I am in the market to purchase a beomaster to drive an MCL system in my house which contains 16 speakers.  If I just want am/fm radio and basic cd, is there any functional difference between a BM 5500 or BM 7000?  I have read up on both of them, and other than age I cant tell a real difference?  Does 7000 have usb hookup?

Thanks

No Beomasters have USB hookup. I think the 7000 is considered a better Beomaster with the 5000 considered the best. I could be wrong!

Indeed no beomaster has a usb hookup. What is it precisely you want to hook up ?

The 5000 and 5500 are basically very similar machines in perfomance, the only difference being the 5000 uses the MCL82 protocol and the the 5500 is the first one to use MCL2 protocol.  I don't know if your link system is capable of MCL82

The later models (BM6500 and BM7000) or again very similar machines and an (very slightly) updated design from the above. The amps are almost indentical, the mean difference being in the main processor with  2-way IR control, the radio tuner is slightly less refined (But works good nevertheless.) and has the addition of powerlink outputs which make these Beomasters still a very capable machine.

Some people rate the 5000 as being the best of the series, though I have both a 5000 and a 7000 at the moment and I can't really tell the difference besides the latter being a little more powerfull and a little 'cleaner' (but I guess the age of the beomasters plays a role in that as well..)

5000 and 5500 of course have 2-way remote as well.

As a final difference between 6500 and 7000, the latter has RDS. However, it adds nothing unless you have a Beolink 7000 - the data is not shown anywhere else.

I would forget the 5000 as the remote control is not compatible with anything else (but has the advantage that you don't necessarily need a remote!). 5500 is a suboptimal choice if you ever plan on getting Powerlink capable speakers.

So, in my books that would converge to 6500, as they usually end up clearly cheaper than 7000. And personally I like the polished alu parts more than the brushed ones on 5000/5500

Oh yes, one very small difference that can be big if you plan on using the timer functions - the clock in 5000/5500 will not hold over power breaks. 6500/7000 have a real time clock chip with battery backup.

tournedos:

Oh yes, one very small difference that can be big if you plan on using the timer functions - the clock in 5000/5500 will not hold over power breaks. 6500/7000 have a real time clock chip with battery backup.

True ... didn't think of that one.
I would go for the 6500, superb machine and with powerlink can still be integrated with modern B&O equipment. 

tournedos:

I would forget the 5000 as the remote control is not compatible with anything else (but has the advantage that you don't necessarily need a remote!).

On the other hand, this give you the chance to install 2 B&O sets in one room.... ;-)

Even though this was not the idea of the poster...

Ralf