Thanks Nick, I've opened it up in any case so I'll replace the battery as a matter of course. Turns out to be a CR2450. Chris.

THIS RARITY I recognise one name on the questions list Chris.

To be perfectly honest a SMMC4 is an upgrade to a B&O MMC4 in itself - this I can personally vouch for. Very good cartridge & brighter than the B&O ones. I'm sure the SMMC3 will be even better but I haven't heard one playing personally. Chris.

PM me your address & I'll send you some same spec'ed foam tape. Chris.

Does anyone know the spec's for the lithium battery - I haven't opened it yet and don't want to have to do so twice (lazy I know)? It isn't mentioned in the service manual other than to say it has to be the same as the one fitted or is it a dealer only item? Chris.

You will probably get a better deal on a trade in from your dealer against a B&O upgrade than a private sale. These don't sell for very much these days - @$400 to $500 I would guess depending on condition. Sell the remote seperately to get the best price, it will be worth $75 - $100 on its own & won't make much difference to the sale

Very amusing but there's quite a shocking serious side to this. This sadly highlights an endemic lack of any pride with shipping companies. The video was obviously taken by an employee who though it far more important to get a cheap laugh watching & videoing someones goods being mangled than taking any action to prevent it. Chris.

This is just wierd. I've had a further play with this and the problem is as follows :- If I unplug the sytem for any length of time, when I turn it on again (any function) the volume is set at zero & the balance is set at full left hand side. All of the previously saved radio stations also disappear. When I scroll through the "sound"

[quote user="Leslie"] Again, and it seems like nobody knows, how can you see the difference (details)? Or is my English so bad Just want to buy an A8 through Ebay from a private seller (for the lowest price) and do not want to spend a high price new from a B&O dealer [/quote] Nobody can tell you the difference these days as the copies

I've just collected a BC8500 which works fine except for one small problem. It will hold its preset memory of the sound functions up until it is unplugged & then everything is all to c*ck when I plug it back in. Is this likely to be the lithium battery? The strange thing is that none of the presets for the radio go astray which I would have