I have a Beomaster 8000 and a Beocord 9000. The Beocord is connected to the Beomaster by means of the 6270222 cable (7-pin TAPE 1 socket). I want to connect a Sony MiniDisc Deck MDS-JE330 (input and output) and a Sony CD/DVD player DVP-SR500H (for CDs only).

Which connections can I use?

Welcome, and thanks for joining as a silver member, it is appreciated

Your question is quite problematic though! It is possible to connect two tape recorders to the Beomaster, as you probably know already - but the issue here is that the output levels (for recording) through the DIN connectors are much lower than the modern RCA equipped recorders expect. Therefore you can't get proper recordings with them using a DIN-to-RCA adapter.

You could of course use the RCAs for the minidisc and connect the Beocord to the Tape 2 input - but it doesn't have Datalink, so you'll lose the remote functions.

To add to the confusion, I think there are two different versions of the Beomaster with regard to the connections. Later in the production, the monitoring function was transferred from Tape 1 to Tape 2 and I think the available RCA outs moved as well.

Then, the third source... the Beomaster has only two line level inputs, the phono input has a RIAA preamp builtin. It might be possible to disable / bypass it, but that's some involved service work. Boxes called "inverse RIAA" for this problem exist - they are quite simple actually, they don't even need supply power - but I'm sure they will degrade the final audio quality.

In addition I just found B&O cable 6270215 (one 5-pin DIN on one end with 2 cables running to 2 phono plugs each). Can I use that one somehow?

That should work for the Minidisc, connected to Tape 2 - but see the caveat regarding the recording levels. Go ahead and try it anyway, it might be possible to compensate for the difference with the recording level controls. Playback should definitely work!

Mika, thanks, but you are obviously much more technical than I am. The Beocord is standard connected with the B&O supplied 7-pin cable to TAPE 1. So I would have to use the remaining connection points. How can I use the 6270215 cable with the 5-pin Din plug on one end with the 2 cables ending in 2 phono plugs each?

Mika, great. Can I then use the TAPE 2 IN for the CD-player (phono plugs both ends)?

Connect the DIN end of the cable to Tape 2 on the Beomaster. If the RCA (phono) ends of the cable aren't marked in any way, you'll just need to try which way they should be connected, it doesn't hurt anything.

Then set the Beomaster on TP2 (low volume!), put a Minidisc on play and connect a pair of the RCA plugs to the line out of the MD deck. If you don't hear anything, switch to the other two plugs. The remaining two will be for REC IN on the MD.

If left & right haven't been marked either (a red plug is usually R), then that's experimentation time again.

Guus Schippers:

Mika, great. Can I then use the TAPE 2 IN for the CD-player (phono plugs both ends)?

Ummh... a definite maybe. It will be connected in parallel with the Minidisc outputs inside the Beomaster. Depending on the Minidisc and CD decks, it might sound reasonable, or the level might be too low, but you should hear something... Not a kosher way of connecting, but I think I would just try it. They will obviously play on top of each other.

Mika, could I use the phono connection for the CD-player?

See my first post. With some extra kit, you can, but it won't be an optimal solution.

Google for "inverse RIAA" and you might find a readymade box somewhere. Or, have someone build this for you:

http://sound.westhost.com/project80.htm

Hi Mika, it all works! The CD-player connected to TAP2 in works great. The Beocord through the B&O cable works as expected. Also the MiniDisc works. Its volume is lower than that of the CD and Beocord, but I suppose that was expected. But with the sound level at 6.0 it is good and not too loud. Sound levels for CD and Beocord are normal.

Thanks for all your help!

tournedos:

See my first post. With some extra kit, you can, but it won't be an optimal solution.

Google for "inverse RIAA" and you might find a readymade box somewhere. Or, have someone build this for you:

http://sound.westhost.com/project80.htm

 

What a superb site! I am very tempted to have a go at % thd measurements - very useful for newly restored amps! I also love his clipping detector, could do with that built into some B&O amps I could mention!

Step1:

What a superb site! I am very tempted to have a go at % thd measurements - very useful for newly restored amps! I also love his clipping detector, could do with that built into some B&O amps I could mention!

It is! I started reading through it ages ago but never finished

@Guus, good to hear it works! My initial thought on your problem was "no you can't connect all three"...

Mika, thanks again. Yes, it works. As mentioned before the output from the MiniDisc player is lower than that of the other 2, but that refers to your earlier comments and maybe I recorded them at too low a level. No problem, even at my 71-years old hearing level I can hear what has been recorded on the little discs, although the level has to be turned up to almost max. The other 2 sources perform brilliantly. Don't know whether you heard of Paradigm speakers in Finland, but they are superb! Used to go to Finland a lot during my avaiation life (Finnair, Karair). Great country with very nice people. Language is not easy, but Dutch is neither.

I always thought of Dutch being in the middle of English and German, so I can sort of read it... Nothing is close to Finnish, except Estonian, but there are even fewer people speaking that!

Be careful with the Minidisc if you need to crank the volume that high up - you might damage the speakers if you accidentally switch to another source! We've had Paradigms over here as well, but I'm not sure if anybody imports them nowadays.

Kar-Air disappeared in 1996 (Finnair already wholly owned it). I think one of their Convairs is on display at Malaga airfield... and one still in service at Haiti!

Yesterday a guy overhere told me the same thing about volume matters. Yes, that's the snag, but I'll pay attention. I'm glad all 3 units produce good sound.

Dutch is more related to German than to English and yes, reading the 2 languages you will understand a lot of it.