Tomorrow I should hopefully be receiving a white Beogram 7000 which I was hoping I might be able to use with my Beocenter 9000. I didn't get it specifically for that purpose, it is just being thrown in with the purchase of some other B&O equipment and it has been unused for a few years so may not be working, but I would at least like to be able to test it. 

I've been reading some old threads on the forum about the in-built RIAA on the BG7000 and just want to check I've understood correctly that the BG will NOT work if connected to the Phono input on the BC9000, but will work if connected to TP1 or TP2, just I will loose the ability to control it remotely? Have I got that right?

Depends what you define as "work". The BG will "work", but not as generally intended, if you connect to the PHONO input. It will provide loud, distorted sound, because the PHONO input is amplified, therefore this PHONO input requires a device with UNamplified output, to be connected to it.

As the BG 7000 has a built-in amplifier, connect it to the TP1, or TP2.

Regarding the remote capability - does the DIN-plug of the BG7000 have 7 pins - if so, the physical connections for the remote ability are there. If only 5 pins, someone has removed the 2 required pins.

Assuming that all 7 pins are present, on the REMOTE, try selecting TP1 or TP2 and press PLAY - I'd be interested to see what happens.

Regards

Menahem

A Beogram won't respond to Tape commands.
You may have to unscrew the two datalink pins on the Beogram cable to be able to play it through a tape input
or you will have a very confusing setup.
Pressing play on the Beogram will see the Beomaster switch to the Phono input regardless of which input
on the Beomaster received the command.
Selecting Phono on the Beomaster will send a start command to the Beogram (and it will start) but the Beomaster
will switch to its Phono input and you won't get any sound through while the Beogram is connected to a tape socket.

In some cases, you can overrule this by using the "Control" button on the MCP (but not always).
F.e. While playing or winding a tape on Tape 1, pressing "Control"-"Tape2"-"Rewind" will have the deck connected to Tape 2 rewind while leaving Tape 1 undisturbed.

Martin

Martin,

Thanks for an exact answer!

Now, carrying on the same train of thought, if one wants to connect this BeoGram to the BC9000 PHONO input with full functionality, theoretically we have to get rid of one of the RIAA amps, either in the BeoGram or in the BC9000.

I seem to remember that the BC9000 has an RIAA "module", which may be easily bypassed/disconnected. Am I correct in thinking so?

The BeoGram's RIAA is a little more work to disconnect.

Menahem

It is easy to bypass the riaa in the deck without being too much of a technician then swop the datalink connections in the din plug.

Ah, thanks for the detailed replies - this seems a bit more complex than I thought!

The Beogram arrived today, and actually the B&O DIN plug has been removed at some point and replaced with standard RCA plugs, which means I can't use it with the BC9000 anyway as it doesn't appear to have any RCA inputs. Can't complain though - it was free!

I will try it tomorrow by connecting it to the the RCA inputs on my BM5500, see what happens, and report back here.

Out of interest, is it possible to buy a replacement DIN plug for the Beogram, and re-fit it in place of the RCAs?

Easier to use a completely new cable. If using it without the RIAA, a full wired Powerlink cable with the centre pin removed works well.

Same problem with the 5500 as that has the built in riaa on the phono input.

Try plugging it in the CD socket of the BM5500. That uses phono commands.

Right, I've plugged it into the TP2 RCA sockets on my BM5500 and the good news is that it seems to work, and I'm getting normal, non-distorted sound out of it. 

However there are a few problems I've identified so far:

1) When spinning, the platter makes an intermittent scraping noise once every revolution. I'm sure I've loosened all the transport screws as much as possible, so not sure what that could be.

2) When you press play, the arm moves across to the edge of the record and drops down, but doesn't seem to be moving quite far enough across as the arm slips off the record. You have to use the 'Turn' button to move the arm far enough across for the record to play.

3) I don't seem to be getting any sound out of the left channel, and this is only the case with the BG7000, not any of the other sources.

Any ideas on what might be causing any or all of these problems??

1. Platter height adjustment (mentioned in the service manual) or damaged main bearing or warped (platter and/or) subplatter or
something not sitting correctly inside.

2. Adjustment of the carriage, it's a string arrangement and the adjusting procedure is mentioned in the servicemanual.

3. Probably a dead MMC cartridge. Try another cartridge or try the cartridge on another Beogram.
Alternatively, if you only have that one cartridge; Try dismounting, rotating and mounting it again upside
down, touch the needle tip very gently with your finger and listen for
noise (while "playing" a record). If the silence now moved to the other channel the cartridge is defective.
If the dead channel is still the same, the fault is not with the cartridge but something else.

I mentioned the MCP (Master Control Panel) earlier in relation to the operation of a datalink product that was not
currently the active one, of course this does not apply to your Beocenter, it was merely to shed light on the functionality issue.

Martin

Thanks Martin. I don't think that problem 3 is the cartridge because I was using the MMC4 from my BG5000 which I know works fine on that so must be something else.

I've been trying to sort the scraping by adjusting the platter height as suggested and it seems to be improving with trial and error, but can someone help me with this line from the service manual: "Adjust with the screws L until the distance from the top plate to the topside of the turntable is 2.5 - 3 mm as measured with the carrier pushed in the direction of the centre". As in what exactly has to be 2.5mm from what? 

I believe this means how much of the side of the platter you should see above... ummh...  the part of the deck that doesn't rotate

I never bothered to measure, just adjusted the platter level, and high enough that nothing scrapes. Had to do this in both of the this series decks that I have - I guess the springs sag with time.

With a record on the deck and the carriage moved to the centre of the turntable you adjust for a 3mm gap between the record and the turntable surround.

The figure is not set in stone but you should not need to be very far off that.

Let me know if you still get the noise as there is another source of scraping that I discovered quite recently!!!

OK, I've managed to largely eradicate the scraping, but to do so I've had to raise the platter up quite a bit - it's more like 5mm above the surround, and it doesn't really look right, plus there is still a bit of scraping when you start and stop the record.

Graham I'd be interested to hear what your other source is, just in case!

Correct, too high and will look a bit ugly.

At that height the arm carriage could be scraping on the underside of the deck which would explain the noise on starting/stopping the record.

The persistant scraping that I had was 75% into the record and was the arm drive wheel scraping on the sub platter.

Is the platter running flat or does it wobble up and down??

OK, I've managed to pretty much eradicate the scraping with the platter at a normal looking height.

Now the arm - I've found the bit in the manual that explains how to adjust this, but I'm not sure where the parts shown on the diagram are to be found, or how to get to them - can anyone point me in the right direction? 

The adjustment is inside the Beogram and I've seen cases where owners broke little plastic holders and/or other pieces of the mechanisms
in an attempt to get it right.
I can point you to it but - and please don't get me wrong - I really wouldn't like seeing you do something wrong in this Beogram so
I more or less feel like pointing you towards an experienced repairer instead.
It won't be a costly thing so long as nothing breaks or gets misaligned.

Martin

Well I've located the relevant parts and it looks fairly clear what needs to be done to sort it, but I think I'll take your advice Martin and leave it alone in case I end up doing the wrong thing.

I would like to try and get it serviced properly but the problem is finding someone who will do it. I'm assuming it's too old  for a B&O dealer to work on, and the only person I know of who could do it lives the other end of the country from where I am. Anyone got any recommendations?

BTW should have said I'm in NE UK.

Well, the decision is of course yours but if you have located the adjustment you can easily see what can go wrong and how ugly it can get.
Try rotating the little wheel ever so gently, don't use too much force. If you can do it using only "controlled force", you can
do it right yourself.

Martin

I think I'll leave it to the proffesionals! B&O in Newcastle actually claim they can service it and have quoted me approx £120 as long as no new parts are needed. Does that seem reasonable or does anyone know of anyone in my area who could do it cheaper?

Also, as this isn't going to be easily made compatible with my Beocenter 9000, I might just sell it. If I do decide to do that, is it likely to be more economical to pay to have it serviced and sell it as fully working, or just sell it as is? 

Diabolical!!!!

What will they do for £120????? plus parts !!!!!!

Well that was to completely eradicate the scraping, sort out the arm so that it drops down in the right place, and fix the lack of sound through the left channel, and to re-fit a B&O cable. Also they'll pick it up from me for no extra charge which saves me petrol costs of driving it somewhere. The quote was based on about 2 hours labour.

Didn't seem cheap to me, but also didn't seem too outrageous. However if someone knows of a cheaper solution, please let me know! Or should I just not bother getting it fixed and sell it now??

OK So that is way more than just a service. Picking it up from you  (and dropping off after?) is worth quite a bit and makes their charge quite reasonable.

Beware though, if the lack of sound in one channel problem is down to a problem with the mute relay, you could be looking at another hour or so to fit a replacement.