BeoWorld North America

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:44:58 GMT

shortcuttomoncton:
Medogsfat:
The speaker connection plugs are 2 pin Din (male) which simply plug into the speaker sockets of the beomaster. There are 2 types available at most electronics suppliers, soldered & screw types, and cost pennies. Use any decent speaker wire and makes sure the positive side of the cable is connected to the small round post and the negative to the flat spade post.

Well I went to Radio Shack today and they don't carry 2-pin DIN at all. I downloaded the Beomaster manual and it says that it uses Phono plugs or Bang & Olufsen 7-pin plugs. Hmmmmmmm. Is this information incorrect? I just need regular Phono plugs?!

Well I hauled the amp out of its moorings today and took a look at the back, and it definitely is a 2-pin DIN as I was told. None of the big electronics stores that I can find online here in Canada carry 2-pin DIN; there's every other number of DIN up to 9, but no 2! I'm thinking that maybe I'm going to have to find this online somewhere, or else see if there's a boutique audio store around Halifax that might have some....

The existing speaker wire is connected via 2-pin DIN sockets, but they came with the system and are probably 15 years old at least...not to mention the speaker wires are only 5 feet long. Sigh. None of this is easy, is it....;)

EDIT: I've been trying to take an existing 2-pin DIN socket apart and attaching it to the new speaker wire, but don't seem to be able to separate the cover the from internals. I'm just gonna end up beating it up too much, dammit....

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:59:51 GMT

Dillen:
Easy - no, not really but not impossible, I've done several.

Hahahaha...in other words, I won't be doing it. :D If I miraculously get more time sometime in my life, or if it really starts to bug me, I might start to take a look at it...but realistically speaking, I've never done anything of the sort so I'd probably just *** it up!

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:52:29 GMT

Medogsfat:
The speaker connection plugs are 2 pin Din (male) which simply plug into the speaker sockets of the beomaster. There are 2 types available at most electronics suppliers, soldered & screw types, and cost pennies. Use any decent speaker wire and makes sure the positive side of the cable is connected to the small round post and the negative to the flat spade post.

Well I went to Radio Shack today and they don't carry 2-pin DIN at all. I downloaded the Beomaster manual and it says that it uses Phono plugs or Bang & Olufsen 7-pin plugs. Hmmmmmmm. Is this information incorrect? I just need regular Phono plugs?!

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

Dillen — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:37:23 GMT

Easy - no, not really but not impossible, I've done several.
You need to dismount the display and flip-down front panel to gain access to the cable.
The cable will have to be removed and is no longer available from B&O but I have had success with mounting discrete thin flexible wires instead of the ribbon.
Feeling the difference in flexibility over the original cable I actually find the discrete wires the better solution.
Make sure they don't get into a squeeze against the lower front frame chassis when closing the panel and take a note of the position
and exact path of the string for the front panel dampener before taking it apart.

Martin

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:08:22 GMT

Is there an "easy fix?"

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

Dillen — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:35:25 GMT

The front panel ribbon cable is bad, it's very common.

Martin

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:47:28 GMT

Well, I've moved halfway across Canada, but the system is finally up and (mostly) working, although I've been wavering about whether to get that belt repaired or not. I'll probably end up doing it, but right now it's pretty much a non-issue; where would I even be able to get tape cassettes at anyway?!

I do have a couple questions about the system. Like I said, everything seems to be working fine, except with one exception: the Beomaster 5000 has a few buttons that don't seem to work! I never noticed it this summer because I mostly used the MCP, to be honest. First off, the outside Mute and Play buttons don't seem to work – they don't have that satisfying "click" feeling that the Play button on the CD50 does, either. So, in order to turn off the amp, I usually press and hold the Play button on the CD player, which turns off both, or I let the CD player run its course and shut down, and eventually the amp goes to "sleep."

The other buttons that don't work are on the inside panel, and they're the right-side row of buttons running from "FM Mono" to "Advance." Oddly enough, the single button at the end, "Store," does seem to work – at least when I push it, it gives me the P sign. The others just have no response.

Anyone got an opinion? I'm not terribly concerned because I just use the MCP most of those functions anyway. Still, I wouldn't mind knowing if it's symptomatic of a larger concern!

Finally, the speakers I ended up picking up were Energy's Pro Series 4.5. They're about 7 years old, but from what I understand were made when Energy still had that small-company quality, and as far as I can tell they sound simply fantastic. The question I had was about how much I should be careful about driving them with this amp. They're not "big" speakers – 15-150 W RMS – but that's probably still a little bigger than what this amp was meant for! Thus, I'm curious as to whether anyone has some recommendations on how loud I should be setting my amp. I did some testing, and things sound pretty gorgeous and very clear up to the 3.4 (out of 6 of course) range. But, I stuck some Tool in for some dense, heavy sound, and slowly cranked it a couple notches to see what would happen. At 3.8, I suddenly got some small crackling, so I turned it back down pretty quick! Since then I've been a little paranoid – I'm not sure if it was a product of the speaker, amp, or the shitty speaker wire I'm currently running them on (although it is very short, about 5 feet or so, so that shouldn't be an issue.)

Any of that sound suspicious to anyone?

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

joeyboygolf — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 01:33:20 GMT

You should aim for a gap of 2-3mm between the record and the non moving aluminium surface. No more than 3mm. Remember to check with the playing arm at the edge and the centre of the record, it will make a difference.

Leveling the platter is a bit of a balls aching trial and error job I'm afraid.

I don't see any problem with the KEF speakers. Go for it!

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:35:13 GMT

Just curious about speaker suggestions for this particular amp, as my plans finally round into form, haha! I was looking at an older pair of KEF Q50s, which are bigger than I wanted (I was aiming for bookshelf) but leave room for future upgrades (and I can get a decent price!). Anyone have any opinions on running KEF speakers off the B&O amp, by any chance?

The other thing was, I didn't really find out if getting the platter balanced was simply a visual trial-and-error method or if there was some fine method/science/art behind it. Anyone care to pontificate? (Not that you're doing so, medogs, just saying...... )

Thanks!

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

Medogsfat — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:37:40 GMT

The speaker connection plugs are 2 pin Din (male) which simply plug into the speaker sockets of the beomaster. There are 2 types available at most electronics suppliers, soldered & screw types, and cost pennies. Use any decent speaker wire and makes sure the positive side of the cable is connected to the small round post and the negative to the flat spade post.

The alternative is B&O cables but they are nothing particularly extra special and cost a packet. Don't worry too much about spending a fortune on speaker wire as it doesn't really matter whether you spend $1.00 or $1,000 per metre.

I'm off to put on my tin helmet now before ANOTHER speaker wire debate kicks off

Chris.

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:54:49 GMT

Alright, so, I found those suspension screws on the bottom and yes they were tightened down...so I loosened them off, but it didn't make a difference. Then I made the connection with those three screws underneath the platter (and that back piece), and tightened those down pretty much all the way, and of course the platter lifted itself up and started working smoothly. I still have to fiddle around with getting it even, but would anyone have any advice as to how tight these top platter screws should be? Should they be tightened down with the platter raised the maximum amount, or just the minimum amount to let the platter glide smoothly?

As I'm a poor, broke-ass law student, I just don't have the money to get a membership unfortunately...getting those Beocord belts and a cartridge is taking care of that! Good thing our dollar is doing so well against the US' right now, haha.

My other question was about speakers. It was mentioned before that any speakers will work, but from making offhand glances at the Beomaster it seems to me there's some sort of proprietary connection going on for inputs, is that correct? Is there a generally accepted best way to get around that? I'm getting excited about getting some speakers, but this thing looks so sleek sitting Beocord-Beomaster-Beogram CD with the Beogram right on top in the middle...I'm gonna need fancy speakers to match, damn!

Thanks again for all the help!

greg

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

johny13 — Sat, 26 May 2007 18:57:43 GMT

If you are new to the B&O world, please listen to Peter's advice concerning purchasing phono cartridges on Ebay. Do not purchase B&O cartridges on Ebay!! There is one simple reason, there is simply no way to know if they are functional. In fact the seller will probably not know since he or she will probably not have tested them, and even if they know that the cartridges are non-functional, do you really think they'll tell the truth when a possbile 100 dollar sale is guaranteed?

In my own case I thought I had made the deal of the century, and bought an MMC5 for $75 on Ebay, only to find that it was useless!! Was there a way to get a refund from the original seller ? Too bad, he apparently was unreachable through his original email address. So I took that one on the chin, and simply did what I should have done in the first place, I ordered the correct cartidge from Soundsmillth, and now I have a n RX2 turntable that plays beautifully. John Y

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

Medogsfat — Wed, 23 May 2007 03:45:51 GMT

shortcuttomoncton:

Did anyone have any recommendations on my turntable issue? Obviously I need to loosen up these "suspension screws" which were mentioned by someone. I could just go poking around inside but I'm kind of hesitant to do so, especially considering how hard it is to get replacement parts if I mess something up. :D Is there any sort of tutorial or manual available for this kinda thing, or does anyone have any sage advice/warnings?

greg

The 3 suspension screws are located underneath the turntable at equally spaced intervals and simply loosen them off all the way. Be careful if you are planning on turning it upside down though as the platter & subplatter will fall off and may wreck the tonearm & sensor arm. Safest way is put it on a table and pull it forward to loosen them from underneath.

I agree with Martin - really worth upgrading to Gold membership for access to the user & service manuals to get the best out of your system. AND if you're quick you'll still qualify for the first Beoworld prize draw and any subsequent ones for the coming year.

Chris.

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

Dillen — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:21:04 GMT

Both the user - and service manuals are available for download.

Martin

Re: Beosystem 5000 non-working questions?

shortcuttomoncton — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:50:57 GMT

Heh heh, yeah, I didn't realize shipping was included in that, plus last time I checked the Euro was running a lot higher than it is now! I'll be ordering one ASAP to get it shipped out.

Did anyone have any recommendations on my turntable issue? Obviously I need to loosen up these "suspension screws" which were mentioned by someone. I could just go poking around inside but I'm kind of hesitant to do so, especially considering how hard it is to get replacement parts if I mess something up. :D Is there any sort of tutorial or manual available for this kinda thing, or does anyone have any sage advice/warnings?

greg