Hi all,

I just scored a sweet vintage B&O system!  Took a gamble on craigslist and purchased everything "as is" since the seller could not find connection cables to test it out with.

Today I brought home:
Beomaster 1900 Amp/Receiver
Beogram 2402 Turntable (Cartridge model # MMC20 E)
Beovox S45 Speakers 

I've already torn the turntable into pieces fixing the arm (would automatically move side to side, but refused to lift... just scraped across my records - all is good now).  My next move was to hot wire the speakers into the receiver.  Since I didn't have the correct B&O cables, I ran alligator clips into the back.

This system sounds GREAT! Been listening to vinyl all day and love it.

Couple ongoing questions though:

Can I use the Beomaster 1900 as a preamp?  I want to hook everything up to my giant Cerwin Vegas to thump at houseparties (honestly, I'm not even planning to use the Beovox S45-2s that came with the system).  But the Beomaster (30 watt) doesn't have enough power to drive the Cerwin Vegas (350 watt) at earthshattering levels and my dedicated amp doesn't have a phono input.

Also, one channel on the Beomaster is noticeably quieter than the other.  What do I need to take apart/resolder/clean to get these back in balance?

Thanks! Looking forward to being part of the community here.

Welcome to the world of B&O :) I think you have a great introductory system the BM1900 is very nice and quite sort after, the S-45's, as long as they are the 3 way speakers are fantastic sounding and the MMC20E is a half decent cartridge, although it will be well past it's best by now! Can be reconditioned if you are serious about vinyl.

DIN plugs/ sockets are readily available as an example here so no need to hotwire.

Sound wise there are a few things that will need to be done to get your beomaster working to it's best. A capacitor kit is available from member Dillen, highly recomended it will replace all troublsome electrolytics and tantalums etc... comes with instructions too. Bulbs are recomended at this time too, as some may fail when taking apart!

Also the potentiometers under the top plate (two screws under the alu hood) will need some attention. At the very least they will need a clean but they also tend to dissintegrate so will eventually need stripping and fixing.

Start with the above and any other problems can be dealt with later.

Oh there is no preamp output apart from tape which will always be at line level.

All the best, and enjoy your very nice system :)