Hello everyone!

It is of course normal for 20+ year old products to suffer from different kinds of faults over the time and use and of course newer products can have problems too but since i am not of the very experienced B&O users nor am i an electronic engineer and would like to (mostly) just enjoy using the equipment i was just wondering whether there is some sort of list for common faults for different B&O equipment? And by this i don't mean any quality comparison between products or something like that, just a list of the most important things you should check before investing in a new B&O product.

This is because i personally feel that i should have been more careful when purchasing equipment but just didn't have the experience or knowledge to check things or ask for a certain detail, and as we all know B&O is all about the condition. Some things you can verify visually from a photo and of course some things you should study carefully before just getting something but i really think there are quite a lot of things you can miss if you're not experienced. I have also noticed that sometimes people don't even know what they are selling or know how it should work so if something arrives faulty or broken doesn't always mean it's **cked by delivery or the seller is somehow trying to trick you (which has also happened to me). That's why i'd like to have some sort of checklist especially for people new to B&O and maybe avoid them to have bad experiences with especially older and used equipment.

I hope this thread is experienced as positive and constructive. :)

Best regards,

Olli

Buying used B&O equipment:

First of all consider exactly what it is you want to buy, desided, do your home work, that means: f.exp. Beocenter 7000, in the search for this forum, search it, read which ongoing problems is normal for this equipment. Go to beocentral check what they got.

Second, if its posible, check the items before buying.

On auc.sites check prices over a month or so before starting bidding.

If you buy from an auc. site, check the availability, if you find  items corrosponding your wishes, check the fotos and descriptions, check the sellers rating, if you want to know more about it, ask questions, if needed ask for more pics. If the seller tells you that he does not know the equipment and cannot test for some reason or other, dont buy.

Nearly all BO more than 25 years old need new caps and lamps and a throughout cleaning, there is no way to avoid it.

Nearly all Beovox need new driver surrounds and all of then new caps.

All Beograms need a new cantilever ($ 150.00+) and new bands, the cantilever may work for a time, but sooner or later you will have to change, buy a new one from Soundsmith or get one repaired from Axel in Germany, but count that in when you buy a deck.

Last, check shipping fees, a lot of sellers makes a buck there too.

If you ever bought a used car and got screwed, you will know what to do

Thanks for your nice reply! You mentioned a lot of good points worth remembering for anyone regardles what they are buying. You also mentioned normal ongoing problems for certain equipment and this is exactly what i was aiming for. I mean this forum is a great source for information just about everything B&O - that's what the slogan says! What i wanted to ask was if there was some kind of guide compiled from this forum but i guess not and there's nothing wrong with that, so i think we'll just go through the forum or ask there when we need answer, just like before. :)

It is quite difficult to make a definitive list of faults. There are a few common issues - the 70s audio equipment was fitted with red capacitors which were highly specified at the time but which have been found to leak These need replacing. CRT tubes on some sets are prone to fail - the early Avants were bad in this respect but most have done this now! The early 80s saw a decrease in the quality of build materials - the Beogram 8000 is a wonderful record player and very technologically advanced, but had started using double sided tape and cheap plastics compared to the earlier decks.

On the whole, most B&O is beautifully made and designed to be serviced. This is why so much is still working! Expect wear, but if it looks in good condition cosmetically, the electronics can usually be repaired. Trim parts are the bits that will be the most difficult to source.

Well, yes, there currently isn't such a list... Can't see why one couldn't be compiled though, but I suspect that once everybody has mentioned their favourite faults, it would end up being as long as the "typical problem" lists of car models - endless. It will probably be easier and more reliable to just ask in advance, after a forum search of course  

My favourite entry is though: always assume that a turntable cartridge is shot.

Many of our local (Finnish) listings are totally uninformed. Some sellers seem to move (or try to move) a lot of kit, but constantly can't be bothered to even recognize the model, and if they list any facts, they are all wrong. I wouldn't believe a word in those listings, and that attitude has served me well...

Thanks for you too Doctor! I understand it's difficult if not impossible to make such list and how to define which faults are inherent for certain models. Nevertheless this thread has already gathered a good base of information on this subject for some series of products. Keep going!

I totally hear you fellow Finlander. As for an example, few weeks ago some guy was selling BG1203 "as new" with no description and with only 1 photo. I got no response when i asked for further information and photos. The auction ended up 150e. I didn't bid btw. ;)