holes in the wall. There are now four more holes in the wall, and I am better for it.

That said, I had to lie to my preamp and tell it that the mains are 'small', and then cut the bass 5dB to spare the woofers due to the crumbling surrounds. I did find replacements online (thanks to the archives), and need to decide if I want to change all four of the 6.5" woofers, or only the two that are obviously in need of help. I'm also questioning whether I should do the same for the two 5" mids (these are 20yr-old speakers that spent time in storage, after all).

Just curious - what's the unit in the middle with the wood side panels?

-D