I have a Beomaster 2400 in the garage in pieces ready to begin a recap/relamp project.  I've put off working on this because it's just too hot here in Florida to be working out in the garage.  (Imagine sweat beads falling off my forehead onto the Beomaster as I work on it.)

Anyway, I've been bidding here and there on other Beomasters, knowing full well The Holy Grail/The Precious may never appear.

Well, I won a $25 Beomaster 2400 last week.  Last night, I received it.  I have not hooked up a phonograph or a line level source as yet, but everything appears to be working.  The sound (with the tuner) seems flawless, the sliders are noiseless, the switches all work, all the lamps burn brightly (see picture), the presets all work.

So my question is this:  Is it possible an all-original Beomaster 2400 would still be working flawlessly today?  Cosmetically it's probably a 6 out of 10, but where it matters, it's at least a 9.

Is it more likely the piece has been serviced?

It is possible it is original but in my view unlikely. The 2400 utilises red capacitors that were great new but which deteriorate with age. Usually have been replaced by now.

Good chance the bridge rectifier on the main PCB has been replaced at some point.

Rich:

Well, I won a $25 Beomaster 2400 last week.  Last night, I received it.  I have not hooked up a phonograph or a line level source as yet, but everything appears to be working.  The sound (with the tuner) seems flawless, the sliders are noiseless, the switches all work, all the lamps burn brightly (see picture), the presets all work.

Line level works!  Had to resolder a connection in my DIN to RCA tape patchcord, but all continues to be well.

Boy, it's too bad this 2400 has so many gouges and scratches on it.  What is wrong with people?  Or am I the only guy who yelled at his college roommates for putting cassette cases on the turntable dust cover?

Rich:

Or am I the only guy who yelled at his college roommates for putting cassette cases on the turntable dust cover?

You should have been present when a "friend" placed his ginormous 7-11 BIG GULP down on top of my MINT BC7000 TT lid!

burantek:

Rich:

Or am I the only guy who yelled at his college roommates for putting cassette cases on the turntable dust cover?

You should have been present when a "friend" placed his ginormous 7-11 BIG GULP down on top of my MINT BC7000 TT lid!

On page 454 of the Man Code, under Rule 42.5.3a, it very clearly states you are entitled to unfriend that guy.

That reminds me of one of the stupidest things I ever did.  I was telling my roommates in college back in '85 that it was cool to play my tapes and use my stereo, except the records and turntable, sorry guys, I'm kinda weird about my records and turntable.  Then I said, just don't do this.

I then took a huge drink from a can of Coke, then set it down not quite so gently on my hand-me-down Onkyo receiver.  The Coke of course fizzed over and poured directly into the top vents of the receiver.  The receiver, which was playing at the time, burned out in a cloud of smoke and took the woofer voice coils of my hand-me-down Yamaha studio monitors.

Oops.

I was a student at the University of Michigan at the time.  There were three good audio shops in Ann Arbor in the mid eighties.  Two within walking distance, and one, Hi-Fi Buys, that was not.  I did not own a car at the time, so I did not visit Hi-Fi Buys.  Too bad, 'cause Hi-Fi Buys was the one that carried Bang & Olufsen.  The other two did not.

I ended up with an NAD 7240PE receiver from one of the shops and a pair of Phase Technology speakers from their ES series.

I wonder what the $1000 I spent would have bought me in terms of B&O....

Rich:

I wonder what the $1000 I spent would have bought me in terms of B&O....

1986... but take your pick!

The Beomaster 5500 and control panel 5500 were $999 in 1988, I remember that.  I really considered one at the time, but I had become a "separates" snob by then, and had started building my own speakers.

I was using an old Phase Linear 400 to drive a pair of towers I'd built with Vifa drivers.  You could get a 10" Vifa woofer for about $30, a cone midrange for $15, and a dome tweeter for $13.

That's how I learned to solder - building speakers.  That's probably also why I'm not afraid to open up a pair of passive speakers and poke around a bit.