After working with the Beomaster 6000, I really got into taking a closer look on my Beomaster 4400 as well. I've been using it pretty much daily for around 2-3 months and it hasn't let me down so far in terms of very great and enjoyable output.

Anyway, after visually inspecting the components, especially a couple capacitors, I became sligthly worried about its need for a service - might there be something in a bit bad shape since the Beomaster gives quite a kick to the speakers when powered on or is it just normal for this powerful amplifier (My Beomaster 6000 doesn't do that for example)? I mean the speaker cones moving noticably inwards and giving an audible click -  not a very weak one! It's some kind of a peak coming out to the speakers always when powering on the Beomaster. It can be avoided by switching the speakers off before powering up, but might it be a bad idea to do so?

Here's a set of pictures I took, if anyone is interested in taking a look: http://www.verkkojohto.net/webu/bm4400/

Thanks in advance for your opinions, Jouni

Hi,

what is this dirty stuff on the two brown 100/40 caps? Cracks in the plastic?

Martin

Hello Martin,

I'm not very sure about it either, but it looks like they've been sweating or something. Taking a closer look on http://www.verkkojohto.net/webu/bm4400/Kuva%20056.jpg actually makes me think about very small leaks/cracks in the plastic as well! Not very good probably (so it's coming from inside the capacitors), don't know should I try to scratch that stuff off a bit to see better, maybe bringing a magnifying glass in

Regards, Jouni

If that gunk really is coming from the caps, they are toast - I'd replace then in any case.

You also seem to have the original trimmers for idle current adjustment (R177 and R277, 100 ohms near the two power resistors for each channel). They are most likely ripe for replacement, especially if the BM gets hot even at small volumes. Do them one at a time and preset the new trimmer in roughly the same position where the old was before powering up, so you'll have time to adjust the setting before the protection circuit shuts the amp down or something gets too hot...

Anyway, most old Beomasters give that "thump" from the speakers when powering up or down, including my BM4400. I believe it is due to the different caps charging at uneven rates since the values have gone off with time - or maybe they always did that, I never heard any of these receivers when they were new

Hi,

I just received a Beomaster 4400 from an E-Bay auction here in the United States. Peter warned me awhile back about caps that might need to be replaced & the difficulty in getting inside of the unit. Is it quite tricky to actually get inside?

I also don't have an owners manual for the unit & for the life of me I can't figure out exactly what all the levers are for on the front facia. 

I picked up a remarkably clean unit. Yours looks absolute dead on factory mint. Nice going

Cheers,

Duncan

The user and service manual are both on site as well as an interesting article about the design principles behind this unit. The 4400 is easy to open up - the trickier part is getting to the switches because of the sloping front - it is just a case of perseverance though - I have actually reduced one of these to the constituent parts and it has been put back together again! The boards are not too tricky to get out though which is what is usually needed.

The switches are fairly straight forward - Linear bypasses the tone controls, the filters remove hiss or rumble ( I use linear and avoid the filter switches!) Tape 1 is clever as it allows off tape monitoring with the right sort of tape machine.You can reduce the bump at start by keeping the speaker switches off and only engaging them with the Beomaster on.

Have you got the preset cover? - often missing!

Hi Peter! 

Great information! You're a walking encyclopedia.  

After looking at the photos of the original poster, I had a quick check & found the little plastic rectangular cover doohicky missing unfortunately. Maybe I can pester Frede for one if he has one floating around. What are the six little wheels underneath them for??? 

The front panel reminds me of a cockpit for a Boeing 707.

The other thing I've noticed is that there seems to be an attachment between the heat sinks for an antenna or aeriel. I imagine that'll be a challenge to find. Should I just go for a wire cable antenna that's sheathed in clear plastic? (I have no idea what exactly they call those things, but recall seeing them!). 

I think it's a very elegant, technical looking, handsome unit. My mom has been admiring it. I think it'll go really nicely with the Beogram 4000 that I'm working on. 

Cheers,

Duncan

Duncan,

             one of our members & fellow moderator Kevin actually made his own replacement pre-set cover and very good it looked too. Try dropping him a message/email, he may be able to help.

Chris.

The little wheels are the preset tuning wheels that are selected by the P1 to P6 switches. To tune, switch off the AFC and turn the appropriate wheel. You should have a choice of aerial sockets - 75 Ohm for a co-axial cable and a 300 Ohm plug which is used for a t aerial with a two pin plug.

The attachment is for the 'rabbit's ear' indoor aerial - surprisingly common but a proper FM aerial would be superior.

I too use a Beogram 4000 with my 4400 and have a CDX and an old Beocord 5000 as well - thoughy the latter is really for display only as I would not trust it with a decent tape!

The preset wheel cover is rare but one member did make some rather well from old CD jewel cases.

Interesting replies, thank you for them!

Wonder might that yellowish cover I've got be the orginal one. I see that a little restoration project would certainly be a good idea to this Beomaster - avoiding any problems suddenly appearing caused by the caps or trimmers for example. The "thump" might also get reduced a bit, somehow it feels a bit too strong for me to be fully normal.

Getting inside the device wasn't hard at all indeed, it's just about 4 screws for wooden top cover to get lifted up (in a slight angle and moving a bit towards the back first I think) and 6 very visible screws for the black bottom plate. All those screw locations are printed on the bottom plate - you'll need thin enough screwdriver for the top cover since one of its screws is in a tighter place next to the heatsink (and probably some patience getting it back there if you don't happen to have a magnetic screwdriver nearby like I didn't ). Good news for me that the boards aren't very hard to get out either - oh, I'll need to get my signal meter lamp replaced as well!

All the best, Jouni

Edit: Forgot something - have you had problems with the 75 Ohm connector being way too tight? I can't really get my regular 75 Ohm TV cable fit in (ends reversed, since a radio wall socket has the opposite connector to the TV wall socket). I have to use it the wrong way round (ends not reversed, just like attaching a TV to the TV wall socket). Beomaster 6000 works just fine with the same cable though.