hello folks

i have just won on ebay the 8000 system i am sure some of you saw, along with the M150 loudspeakers

i have always wanted one of these ever since i worked for Plumbs in Bury and we had one on display(i even sold an 8000 amp to a record shop called Vibes along with RL140 and wall brackets)

Andway, they system isnt working so i will need some help in getting it sorted, is there an 8000 guru around / i have no idea whats wrong yet as i have not seen it, but its hopefully not going to be too bad, i assume the curcuit diagrams are on here and i have a engineer (who used to work for Terry Bird) in my workshop here ready with a soldering iron ( i wouldn`t trust myself!)

the speakers will need a refoam so i will also need help and advice on that

cartridge?..no idea, but a new MMC20 will probably be bought

the only down side is that the speakers are not MS150.2, but hey ho

anybody got any general advice ?

and i seem to have a cassette deck...lol

i will need a CD player as well, i used to have the orginal CDX, is this a good one? or are they a bit old, or should i consider something non-b&o?

all help will be needed and much appreciated

cheers

Andy

Well done!

There's nothing better than a full 8000 system. Get a CDX to use with it. From memory I have a DIN to RCA adaptor as the Tape 2 input, unlke Tape 1, only has a DIN and not DIN + RCA inputs. I've been using a full 8000 system with a CDX for about 5 years now with no complaints :)

If you know someone who can work on it then you should be set. Dillen is always a good source of advice should anything become too tricky.

Enjoy your purchase!

Excellent system if a trifle on the large side. The normal faults are down to the dreaded red capacitors and disintegrating variable resistors and Martin does a good kit for this. I would however have thought that this would have been done by now - mine was fixed about 10 years ago! The CDX is definitely the one to go for though a CDX2 is an interesting alternative and has a more modern chipset. It is less robust though.

This system was designed to be superb aurally but was let down a bit by some of the materials used, some of which are now becoming more obvious. The use of double sided tape was a false economy and some of the plastics are becoming very fragile. This is best seen in the Beogram which tends to have loose metal plates and also watch for the spring for the lid which is in a plastic box which can shatter.

You don't really say what faults you have - we can possibly advise more on specifics.

Lovely system though - I am sometimes nostalgic about mine which I sold to Cleve, but I think it probably gets used far more now. Never lived the MS150s though they do sound good - my wife and I were both fairly pleased to see the back of those! I had mine reconed using rubber surrounds and the frequency response once done was ruler straight.

Congratulations on a fine purchase, although it does make me wonder about eBay sometimes, as I see you paid £74 for the M150s in need of re-foaming. Nothing wrong with this, by the way - I consider that a decent price for a very fine pair of loudspeakers.

The strange thing is, though, that I sold my M150s only a week or so ago on eBay - both woofers re-foamed, speakers fettled and sounding great and they fetched £4 LESS than the ones you bought!!

Not complaining at all as they had to go (apparently I can't have M150s and MS150s) - just a bit puzzled!

As far as the 8000 goes, there's only one man for the job as far as I'm concerned, and he goes by the name of Tim Jarman...

Adam

i know what you mean about ebay, but the whole system lives 4 miles from work, so its very convenient, which makes up for a lot !

its a bit of a gamble, but hey ho, lifes too short, i am jealous of your MS150`s though, its the ones i always wanted !

do you think i should just ship the amp to Tim ?...what about the loudspeakers?...i am cack handed so wont be doing it myself lol

will get my hands on it tonight, so will post pics and tell all ))

i am hoping for a 8002 gram and a 9000 cord....lol....not that i have any tapes of course!

as for the cartridge, a nice 20CL would do me fine hehe !

thanks in advance for all your help people !...

andy

You won't be using an MMC20CL on an 8002! MMC1/2/3/4/5 all the way :)

The BeoGram 8002 originally came with MMC2.

Well done Andy, I certainly had my eyes on that system but it went beyond my limit, due in part because of the drive, and the fact that I couldn't justifiy spending atm. The only potential stumbling point with this system is the micro processor as these are quite delicate so definately have the 5v supply components double checked!

i do hope yours is a simple as a power supply fault maybe even a fuse but a dead 8000 is something I felt weary about tbh!

If you search you will see that I picked up a system 8000 last year and started a thread showing the repair process. The thread fizzled out as I waited for an order of capacitors from the states. In the mean-time, I ran it side by side with my Beomaster 6000 (recapped). Certainly more clarity in the top end for sure,  even with the old capacitors in place! Never liked the looks compared to the 6000 or the huge size, but loved the tactile feel of the volume and tuning! It is just too big for our house so it remains tucked away with my other stuff atm. I am waiting to find out what these are worth restored and in full working order before I let if go too cheap!

I am sure Tim will do a super job :)

well its arrived at my house, and.....it works....))...well the gram does, the remote does, not tried the radio, i seem to remember it shuts off with no rf ??..anyway, i have listened to "rumours" and "tusk" while cooking tonight

the speakers will need a bit of work and i guess the amp should be serviced ?..or if its working do i leave it ??

cord seems faulty, but thats no loss, i think i might put my old laptop in its place and play itunes through it

i have a pair of pentalabs, can i connect the 8000 to them without dismatelling them? or will i have to take the amps off ?..( new shorter bolts needed ?)

but i am pleased it works, at least the gram does, i will connect an antenna and try the radio next week,

whose best to service the speakers ?? Tim ?...ir Tim for amp ?

last time i saw a full 8000 system was Plumbs, Bury, must have been 1984 ish, memories !!

andy

its an full 8000 system, so an 8000 cord and an 8000 gram, with MMC20CL, sounds on first listen

cabinet is mint, the M150`s have stands, the cabinet has the light, so well chuffed !!

time to get it fettled and annoy cath next door ))

andy

Ahh now you just rubbing salt in the wounds :( The guy told me there was no life out of the amo at all! I think you deserve this one though for being patient for 25 years so congratulations :) I really would try not to use it until it has had a good service though the big amp caps might be ready to pop (they are pushed too close to their rated value IMO !) and as you have discovered that the processor works you want it to stay that way!

There was an interesting discusion about driving Pentas recently from an 8000! I have made my penta speakers directly accesable by adding a loop of wire outside of the amp with a in-line DIN socket (amp side) / plug (speaker side). This way I can pretty much plug devices in and out as I please and bypass the Penta amp completely (or for instance, drive 140's off the penta amp in about 5 minutes!) I also currently have access to the line in, powerlink and data pins of speakerlink without tipping the speakers :) I hate the thought (and actually quality) of plugging your amp output into the official speaker input of the Penta to then go through an attentuator and a second amplifier!

Step

couldnt find that thread....if i plug a standard 2 pin speaker lead from the master8000 into the speaker link of the pentalabs will it work the labs as vox`s ?

or if you could point me at the thread or just say how to run the lab`s as vox`s with dismanteling them, if its possible of course

cheers

andy

andy:

Step

couldnt find that thread....if i plug a standard 2 pin speaker lead from the master8000 into the speaker link of the pentalabs will it work the labs as vox`s ?

or if you could point me at the thread or just say how to run the lab`s as vox`s with dismanteling them, if its possible of course

cheers

andy

No. You need to connect the 2 pin DIN leads straight to the binding posts on the Pentalabs. The binding posts are between the Lab amps and the bottom of the towers.

ah, thanks JOhn, i had best get my spanner out then !!

i have sent Tim and email, is he the best person for the M150`s ?...i am cack handed at the best of times !

andy

Tim has worked on lots of my stuff and I would recommend him to you. I would send everything to him. He did a cracking job on my BM8000 and BG8002.

I use Beovox Pentas with my 8000 system and I know you'll not be disappointed when everything is up and running :)

The speakers work as active by the fact that the speaker output from the 8000 is attenuated then re-amplified by the penta amp! Not really ideal!

The mod I did is simple enough -

Prepare two lengths of wire with a DIN male on the end.. This will attach to the binding post of the speakers

remove the penta amp, but watch the DIN plug and the wires that screw to the binding posts - Also note polarity at this point I think there may be a ridge on one of the wires?

Now, with the amp removed, unscrew the plastic top - don't worry, you are not pulling it apart! Feed the amp wire out of the slot in the top cover and feed it through one of the horizontal gaps toward the rear of the unit, and attach a line din socket to this. Now, feed the wire you prepared earlier IN to the same gap, but make sure it passes through the small slot on the top cover of the amp where the original speaker wire entered. Now secure the top cover back in place and you should have the new speaker wires and the DIN plug for the display. When replacing top, make sure all wires feed neatly through that little slot without getting snagged.

Now proceed to refit the amp to the speakers. Before you do - just check those long rods are screwed into the speakers properly, as sometimes you can find one or two are loose! Back to the wires, pay attention to the polarity before securing!

Plug the DIN plugs together for Penta sound or disconnect and plug into other B&O using normal speaker leads for non Penta assistance :) The whole job shouldn't take too long :)

If you wanted a clean look you could potentially route the cables back down through the amps *maybe* but this would involve pulling the amp apart so I wouldn't recomend!

Of course, as described in the other thread you could always remove the amp and displays and sell these on ebay or store them, it all depends if you think you might need the amps again!

Funnily enough, I think the speakers look far nicer without amp module at all, but only keep mine becuase my main system is a 5500, and I like the displays! Of course, if I feel like giving my 6000, 8000 or soonish to be 6000Q ( :) ) a whirl then I can connect any of them to my Pentas at any time and it only takes 5 minutes :)

andy:

Step

couldnt find that thread....if i plug a standard 2 pin speaker lead from the master8000 into the speaker link of the pentalabs will it work the labs as vox`s ?

or if you could point me at the thread or just say how to run the lab`s as vox`s with dismanteling them, if its possible of course

cheers

andy

olly

thanks for that, my dining table now has 2 penta`s, 2 lab150`s and bits of cable everywhere, i shall finish it off when i get home!

i have sent Tim an email, but no reply as yet, guess he is busy fixing stuff !

andy

Not sure that Tim does a lot of repair work these days - it is also best to ring him rather than email.

Peter

can you pm me his number please if thats ok

cheers

andy

ok, thats done, despite me somehow ending up with one penta with a female and one with a male...lol...d`oh, thats what you get for doing one in the morning and one at night

anyway, hooked it all up and sounds fantastic, i played my iphone through it (128k) and it sounded just great ))..very pleased, will have to see about getting the M150`s done now )

as an aside i am thinking of changing my ouverture to a master 7000 for asteic and room reasons, but i will need a beolink converter if my reading is correct ?

also, if i hook up my late fathers CD3300 to the 8000, will this be as good as a CDX(2)..?

then i can sell his master 3300 and vox 3000 on here ))

andy

 "my wife and I were both fairly pleased to see the back of those!"

Well, Peter, If I'd known that I would have bartered harder!

Seriously though Peter did sell them to me for a very reasonable price especially as they had been professionally refurbished. I love them and can't ever see me selling them until we have to move to somewhere smaller (hopefully not for a while...) They're the actual speakers used in the photos on this and the Beocentral websites. 

Tim is the man for any repairs on equipment this age - I hope you can persuade him to help you. He has to be selective in what jobs he takes on or he would be divorced! I would follow previous advice and not use the Beomaster until it's been seen to.

Keep us posted with your progress.

Cheers

Nigel 

Glad the penta conversion went ok :) IMO it is worthy of the effort to get the best if you want to use the things as passive speakers but retain the amps :)

I prefer M100s - I prefer the sound and they look gorgeous! I think my wife would however not be too sad to see the back of those either but they are staying!! I find the veneer on the older Uniphase speakers to have a nicer finish - the later ones seem somehow a bit plastic in comparison. The MS150s are pretty spectacular though - the bass is far better than Pentas with much more detail at low frequencies. As with the Beolab 5s, you don't really realise how loud they are playing unless you are in another room!

Apologies for the thread hijack and the blatant plug, but my complete Beosystem 8000 will be playing at the Hi-Fi Wigwam Scalford Hall show on March 4th in Melton Mowbray if anyone's interested. (well, it will be as soon as I service the Beogram!)

Details here: http://www.thehifishow.com/

Adam that sounds interesting, I wonder how the hifi community will recieve this beast then! What speakers will you be running?

I think I might be tempted to come along to this one :)