BeoWorld North America

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

kennerd — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:08:25 GMT

egoh:

I think you can convert a Beosound 1 for US by simply connecting a jumper on the power supply board. You also might need to set the tuner mode using the service manual if you intend on using FM. It looks like they have the service manual here on the site.

Service Manual states that the jumper should be OFF for 220v use.

Interestingly enough, When I opened up the unit to verify the jumper, the jumper IS in place. It is working fine with the jumper in place, Euro power cord fed into my converter and plugged into a US 110v outlet.

I didn;t want to risk any damage, but based on the jumper conversation, if this jumper is in place, can I use a US power cord and plug directly into a 110v wall socket?? I certainly didn;t want to fry anything.

In terms of the FM: it tuned right in to US FM as soon as I plugged it in, so no need to convert/set anything there.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

kennerd — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:57:47 GMT

Update:

Received the Beosound 1 from the seller in Austria: slight damage to the front bottom corner where some plastic cracked, and the very bottom corner of the metal grill was flattened: out of view next to my desk anyway. Purchased a voltage converter from RadioShack on the way to work.

Plugged it in: no juice.

Called another RadioShack in the area to verify if they had a replacement: brought the Be in with me and it worked: original converter was faulty.

Popped in a CD: scraping noise! checked it out, and a piece of the broken plastic had somehow worked it's way into the CD section: removed and working fine!

Total cost, including shipping from Austria to US: $400.00, converter $42.79. I'm pretty happy with the find: bass response could be better on these units, and the lack of treble/bass adjustment is a bummer, but not bad for the office, given the price. Now to find a cheap remote so I can bring the Beo4 back home! Thanks all for your input.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

macjonny1 — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:33:23 GMT

Most stuff can be converted easily. I have one connected to a Beolit 1000 power source (Beopower).

However, once you get in to the powered beolab speakers that draw a lot of current, you will need huge converters and they will not become practical at this point. For example, you wouldn't want to run BL5s off of a converter

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

Evan — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:36:06 GMT

Eric, that is a widespread practice within B&O - probably the alternative to including a voltage selector.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

mediabobny — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:15:13 GMT

Didn't much of their vintage equpment have a voltage selector that you could set? Wonder why that was discontinued.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

egoh — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:50:08 GMT

I think you can convert a Beosound 1 for US by simply connecting a jumper on the power supply board. You also might need to set the tuner mode using the service manual if you intend on using FM. It looks like they have the service manual here on the site.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

colinhtucker — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:18:13 GMT

Ran UK Penta IIIs off of converters rated at 600 watts; each was the size of a shoebox. Never any trouble, even with extended (loud) listening.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

yachadm — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:13:55 GMT

I just sold a completely restored BeoGram 4004 to a US customer. All he needed was a 110V to 220V step-up transformer.

I also gave him instructions how to adjust the rotation speed potentiometers for 50Hz instead of 60Hz, but he said that the speed was spot-on, and didn't require any adjustment at all.

So if the speed is correctly adjusted before shipping, there would not likely be any requirement to readjust in the new country, unless a belt or other electronic components were changed.

Menahem

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

kennerd — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:12:31 GMT

Thanks for the reply.

I figured I would simply need a reliable converter, but it never hurts to ask! I also called a NYC B&O store and the rep there said that would be all that was neded.

So, I picked up a light green Beosound 1 for $400 shipped from Austria to use in my office. We'll see how it works out.

Re: Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

Søren Mexico — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:39:20 GMT

I have been running a Danish Beosystem 6500 with converter and directly from 2 phases here in Mexico, no problems, but in the BG i had to adjust speeds, but that could be because of new caps and new belt.

Euro B & O equipment used in US with a converter?????

kennerd — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:36:22 GMT

Does anyone use a Euro model B&O system with a voltage converter here in the US?? I found a nice deal from Austria, but am curious about use of it here in the US/