A fascinating thread.

Has anyone researched the possibilities to make a mod like this to Beovox 5000 panels? It'll be a very tight fit and feasibility could be questionable (wall installation, an additional wire to hide), but being able to lose the separate power amp between Ouverture and speakers might be worth the trouble.

Hi Henri,  I too was thinking the same thing :-)

1. Only if close to the transformer, but even then the splash out will be minimal and make no difference. You'd be extremely unlucky if it did, and worst case it would shut down the board and go into protection mode. I've got mine pretty close to those big transformers used in the Pentas crossover and it's fine.

2. I'm using unbalanced from my PC, which is why the ground connection is essential to get rid of the earth loop (hum). The device can certainly take either with no problems (see manual I sent). I think with balanced the sensitivity is greater.

3. signal chassis = ground. In the middle of the board is a hole where the ground connection lead goes to. Connect it there or to your mains ground lead. Balanced or unbalanced go to +/- signal input (last two pins of the connection). Don't forget to put + signal also to pin 4 for auto wakeup/standby.

Good luck. Nearly won some RL140's on eBay but couldn't get down London way to collect them :(

Andrew

me too, there are lots of RL35's, and RL45, 45.2, 60 and 60.2, but hardly any of the RL140's pop up, they can be driven quite hard  :-)

Long-term max. input power - 200 watts
Maximum noise power - 140 watts

snoopy:

I dont understand why you want to fix something that isn't broke. The midrange from my Pentas is exceptional, especially the imaging. Mine have had very little use, so perhaps your caps are shot or the driver coils are fried. As cheap as they may have been, they are very good.

They are not, and was not exceptional, they are not as good as the rest of the construction. But that is of course my personal oppinion and I hope you are not affended by that. Even the originals in good condition have some improvement possibilytis in my oppinion.

My originals are not in good condition they are in the early stage of foam rotting, there are several ways to deal with this, re-foaming, new elements from B&O or go with replacements from an other supplier. I have gone with the latest alternative and I will get back on the deails, -not so easy way to go...

Turbo:

go with replacements from an other supplier. I have gone with the latest alternative and I will get back on the deails, -not so easy way to go...

Please keep us updated. I'm not really enthusiastic about replacing my rotting midranges with OEM units.

Hi,

I've (almost) finished my first 'beolab RL7000'  (= RL7000 + ICE200ASC).

There's a powerlinkconnection and a powersupply added at the rear and a led to the front (behind the speakercloth)!

The ICE200ASC is next to the crossover.  The caps of the crossover are also updated.  I used Audyncap this time.  Just because I could find most of the correct values in their assortiment.  Only the 27uF was a problem and I made that one from a 22uF and a 4,7uF.  The 22uF is hidden under the crossover.

I've taken care to separate all the cables to avoid interference.  Mind the cable to the right.  This one goes to the bicolor LED.  I used a shielded 4wire cable (used for telephone) for this one.  I used the same cable for connection from the powerlink to the ICE200ASC.

The cable from the ICE to the crossover is the original one, but I twisted it.

The only problem left is the autopower on and off.  I connected the 'speaker on' from the powerlink to the 'signal sense' of the ICE, but that's no good.  I'll try the 'Auto_on/off' next week.

Mind the little green led behind the clotch.  I used a 3mm bicolor LED.  Therefor I drilled a 3mm hole through the chassis.  A nasty job to avoid touching the cloth, but I succeeded.

So next week the Auto On/off, the other speaker and next month the foam rot .

And for the sound.... Well I only modded one speaker, it has foamrot and it's till burning in, but the sound feels relaxed and enough power to swing the RL7000 .

Kind regards
Joost 

Interesting, I'm still trying to pick a set up.

You forgot to ground the IcePower board (centre hole on the board). You'll have an earth loop without it.

You shouldn't twist audio leads as it makes them into a transducer.

What's with the wire running from the 47v point used to power second boards?

A.

Hi Andy,

The wire running from the 47V point is the ground .  I read the tip on the site of that Dutch guy.  Pin 2 is the same as the ground hole in the centre of the board.  I used the groundwire which is present in the B&O powerlink cable.  Well I don't have a 'hum-sound', so I have the impression it works well.

I didn't know that twisting the audio leads was a problem.  It is even recommended in the IcePower Designer's Manual (p6).

The only thing I still have to sort out is the on/off.  The powerlink cable has a speaker-on signal, so it should work somehow. If I can't sort it out, I'll use the Signal Sense.

Kind regards

Joost

The board looks for an AC signal (signal sense) so the signal on/off from powerlink wont work (I'm presuming it's DC).

Fair enough on the 47v being ground I wasn't aware of it.

Pg6 is about reducing EMI to pass EU restrictions, I would follow one of their other examples (none twisted) if it were me, but the difference isn't going to be audiable for that wire length. Pg8 is more appropriate IMHO.

Any update on the sound quality using the redline's?

I may order another two 250ASC's for when I find some 140/7000's.

Cheers,

A.

Hello,

As mentioned above, I finished one RL7000 and just refoamed the woofer. I just have to fit them back in the speaker.

But as I have just become father of our first son, my priorities have shifted a little :-).

Soundquality seems good, but I'm no professional in judging these kind of things.  I have a little hum in the tweeter.   I'll have to take a closer look at that.  Maybe the ground...

PS: I paid 250 EUR for a pair of RL7000, with stands, but also with foamrot :-).

Kind regards

Joost

Gelukwensen Joost!!

Thx!

The end of night's rest :-), but maybe a new beolover :-)

I had a party at the weekend and the pentas were on full for 8 hours . Towards the end the amps started overheating and I lost the left one for a bit. The icepower has a 12v out, I might run a very quiet PC fan over the board next time.

Do we have an update for the 140's? I've just bought two in really nice condition and so will be doing the conversion as well. My only issue is the original supplier of the IcePower's hasn't returned my emails for another two boards so I'm out of suppliers.

Andrew

Hello Andrew,

My son allowed me to finish my RL 7000's this weekend .

So, now I have 2 RL 7000's with repaired foam, new capacitors and 2xIcepower.  

The speakers are nice and precise.  I have the impression the RL7000's are a good match for the ice200ASC.

I also discovered the cause of the hum.  It was the groundconnection.  With a connection to Powerlink, a connection to the ground of the powerlink causes a hum.  So I removed the groundconnection and the hum disappeared...

There is a webshop in Danemark which sells Ice250A and the powersupplies: CAD Audio DK.  But I believe the ICEpower modules aren't the only/best solution.  The site also offers other class D amplifier modules.  Also the Hypex modules receive good reviews.

Kind regards

Joost

Hello Andrew,

My son allowed me to finish my RL 7000's this weekend .

So, now I have 2 RL 7000's with repaired foam, new capacitors and 2xIcepower.  

The speakers are nice and precise.  I have the impression the RL7000's are a good match for the ice200ASC.

I also discovered the cause of the hum.  It was the groundconnection.  With a connection to Powerlink, a connection to the ground of the powerlink causes a hum.  So I removed the groundconnection and the hum disappeared...

There is a webshop in Danemark which sells Ice250A and the powersupplies: CAD Audio DK.  But I believe the ICEpower modules aren't the only/best solution.  The site also offers other class D amplifier modules.  Also the Hypex modules receive good reviews.

Kind regards

Joost

The seller got in contact just yesterday - two left - and now bought by me.  :)

There is another seller on ebay but he's shifting the old ones. He does have a pair of the new model 200ASC but he doesn't want to sell them unless you pay a lot more. He also wants more than the seller we used for just the old ones.

There is also a guy on diyaudio (search "200ASC" long thread towards end). He'll take about the same amount but he hasn't confirmed if they are old or new version (new version has two tranducers of the same size and has the layout on icepower website).

My 140's are in exceptional condition apart from one missing strap but they look better without any straps IMHO. I paid just £120 with the floor stands!

Pentas still rock. I drilled a small breather hole in the bottom and the amps no longer overheat at full power. The bottom is actually air-tight without a hole to allow for effective passive cooling. The sound is still to die for. I'd love to have them against a pair of Beolab 9 and 5's for a comparison....

I wouldn't use any amps but icepower as they are the best on the market hands down. The hypex are cheap and unrefined. The 200 have all the automatic shutdown and power onboard. The 250's dont have LED, auto standby etc. I heard they have a bit more kick but don't sound as nice as the 500's. The 250's could also damage the mid-range on the Pentas as can kick over 150W short-term (close to 200W @ 8ohm) and they'd certainly blow something on the 140's as the overheat circuit on the speakers wouldn't catch this sort of short term abuse.

I'll get some pictures up of my 140 conversion next week. Where did you get the little white stands for the 200ASC board from btw?

Andrew

Conrad sells the white supports.  Item nr 542270 - 89.  

They are from PB Fastener.

Do you have the pin diagram again? Specifically I need the 8 pin socket. I've no idea where I got it from before - it's not in the dev manual I sent you. Hmmm.

Also, had my RL140's apart today (well one of the two) and both speakers have a little form rot :(. Who did you use to get them done? My dad has repaired them in the past so I'm thinking of just buying the surrounds and getting him to do them.

For the record, the RL140 has a Seas tweeter and a Nokia mid-range (just like the Penta). I can't find the Bass unit anywhere - it has markings 8480186 K03TNI on the rear.

Oh found it.

I've only got one up and running and the sound with the Pentas is STUNNING. I mean _STUNNING_ :) :) :)

Hi,

I guess you mean 'the sound with the RL's' is stunning. :-)

I also repaired the foamsurrounds myself.  I ordered them at Good Hifi.  They have surrounds for the RL140, but these didn't fit with my woofers, so doublecheck the size with them.
The woofers of the RL140/7000 are known for being difficult to center.  It took me 1/2 hour each and lots of patience but it's fdoable.

I guess almost all RL 140/7000 suffer of foamrot.  I looked for replacement woofers, but there aren't any that fit the specs and if they come close, they cost 60EUR each :-(

Good luck

What form size rings did you end up buying? The RL400 is exactly the same as the RL7000 in your photograph and the drivers look like a direct match. I'm wondering what went wrong with your measurements - i emailed the guy and he doesn't know anything about the suggested ones not fitting.

Regarding sound, I was refering to the pentas with one RL active (the other still to do).

Andrew

Ive got a question: My displays dont work on my penta because Im using the Line-in with an old Yamaha. I noticed in the manual you can adjust the settings of the penta with the display, such as balance, bass, treble. With my setup (no display), is everything set at factory default or is it the last known setting? Is there a way I can reset the settings without the display?