Hi all, I just bought one of the turntables on impulse, looks awesome. Don't know anything about it and it's my first turntable, what sort of amp / speakers should I look for to go with it, on a budget? Is it actually any good in terms of sound and useability etc?

 

What sort of price should I have paid? 

Brings it all back! That was my first turntable! Not that common! Price depends a bit - did it come with a cartridge. The ideal beomaster would be either a Beomaster 1900 or a Beomaster 2200 - the latter being the better but not quite as flash!

The 1902 is a very good sounding deck - I think the later radial decks went too far in the search for lightness in the arm and that this one is a very happy medium.

The nicest speakers of this era are probably the S45-2 or the S75 if you want something bigger with more bass. 

it's fitted with an MMC 20S cartridge, but I have no idea what that means. Will I need o replace that? looking around it seems pricey.

If the cartridge works OK, leave it. The 20S is the bottom of the range but is sturdy and possibly better wearing than some of the others. the black cartridge matches the arm nicely.

would something like these be ok to begin with as speakers? This is nearer my budget that B+O stuff, and I don't understand any of the technical bits. Just want something that sounds warm and will play my Fleetwood Mac fairly loudly.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DENON-SC-E313-100-WATTS-HI-FI-SPEAKERS-X-2-BARGAIN_W0QQitemZ250217415390QQihZ015QQcategoryZ14996QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 

Or these?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/speakers_W0QQitemZ120223379334QQihZ002QQcategoryZ14993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

for some reason it won't let me post links.. 

 

Second hand B&O can be very cheap! I wouldn't bother with the Denon speakers - they seem to have had quite a hard life! I think you need to decide on an amplifier before you consider speakers as they rather rely on each other. Where are you based?

Bournemouth, UK. When I say budget, I really mean I'm on a students wage. Not a lot to spend at all. I have a Sansui amp here that I intend to use, an old one but in very good condition. 25 watts per channel on the label, so any speakers with a nice tone will do the job.

Agreed those speakers do look worse for wear, but for some reason I fancy the vintage ones much more than the modern pine ones. I like the beat look. What I'm really looking for is a cheap, warm sound.
 

 

 

There is nothing better than an old pair of Beovox speakers for cheap warm sound! I was thinking when I saw the Denon advert  that you were thinking of spending quite a lot of money compared to a vintage B&O pair!

Best thing to do is do an eBay search on Beovox (decription and heading). Prices vary wildly, often for no obvious reason, so it pays to be patient but you should be sorted for  less that the £60 delivered  the denons would cost you. If you post a question about any speakers you are considering in this thread someone will answer you.

 If you can get to Andover you could check out item 320219274265

 Good luck!

 

Simon
 

 

I will deffinately look into the B&O speakers, I had thought they woul be much more expensive that that! Some nice ones aruond by the looks of it too.

What other cartirdges will fit the 1902? 

Cartridges that will fit:

SP15

MMC3000, 4000, 5000, 6000

MMC10E

MMC20S, E, EN, CL

 

Soundsmith in the US make new ones - not cheap! They are however black so match your deck very nicely!  

Chris, I am just in the middle of restoring a Beogram 1102 which is virtually the same machine as yours. I've done the mechanics and am on with replacing the veneer on the edges now. Good looking deck, one button contol.
When you first try it, put a rubbish LP on. A common fault with this model means that at the end of play, it doesn't lift the arm and drags it across the record. It's an easy fix though.
You will easily get a good B&O amp for it from that time period for £20-£30 off eBay. Be careful when you get older speakers, they could have foamrot.
By the way, you have just contacted the incurable Beovirus!!
Welcome to Beoworld

Andy T.

Now me being a Yorkshireman would look for some nice Beovox S55 speakers with foam rot for a tenner and repair them. One of my favourite B&O vintage speakers and if you can get the rosewood ones they look simply spectacular. Try and get the them with the original stands which are totally retro - cool and enhance the sound beautifully.

If you don't fancy tackling refoaming speakers (as a student I know you'll be far too busy using my taxes studying) then try and find some Beovox S60's which have rubber surrounds so won't have the dreaded foam rot.

You're bound to get conflicting advice re:- speaker choice but that's the fun of Beoworld, at the end of the day if you choose B&O speakers from this era you'll be very pleasantly surprised.

 

Chris.

There is a thread on here that lists which speakers do or don't suffer from foam rot. Tht is decay in the bass units if we have just bewildered you!

Best think to do is post a question here before you pull the trigger.

Simon
 

OK, I have bid on a couple of amps, the 1900 and 2200 on ebay as I would prefer to use one of those than my sansui one, but I will lpay all the different combinations when they arrive and pick the one I like most, sell on the others.

 

Some speakers currently on the bay at the mo are:

S45

P50 

C30

CX10 + CX100 (untested)

RL 1000

3800

 

Any opinions ? All look to be in good nick. 

 

As far as foam rot goes you my have issues with the C30 nd CX100. They have ess bass than some of the other speakers.

 

The S45 may suffer depending on model - ask the seller question for clarification.

 
RL1000's are part of the redline series, I have never heard them but they have a decent reputation. Hopefuly someoe can advise if foam rot may be an issue. 

The 3800 would be a good buy, shouldn't be too expensive, they will have a warm sound ad the retro look most of the speakers above won't have and they won't get foam rot.

 
You can find more background on each model in the product section here or in the reference section at Beocentral.com

 

Simon
 

OK so the deck came through today, the tone arm moves across when I put a record on it and hit 33, but stays on the outside and doesnt move inwards to actualy play the thing. Having no user manual and never actualy seen one of these before, what am I doing wrong?

edit: when I say moves across, i mean it just moves sideways, it doest lift, move, and drop. Is that what it should do? 

And one more quick question, the silver panel covering the base of the tonearm is raised at an angle, is this correct?

 
edit: pushed down on this silver piece and it seemed to click into place, and now the arm actually moves ono the record and begins to play, but every couple of seconds skips outwards towards it's starting position. Is this a problem with the arm, or the cartridge? 

Maybe the arm is incorrectly balanced. Did you check the stylus weight setting before trying? This might happen with a really low weight setting and the antiskating system forcing the stylus outwards.

Another problem might be that the arm isn't lowering enough. As with all old B&O devices with moving parts, the lubricants may have dried and seized something up or limit the movement of the mechanism.

-mika

 

Is the tracking weight set correctly? It should be set at 1g.

 

Craig

If it is a MMC20S, 1.5g would be better. Check all the transit screws are undone fully.

Chris, the silver panel is hiding a heavy weight. If it's on a funny angle, it might just be dislodged in transit. Hold the tone arm firmly and you should be able to lift the silver panel and weight out. Might be an idea to take of the cartridge first to avoid Mobing it. You should then be able to slide it back into place correctly.
With the weight on and the cartridge on, if you slide the weight selector (next to the silver panel) to 'zero', the arm should be perfectly balanced. You cant play a record like this though, so slide it back to 1.5 grammes.
You say you haven't even seen one of these before, whereas most of us were weened on these. It won't move across without a record on the platter. The grooves on the record effectively pull the arm across.
If it doesn't lower at the start of play, and it doesn't raise at the end, then inside, a little brass pin has got stuck in a brass sleeve with lubricant which has aged and solidified. If this turns out to be the case, then we will talk you through how to fix it easily.
Keep us informed, eh.

Andy T.

Jandyt:

Might be an idea to take of the cartridge first to avoid Mobing it.

To explain this.......

"Mobing" something is a Beoworld expression which has come to mean trashing your B&O. Taken from the exploits of our very own doyen of the site & much admired member mobeyone who has a slightly chequered history when it comes to some of his DIY efforts,

 

Chris.

Medogsfat:

Jandyt:

Might be an idea to take of the cartridge first to avoid Mobing it.

To explain this.......

"Mobing" something is a Beoworld expression which has come to mean trashing your B&O. Taken from the exploits of our very own doyen of the site & much admired member mobeyone who has a slightly chequered history when it comes to some of his DIY efforts,

 

Chris.

Very well explained Chris.

 

Craig

Right first things first. I pulled the flap open with the weight in, and pushed it down again seating it all the way in.Then set the slider to "0". I think it could be a problem with the lubrication because if i lift the arm slightly with a finger, it stays where I lift it to, instead of falling back down, and seems to stick there, unless i nudge it back down. Does that make sense?

 One more thing - how to check the transoprt screws? The spinning bit was secured with tape and foam in transit, but when first spinning it it seemed to catch on something underneath, so i lifted it out and the three large screws underneath were up far enough to cause one of them to rub, so just screwed it back in a bit. Is this a transoprt screw? If so then they are al loose, but not fuly out because then they rub. Hope you understand my crappy descriptions!
 

I can't remember quite how the 1902 transit screws work, but there should be three screws. Screwed one way, the suspension will be hard. Screw them all the other way! The suspension should then bounce nicely!