Hi there,

I have a couple of unrelated questions to ask. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Firstly, I have a CD50 as part of a Beosystem 5000. Most of the time it works fine but if a CD's been playing for more than about 20 minutes if I ask it to skip track it seizes and the only way to get it to work again is to turn the whole system off and on again. In fact generally it just gets a bit tempramental after it's been in use for a bit, not reading certain tracks, refusing to find the start of new CDs when inserted, etc. It's not a major problem but it just puts me off using it as frequently as I'd like to. Does this sound like something that could be cured with a service or an easy repair? If so does anyone know anyone in the North East (I'm in Durham) who could help with this (doesn't have to be a professional, just someone a bit more technical ability than me!)? 

Secondly, I'm considering buying a Beovision MX4002 for my room. There is a dark-red one on Ebay at the moment and the seller is offereing to let me have it for £125 (negotiated down from £150). It has been in a spare room so hardly used, only 7 years old, and comes with motorised table stand and Beo4 remote, all supposed to be in excellent condition (oh, and owned by B&O employee and regularly serviced). I've been looking for one for a while and looks to be the best I've seen. It seems a reasonable price to me but I'm no expert - does this seem like a fair deal?

Final question, I promise! This is a long-shot I know, but I asked a while back about replacing one of the straps that was missing from one of my RL60s. It was suggested I could just replace it with some polyester ribbon of the same colour, but I have been unable to find anything on ebay or the internet more generally that seemed appropriate, so if anyone can recommend a good place to get some that would be great!

Sorry for rambling on! (If I should have posted these questions seperately or in different sections let me know - I'll know for next time!)

Thanks,

Rob. 

All CD50's are well beyond their sell by date and are becoming unreliable.  Fixing them is a bit beyond the average DIYer and you will need a specialist. The only one I know of is based in the deep south but someone in your area may be along later to help in this respect. My general advice would be to consider buying the later CD5500 model which will work 100% with your 5000 system and will be more reliable.

Now to the MX4002. Why are you even thinking about it???? The remote is worth £80-100 so that means you are getting a MX4002 for £25. If you don't want it just let me know where it is and I will have it!!

A small point. Just what do you do on a TV to regularly service it????? You can hoover the dust out of the back but beyond that it is bull.

Most RL series speakers have now got bands or a band missing. A satisfactory replacement has not been found ,in my opinion. I suggest taking them all off and forgetting about them. They actually do nothing functional.

joeyboygolf:

Most RL series speakers have now got bands or a band missing. A satisfactory replacement has not been found ,in my opinion. I suggest taking them all off and forgetting about them. They actually do nothing functional.

Just the other day at the office, I noticed that new cardboard shipping cartons came in bunches strapped together with something that looks exactly the same as RL straps - colour, thickness, stiffness. Too bad it was too narrow (like 5mm instead of 12mm, as I remember on my RL60.2s), otherwise I would've salvaged it. I have no idea where to get such packing strap separately, but it must be made from either polypropylene or mylar.

But if you decide to remove the rest of the straps, don't just forget them - sell them to someone else who is missing them!

tournedos:

joeyboygolf:

Most RL series speakers have now got bands or a band missing. A satisfactory replacement has not been found ,in my opinion. I suggest taking them all off and forgetting about them. They actually do nothing functional.

But if you decide to remove the rest of the straps, don't just forget them - sell them to someone else who is missing them!

The reason for my suggestion is that if one strap has fallen apart then it's a fair bet that the others are probably not going to last much longer. Would you buy them or would you be happy selling them?

Can't argue with most of that except that the laser on the CD50 is almost bomb proof unlike the CD5500 which can break. Usual problem is the motor which needs overhauling - however I agree with Graham that getting this done is not so easy!

Agree about the MX - I live closer than Graham so if you don't want it ....!!

Thanks for replies so far. On the basis of Graham's response I have just emailed the seller to agree to buy the MX!!

I had thought about getting a CD5500 but seeing as I only recently bought the 5000 system and the CD50 does work most of the time I had hoped there would be a way to get the small problems fixed - I suppose it depends on the costs involved in repair. I do spend a third of the year at my parents house in South Oxfordshire (I'm just a student in Durham) a lot of the time so if there is no one up here available I could always take it down with me. If it's not cost effective I may just live with the problems for now.

I have almost given up on the RL straps although it seems a shame to remove them as personally I think they add something to the design.

I guessed you were a student! (Your room!)  I do have a spare CD50 with recently serviced motor which you can swap for your less than useful one. I am just to the east of Newcastle but if you are interested, send me a PM and we can work something out. No RL straps as I have given away both pairs of RLs though!

joeyboygolf:

The reason for my suggestion is that if one strap has fallen apart then it's a fair bet that the others are probably not going to last much longer. Would you buy them or would you be happy selling them?

Luckily I'm not in the market either way. I just loathe the idea of throwing away something that might save the originality of some other pair. At least let the fixing blocks stay on in case you (or some later owner) stumble upon suitable replacement material later on...

And I agree that the RLs look naked without the straps.

Thanks for the offer Peter, I have sent you a PM. Well guessed about the room! I suppose I would have called it my bedroom otherwise. I should add my room is rapidly accumulting B&O equipment that it doesn't really have space for! I have read people on here saying it's like an addiction and I think they're right. I'd hardly heard of B&O until January and the MX will be my third purchase!

I have just bought some RL140s from ebay (for £23!) so if they're not in great condition I might just remove the straps from those and try and sell the speakers on!

The straps are a different size - RL140s are really quite big!! £23 is a very good price! You could always tie them together and use them as a punt!

Peter :

The straps are a different size - RL140s are really quite big!! £23 is a very good price! You could always tie them together and use them as a punt!

 

Oh, didn't realise that! guess I'll just have to squeeze them in here somehow!

I thought £23 was a good price too, but it was quite a badly produced listing so probably didn't get much notice. Having said that I haven't seen them yet (the listing had no photos) and althought the seller said they were working and in OK cosmetic condition I'm not expecting the best looking pair of speakers out there!

I replaced the straps with black polyester ribbon. You can buy it from a craft shop (try http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/cms/storefinder.asp) or any shop that sells dressmaking stuff. Comes in many colurs and widths.

The straps don't do anything. I left the speakers "naked" for quite a while but they really diidn't look right IMHO.

rgs218:

Peter :

The straps are a different size - RL140s are really quite big!! £23 is a very good price! You could always tie them together and use them as a punt!

 

 

 

Oh, didn't realise that! guess I'll just have to squeeze them in here somehow!

I thought £23 was a good price too, but it was quite a badly produced listing so probably didn't get much notice. Having said that I haven't seen them yet (the listing had no photos) and althought the seller said they were working and in OK cosmetic condition I'm not expecting the best looking pair of speakers out there!

You may find it altogether easier to move your room inside the RL140's

Nevermind, I'm sure your neighbours will be properly impressed

Puncher:

rgs218:

Peter :

The straps are a different size - RL140s are really quite big!! £23 is a very good price! You could always tie them together and use them as a punt!

 

 

 

Oh, didn't realise that! guess I'll just have to squeeze them in here somehow!

I thought £23 was a good price too, but it was quite a badly produced listing so probably didn't get much notice. Having said that I haven't seen them yet (the listing had no photos) and althought the seller said they were working and in OK cosmetic condition I'm not expecting the best looking pair of speakers out there!

 

 

You may find it altogether easier to move your room inside the RL140's

Nevermind, I'm sure your neighbours will be properly impressed

Yep - think small refrigerator size and you're about there :)

Puncher:

Nevermind, I'm sure your neighbours will be properly impressed

Believe me, my housemates are already very unimpressed with my RL60s, especially their ability to disperse music throughout the entire 6 bedroom house at unsociable times of the day!!

rgs218:

Puncher:

Nevermind, I'm sure your neighbours will be properly impressed

 

 

Believe me, my housemates are already very unimpressed with my RL60s, especially their ability to disperse music throughout the entire 6 bedroom house at unsociable times of the day!!

 

The bass on the RL140's isn't that much heavier

Puncher:

The bass on the RL140's isn't that much heavier

Try telling them that!

j0hnbarker:

Yep - think small refrigerator size and you're about there :)

Maybe I'll just have to remove the actual small refrigerator I already have in here then!

I'd also just like to compliment this site and in particular its users - within a couple of hours of posting I've had answers to all my questions and in the case of the CD50 a much better solution to the problem than I could ever have expected. That's got to be woth £30 for Gold membership, especially as I now own several pieces of old B&O and am likely to come looking for help here again. In fact I think I'll go upgrade now... 

Well I would if my Visa debit card didn't keep being rejected!

Any ideas on what the problem might be? I'm sure I'm not that poor!

Not sure but you are not alone - Lee is moving at present - try again later in the week!

I know Stuart is not too far from Durham, he can ably service CD50's 

email him at :  adamson_s@btinternet.com

he is about an hour drive away from you up the A74 headed north up to Motherwell

There was an eBay seller making replacement straps for the RL's, with fixing brackets too!

We bought a few pairs a while back, and can't remember her name. However, they look great! The name in red is missing, but the strap material was identical.

I'll do some grilling to try and find her details...

that would be great, I have some RL 60.2's that could do with a strap refresh, also I remember someone on ebay selling the distinctive Red & Black  speaker cables that go with the Redline speakers, but they seem to have disappeared, does anyone know who now sells the curly speaker cables these days ??

V13WNG:

However, they look great! The name in red is missing, but the strap material was identical.

Have you tried Letraset for the Name/Model No.??

Yes, any info on a strap supplier would be really good.

I picked up the RL140s today - they're in much better cosmetic condition than I was expecting and to my untrained ear they sound great (he let me have them for £20 too!). I see what you mean about the size though. They're actually bigger than the fridge I have in here!!

Only thing is they're a little bit grubby in places - is there any way of giving them a light clean without damaging them?

Thanks