Sound quality and power levels are ultimately subjective.

 

I have a Beomaster 2400 which happily powered up three sets of high-end inefficient speakers without showing the slightest hint of discomfort. Lovely sound quality and flawless performance, not giving away a hint of its age.

 

I also have a Beomaster 4500 which has, in my opinion the most remarkable sound reproduction quality I have ever heard. I purchased this 4500 as a temporary replacement for my ailing McIntosh 2255, 500 watt amplifier. No question the big Mac amp is a marvel to behold and is now fully restored courtesy of the factory….. at no change thank you very much.

 

The Beomaster 4500 also suffered from having two fully shorted out speaker connections, so the volume was always lacking as compared to either the McIntosh 2255 or the pitifully low wattage Beomaster 2400.

 

This evening I was listening to a movie with the powerful McIntosh amp providing for a very realistic movie-quality sound experience. But in many ways, the bass was boomy in all the wrong places.

 

Not so the Beomaster 4500, from which the sound was, in my opinion, close to perfect.

 

B&O made many, many receivers, but I would really like to know the strengths and weaknesses of these two fine Beomasters.

 

If you had unlimited funds, which one would you buy…. the 2400 or the 4500, or would it merely be a Beomaster 8000. And if so, why?

 

I don’t mind hearing why the powerful, if not totally esthetically pleasing 8000 wins out, but I would be thrilled to hear a real dialog as to the comparison between the BM 2400 and the BM 4500.

 

Thanks B&O lovers, we are all in this together.

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff

My first foray into the North American forum, but your post made me want to comment on my own experiences:

I own the following Beomasters:

900M

5000 (80s stack version)

6000 (70s Quad)

6000 (80s BIG LED)

8000 (80s BIG LED)

I can honestly say that at moderate listening levels, my favourite amp is the 6000 (80s) version. Running through some Beovox MC120.2s the sound is sweet and I could listen to it all day long. When big volume is called for though, it's got to be the Beomaster 8000 through some Beovox Pentas. In a big room just you can't run these at moderate volumes, as you just want to turn that damped volume wheel UP!

Beomaster 5000 sounds sweet, but isn't in the same class as the Beomaster 6000 I mention above.

Beomaster 900M is used for listening to speech only, but the old 900RG I used to own did have a very pleasant sound and surprising power output when listening to FM or vinyl. 

Beomaster 6000 Quad is quite disappointing really. Mine needs a service, but I bought it for its looks and rarirty more than anything.

My 20 cents worth - I'm trying to speak the lingo, you see :)

hi all,

i too am thrilled to talk about the "flats."
overall, they are my favorites, and i own just about all of them.
i actually have a centered display w/ a 1900 / 2000 / 2400 / 3000 / 3300 / 4500 to show the "lineage."
i also have the same setup as john: 6000->mc120.2. i have no experience w/ the 8000, yet. it is on the
grocery list for future purchase w/ hopefully a pair of ms150's! ;-)

as far as use...

i just love my 2400's -having (7) of them. in fact i am listening to one right now thru 2200's...

in this case, it is one i have mentioned in another thread. i paid a bit more for it as it was regarded
as being in excellent condition. it turned out to be just that. cosmetically, and electronically. the only
issue is (2) lamps are out, but no big deal for now. a surprise was that it turned out to be teak -something
i did not know when purchased online. the other (6) are rosewood. the best of my 2400's was one that i got
for a good price, but needed help. thx to dillen, it now has all new caps and new lights. in addition, i
was fortunate to stumble upon a nos case while it was apart. it is now like walking into a showroom 30 years ago.

the 2400 has warmth, clarity, and simplicity that is just endearing. the 4500 seems to be very similar but perhaps
not as "warm." i find them very similar. i suppose the nod would go for the 4500, being newer and better integrated
w/ its siblings. also, the ability to use passive or actives is a huge plus, not to mention the wall mountability.
oh, and of couse the ability to drive a link system!

the 6000 is indeed hard to beat (though i don't care for its footprint); i used to listen to it quite a bit.
i guess i just need to find that 8000 now!

My first receiver was a 2400 and I have had or heard most of the rest of the  series. Never had a problem with lack of power - I used S75s for years with the 2400 - though it would distort at the very highest volumes so I didn't venture there. The 4500 is actually not too different from the Beocenter 9500 in most respects and again this is a perfectly acceptable sound.

The stars in the range however are:

Beolab 5000 - lots of power and a very clever circuit design which puts the two channels out of phase and allows transients to be dealt with even better.

Beomaster 4400 - my favourite and a superb design again. Actually very similar in electronic design to the later 80s 6000 which John likes.

Beomaster 2200 - completely forgotten receiver and built in most novel way - far more like a TV set than a receiver, with discrete modules. Superb sound and very powerful. Good looks and very cheap!

 

Peter :

Beomaster 4400 - my favourite and a superb design again. Actually very similar in electronic design to the later 80s 6000 which John likes.

Beomaster 2200 - completely forgotten receiver and built in most novel way - far more like a TV set than a receiver, with discrete modules. Superb sound and very powerful. Good looks and very cheap!

oh yes! the 4400 is what replaced most of my 6000 listening time -wow!
re: the 2200 -i was able to pick up an (oak) a few months ago. she needs clean-up, but what a neat piece! i hope to couple it w/ my (teak -looks like oak, though...) bc2200 and then move the (oak) mc120.2's over to this setup as they all "nearly" match.

burantek:

Peter :

Beomaster 4400 - my favourite and a superb design again. Actually very similar in electronic design to the later 80s 6000 which John likes.

Beomaster 2200 - completely forgotten receiver and built in most novel way - far more like a TV set than a receiver, with discrete modules. Superb sound and very powerful. Good looks and very cheap!

oh yes! the 4400 is what replaced most of my 6000 listening time -wow!
re: the 2200 -i was able to pick up an (oak) a few months ago. she needs clean-up, but what a neat piece! i hope to couple it w/ my (teak -looks like oak, though...) bc2200 and then move the (oak) mc120.2's over to this setup as they all "nearly" match.

Can I just add that MC120.2 are absolutely superb speakers. I was given mine for free, and they're absolutely wonderful sounding - a perfect match for the Beomaster 6000!

I have the BM4500 but cannot hook it up to speakers directly right now, but I am very pleased with it. It is running as a hub essentially, that is then outputting into a Yamaha Natural Sound receiver which in turn is powering two JBL Northridge E80s. And they sound magnificent. I cant wait to hear the full effect of it once i have speakers that plug directly into the BM4500. I have no experience with the 2400 in question, and just wanted to comment on the remarkable Beomaster 4500.

Evan 

Why the Beomaster 8000?

To me I allready had the Beocord 9000 and I was not totally aware of the many different series you can get.

Once I found out the Beomaster 8000 is a perfect fit with the Beocord 9000 serie wise I quickly wanted to try one at some point.

The 4500 serie is nice but it's 4 units for the system to be complete. I would get some link options but for some reason I'm not that into the 4500 or 2400 style wise.

As mentioned before the 6000 system with S80.2 and S120 the sound quality is just as good as the Beomaster 8000 with Beovox M150's. They both have great reasons for being the main system. As far as other systems it really does not matter in the end. I got great sounds and as long as I got Dillen aviable to do service I'm going to stick with 6000/8000 for a long time to come.

I might be going for Beomaster 2200-2400 as my parents got the Beovox S45.2 and a Beogram 2200. The Beogram has seen so little use since new in 1979 and its a better recordplayer than the Beocenter 2000.

 

 

In my case, the 4500 is great. I only have the receiver and the cd player and that's all I need. I have no aspirations to hunt down a tape player or phonograph as they are of no use to me. As far as style is concerned, the 4500 is decades ahead of what it was competing against back in its day, when looking outside the B&O showroom.

Upon reading this post, just had a little moment of nostalgia, as I had the realisation that the iconic and standout BM2400 was my first introduction to B&O. We were visiting family friends in the early 80's and they had just got this sound system that was nothing like the silver boxes I would see at the local electronics store... even more exciting was the touch controls, red LED's and glowing displays... and who could forget the long horizontal design, the high tech looking remote... and  well, of course the smooth sound...

I suppose, that is why to this day I tend relate to B&O as still being about the 'flats' as Jeff calls them ...and therefore most of the models I appreciate, including todays BS9000, take on this horizontal, linear design ...

 

Even still do most other brand audio products not have this level of style or features, oh and sound of course.