Hi everyone, got a bit of a question.

I have a Beocenter 5000 with a MMC20EN cart on it connected to a restored set of Beovox S55's on original stands (refoam woofers, new caps and rewired pigtails on midrange and tweeters).

I have always thought the B&O sounded great, nice relaxed sound with a fair degree of detail, the cart is about 10 years old and hardly used by the previous owner. The B&O sounds great and warm  but different to my Technics SL-1210 with Ortofon blue stylus and card which lives in another room on another system (a Marantz SR7002 into Yamaha NS-300 speakers with Cambirdge Audio 540p phono preamp).

In a few days I will be the proud owner of a fully refurbished Beomaster 1900 with all new caps and other bits as supplied by Dillen (its currently at the repair ship). The Beomaster will take the place of the Beocenter. Once I get the beomaster back I will need to find a turntable for it and my idea was to take the technics and use it with the Beomaster 1900 either via the phono input (without my cambridge preamp) or via the tape input (with the cambridge preamp)

Tonight in my anticipation I took the Technics and Cambridge audio pre-amp into the B&O room and connected it via the aux input to the Beomaster 5000.

The sound is very different, there is alot more detail in the mid and upper ranges, but the midrange and treble almost sounds over-cooked... there is more detail there but it is also much harsher than it used to sound via the standard deck in the B&O or than the Technics sounded in the other system - in a bad way.

Can anyone tell me if the aux input of the Beocenter 5000 could be causing this - when you connect something to the aux port you do need to select a tuner input so im wondering if the sound is somehow routed inside the Beocenter through substandard electronics or limited to a certain frequency range that the tuner would only use or something else related to the Aux input which might explain this huge difference.

Certainly when used on the Marantz with the same pre-amp the technics sounds fantastically sharp and by no means over excentuated in the mid and upper ranges but very detailed. They are both using nude eliptical stylii and the Technics has been professionally aligned and calibrated.

I am wanting to figure out if the technics will sound good with the Beogram 1900 and I was doing this by connecting it to the Beocenter.. , otherwise I will look to purchase a Beogram 4000 to go with the Beomaster 1900 although that is a seperate story.

Thanks for any advice

Andrew

B&O systems are made to go with each other. The output from an MMC cartridge is actually a bit lower than a standard moving magnet cartridge so you will need to take that into account. I am surprised the BC5000 sounds rotten with the Technics deck though - maybe it needs servicing and there might be something odd going on with the input - try a CD player or tape player through the input and see what that is like. You should be able to isolate the problem that way.

If you like the detail of the Tedchnics over the B&O sound, you should have a listen to a Soundsmith cartridge - certainly more detail than most of the original cartridges if not so relaxing to listen to.

Hi peter,
I have tried a CD played in my laptop using an external sound card (Creative Labs usb thinggy) connected to the B&O and it sounds pretty good.

Its only when I have connected the technics and the pre-amp that I get this issue.

Maybe it will be resolved by directly connecting the technics to the BM1900 when it arrives because I will be using the preamp in the BM1900 rather than the Cambridge audio... I suppose time will tell, I was just hoping for a quick answer.

Hey Peter, as a follow up.

A B&O store in Melbourne Australia is selling a refurbished Beogram 6000 with "new old stock' MMC4000 stylus.

They have replaced the keypad with a new one and fully serviced, new belts, etc...

My idea was to sell the Beocenter 5000 with a spare set of Beovox S35's I have, and sell the technics 1210 and use that money to buy the Beogram 6000. The store was $1200 AUD for it - roughly 2400 pounds I suppose... The Beogram comes with a 6 month warranty.

I am considering this because;

1. I have wanted a linear tracking turntable for years - I like the idea that they reduce if not eliminate inner groove distortion...

2. I also like the idea of having a fully automatic turntable and

3. I wanted a vintage B&O system which looks consistent in terms of styling - I have the S55's on stands to compliment the whole thing..

Having said that, I am selling a 18month old technics 1210 with a 'new technology' stylus and cart (Ortofon blue is quite a new model) in favour of a 35 year old deck... Any comments on this? am i crazy? is this deck too expensive?

Andrew