Hi guys!

I'm new to this forum. I joined because I'm looking at buying some vintage speakers, and I was looking at three pairs of vintage B&Os: Beovox S45s (83-86), S50s and S80s. I saw that everyone is pretty knowledgeable and friendly around here.

I'm not looking for something really powerful: I'd be happy with the 45 watts the S45s put out, as long as the sound was balanced and full. I'm a fan of speakers with a softer, more subtle sound. What I really want to know is:

1. What are these speakers worth these days?

2. What do they sound like?

3. Which should I get?

Here are pictures of the three (S45, S50, S80 respectively):

Welcome to beoworld! 

To be honest I think you would be happy with any of these.  You might want to consider the size as some of the speakers from this era are quite big. You should check out www.beocentral.com as they tend to be more opinionated than the product info here!

 None of them should be all that expensive (maybe £30-80) depending on condition. I think I am right in saying that all these models alll can suffer from foam rot, so you would need to be clear about the condition of the drivers.

If you are not sure about the foam rot issue a good speaker to choose from this era wouldbe the S45-2's  as they sound good, are a more 'wife-friendly' size that some other speakers of the period, and do not suffer from foam rot.

Any speaker from this era will almost certainly benefit from having the capacitors in the crossover replaced. When you have your speakers, send a  pm to Martin (username Dillen on this forum ) and he  point you in the right direction.

 

Simon

What's involved in replacing the capacitors in the crossover? Would it be a difficult procedure?

This thread will give you an idea. You will need to do some soldering.

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/thread/40891.aspx

 

Simon

Zelbinion:

What's involved in replacing the capacitors in the crossover? Would it be a difficult procedure?

I have just replaced the capacitors on the crossovers of my MC120.2's. I bought a kit from member Dillen which came with full instructions. The beauty of buying a ready kit is it saves time and effort tracking down the correct spec cap's and the ones supplied by Dillen are far supereior to the originals. Well worth the time & effort though - see this post to decide if it is worth it or not.

 

Chris.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Now I just have to work out which ones I want to get. The S45s have recently been refurbished, as have the S50s. I'm leaning towards the S45s, as I don't need anything very big, and they've just been fully refurbished, so there might not be that much work to do myself.

However, after reading the thread wirralsimon linked, I'm thinking that it might be a pleasure to get in there and do some work to refurb the speakers. 

Just be wary of the fact that buying old B&O speakers  and tinkering with them is the the 'gateway drug' to buying lots more B&O!

 Simon

 

 

Zelbinion:

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Now I just have to work out which ones I want to get. The S45s have recently been refurbished, as have the S50s. I'm leaning towards the S45s, as I don't need anything very big, and they've just been fully refurbished, so there might not be that much work to do myself.

However, after reading the thread wirralsimon linked, I'm thinking that it might be a pleasure to get in there and do some work to refurb the speakers. 

The last photo is not of Beovox S80 but Beovox MC120.2  (Beovox S80 does not have the reflex port "grill" at the bottom).

The S50's looks to have had the surrounds replaced but the dustcap looks undisturbed. This means that the foam rot has been taken care of but the cone was probably not re-shim'ed. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it could be that the coil is no longer centered. If you press the cone inwards gently and symetrically, you shouldn't hear or feel any rubbing.

I think I would grab the MC120.2. They are by far the best of the ones shown in my opinion. They also seem to be refurbished regarding foam rot and the dustcap looks new. Size is not that much bigger than the S50 and soundvise they will probably take you exactly where you won't to go, be that classic or party.

Capacitor kits are readily available for the whole range and I would recommend you replace the lot if they are still the originals.

Martin

I agree with Martin having actually looked at the photo's this time!

I've owned all of the models you mention and the 120.2's are easily the best of the bunch IMO. Not that much bigger than the others but absolutely knockout performance compared to the other - which are still very very good.

Chris.

The guy has them listed as S80s, so I assumed he knew what he was talking about. The MC120.2s appear to be a step above the other two pairs. I guess I'll grab them then.

I can really see myself getting obsessed with B&O products in the future. I just have one more question... any recommendations as to which amp I should be using with these speakers? I've got a fairly high end, mid 80s Sony one, but I don't think it's going to cut it. The output is only 80W per channel.

It is probably a pretty good amplifier - and quite frankly better that some B&O ones! A lot of Sony products are excellent. It will not have the design of a B&O though.

Depends really what you want. A Beomaster 6000 is the obvious choice and, when working, is excellent. It is 75W a channel. The 8000 is the most powerful - 150W a channel - but harder to find. If remote control is not important, the 2200 is a fantastic and very cheap alternative. After that, think about the stacking systems - 5000, 5500, 6500 and 7000. Enough power and very versatile remotes.

How many watt per channel do you think is necessary to power the MC120.2s?

Work perfectly well with 30W. Remember that most listening involves 1W or less! If you like listening at loud levels, having a powerful amplifier allows this without clipping. Most B&O amplifiers have lots of headroom - the 2400 is rated at about 30W but can produce peaks of 75W.

Really? I had no idea that you could run speakers on that much less power than what's specified. I suppose the specs are a maximum, not a nominal. I'm actually thinking of grabbing an Harman Kardon PM-640 amp to drive the speakers. Harman Kardon styling is great... like B&O, they were a company far ahead of their time.

Well, guys. Thanks for your help. Not sure who's going to see this post, but I thought I'd say a few things.

The bidding for the MC120.2s ends in a day, and I think I'll probably get them. In the meantime, I've been searching for and reading about all manner of B&O things. When I thought about getting new speakers, B&O never really entered into my mind as a brand to buy. However, after looking at all their vintage products and reading about people's experiences with them, I've decided to start collecting vintage B&O.

I'm looking forward to posting on this forum in the future, although how much I have to contribute, I'm not sure. I don't have a lifetime of experience like other members, as I'm just a poor university student. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone, and I'll definitely let you guys know how my first experience with a B&O product goes (I'll include some pictures as well).

André 

Hi Andre,

I just wanted clarify what Peter said about the 1W listening.  When we say an amplifier puts out 50W per channel, the majority of this power is actually dissipated as heat.  So even if you have a 50W amplifier playing at full power, there may only be less than 10W of electrical power actually reaching the speakers.  When Peter said 1W, he meant 1W of power actually going to the speakers, which means the amplifier could be actually using something like 20 W.  This was still a morbid simplification, but I just wanted to clarify that there's a difference between the two wattages.

Austin
 

Thanks for that clarification, Austin. Some people talking about older amps putting out 'real watts', and being more powerful per watt. Is this heat dissipation to do with the apparent difference between older and modern amps, or am I oversimplifying things?

Oh, and a little update on my speaker situation, in case anyone is interested. The guy I was buying them from took both pairs down from his attic (I bought a pair of S80s and a pair of MC120.2s), and the woofer was ripped on the S80s. Also, the wood had been cracked on the casings. He said he almost cried, seeing the speaker like that. Guess he really loved them. So anyway, I think I'll forget about the S80s and just take the MC120.2s.