General Forum

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000? C75 v CX

snakygator — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:05:01 GMT

I am wondering if you would consider selling a pair of C75's? I have a restored set, but i have one blown tweeter. The foam surrounds if they have not yet failed will fail in time. replacement surrounds are available on Ebay and they are excellent.

Best,

snakygator

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000? C75 v CX

joeyboygolf — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 06:14:04 GMT

Sticky is the first sign of foam rot. You should resist the temptation to touch the surround!!!

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000? C75 v CX

Xseries — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 04:47:44 GMT

I have 2 pairs of C75s with no foam rot or signs of it, a pair of CX100s again without (thankfully - although they are starting to go sticky), but my 2 pairs of CX50s have had there drivers or foam replaced. Looking at the surround on the C75s it appears to be made from a different material and looks less likely to suffer than the CXs. I wonder if the quality is better - why the drivers cost more to replace. Perhaps sometimes the drivers are swapped out of C75s to replace those in the CX range?

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

joeyboygolf — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 03:33:43 GMT

Interestingly, I had nobby round to see me on Friday (on his way back home from a few days holiday) and he was not impressed by my 5000's! Said he preferred his pentas. His other half said she preferred my 5000's but I could not get her to pay my price!!!

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Peter — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 03:00:36 GMT

Actually I agree with Graham on this one - to a point. I actually prefer CXs personally but I like the type of sound they produce. However the RL60.2 does produce a better balanced sound as long as the cross overs are OK. Both pairs of my RLs sounded muddy with little detail in the top end and this was rectified by changing the capacitors (by the next owner!)

I would however choose Pentas over BL5000s.......

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

joeyboygolf — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:44:15 GMT

The problem with recommending speakers is that it is very subjective. To me, CX100's sound like the sound is struggling to get out of the box whereas RL's are more open and in your face. The same with penta vs Beolab 5000's. It just me and my ears!

My experience with CX 100's and 50's has meant that I now don't sell them unless they have had new drivers fitted. Unfortunately this means that they don't come cheap. I believe that RL 60.2 are a better second hand bet as they do not suffer from rot(?) At least, I've never had a rotten pair and they seem more efficient than CX's which suits the 30watt amp.

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

j0hnbarker — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:28:27 GMT

I think Erik wants the Beovox Pentas for their looks and sound quality, but would be let down with the 40W amp in the BC8000. Let's be honest here, a 40W amp into those speakers is going to struggle, and I know this is the case from hooking up to my BM5000 at 55W - it's not man enough in my 2 up 2 down 12x12 foot roomed house, so how is the BC8000 going to cope in anything other than a shoebox?

I have no experience of the S80s, but I do know that there are lots of refurbished CX100s and 50s out there if you have the patience. I got my CX50s (reconed) and Cona from Lifestyle, and they have been a delight from day one. RLs are really a love/hate speaker visually, and there is no way a pair of RL60.2s are any way near what a pair of CX100s + Cona can deliver sonically. Anyway, if we're being realistic, what's the chance of finding a nice pair of RL 60.2s over a nice pair of CX100s (Cona excepted, I must concede)???

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

joeyboygolf — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:41:04 GMT

Can I inject an element of realism into this discussion. The chances of finding a pair of CX100, beovox penta or S80 without foam rot are slim indeed. Be aware!

The amp in the beocenter 8000 is the same as that fitted in the rest of the series, It will need a full head of steam to get reasonable noise levels from beovox penta but not everybody wants to entertain the neighbours. They will work OK but not at their best, even so they will be better than CX100's and a boom box.

I use S80's as my test passives and they sound super, even with the start of foam rot. They are getting rarer in anything like working condition.I have just cosigned another pair to the skip.

My value for money selection would be RL60.2. They are available at low cost, look good, sound not bad and make a reasonable amount of noise with a 30wpc amp.

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Peter — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:19:52 GMT

Yes - you can do this - but it would probably be cheaper to buy a pair of Beolab Pentas. The only problem will be that the displays will not work but there are no displays in Beovox Pentas and if you do upgrade at some time, they will work!

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Erik — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:59:46 GMT

Just one more thing

What should I agree to pay for a par of Beolab 150/200´s?

Erik

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Erik — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:55:20 GMT

Great thanks!

It seems like the Cona and CX100 is a good option. But I am still thinking about the Beovox Penta´s. Is it possible to connect a pair of Beplab 150 to the Beocenter 8000, since the BC doesn´t have connections to active speakers? If yes, will both Beolab 150 and 200 work? And how would anyone describe the difference in sound between this setup and a pair of CX100 plus a Beovox Cona?

An awful lot of questions, but I have faith in your expertise

Erik

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Craig — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:32:21 GMT

For a while I had my Cona so it could be muted on my BC9000. When you press mute it only works on one pair of speaker connections. So I connected the Cona straight to these. Ran the CX100's straight from the other connections. Although the CX100's still play all frequencies , you can turn of the Cona when you want. Interestingly the best sounding speakers I used with my BC9000 IMO were a pair a Kef C20's.

Craig

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

j0hnbarker — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:17:15 GMT

Hi Erik

I'll leave it to others with more knowledge to fill you in on the differences between the C75s and CX100s.

It's easy to connect the Cona to the BC. You run normal speaker cables out of the DIN connections on the BC. These connect to the Cona with screw binding terminals, so the ends of the cables need to be bare wire. The Cona has another set of binding terminals to run back to whatever other speakers you are using (CX100s or C75s in your case) and these wires need to have a female DIN connection if you want to hook up to the CX100s or C75s. The crossover in the Cona lets the Cona handle the low frequencies and sends the higher ones to the other speakers. A lot of people find that despite the claims from B&O, the positioning of the Cona is important as the crossover is set rather high, meaning you can detect the 'boom' 'boom' sounds from it if it is not placed between the left and right speakers. I have it in a corner of my room as I do not have enough space to position centrally - it's not too irritating as I don't use it too much, but you might want to think about it if you are using the set up regularly and cannot position centrally.

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Peter — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:16:22 GMT

I wouldn't! The C75s possibly sound a little sweeter but only with the ear of faith! The drivers will be rotten and replacements cost twice as much as CX100s! The Cona attaches to the two speaker outlets on the BC8000 and has two outlets to go on to the CXs. Has the advantage of removing the lowest frequencies from the CXs and this lets them concentrate on what they do better!

Re: Beovox Penta for Beocenter 8000?

Erik — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:07:12 GMT

Thanks for your answer! As you suspected a S80 or MS150 wont really fit in to the rest of the interior. Actually the CX100 and Cona was exactly the other alternative i was thinking about.

But here is another question, at beocentral.com i could read this about CX100: "A replacement for the Beovox C 75. The construction was considerably simplified, with the woofers being mounted flat instead of on angled baffles, the log-line port and vent removed (though the shape remained on the back) and the crossovers simplified."

Do you think I should try to find a pair of C75s rather then a pair of CX100s?

And how do I connect a Cona to the Beocentral 8000?

Thankful for answers

Erik