BeoGram

Re: Beogram 5005

Søren Mexico — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:02:19 GMT

Rich:

Congratulations! And another thumbs up for Axel.

In the States here, I'm a satisfied customer of Bennie who couldn't fix my MMC4 but sold me a retipped one he had on hand for the same price he would have charged me if I had supplied a cartridge he could fix. (Did that make sense?)

Only if Bennie got the virus

Re: Beogram 5005

Rich — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:14:16 GMT

Congratulations! And another thumbs up for Axel.

In the States here, I'm a satisfied customer of Bennie who couldn't fix my MMC4 but sold me a retipped one he had on hand for the same price he would have charged me if I had supplied a cartridge he could fix. (Did that make sense?)

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:53:23 GMT

Update: I sent my MMC4 off to Axel. He fixed it and sent it back. I unpackaged it and excitedly attached it to my 5005. Placed a little Mozart on the platter and hit go.

It sounded dreadful. I was gutted.

Then I clicked back the stylus protector thingy and played the record again.

It sounds just perfect!

I'm still kicking myself for not setting it up properly...anyway it's all good in the hood and for the best price on the web. Recommended.

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:40:38 GMT

Thanks Martin,

I've sent the cartridge off to Axel - hopefully the refurb'll sort me out good'n'proper.

Re: Beogram 5005

Dillen — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:45:40 GMT

If you test the Beogram 5005 on the Tape input, you must remove the two datalink
pins in the DIN plug on the Beograms cable.
If you don't, the Beomaster will stop the Beogram when you press Tape on the Beomaster
and switch to the Phono input (which is empty) when you press start on the Beogram.
In both cases, the result will be silence.

Martin

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:25:31 GMT

Good point - ok I've emailed Alex. I'll keep this post updated with the outcome - may help others along the way.

Thanks once more for your help everyone.

Julian

Re: Beogram 5005

joeyboygolf — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:00:52 GMT

pepps:

Nice one thanks Graham. I was just checking out a new SMMC 4 from Soundsmith. $149.99 + $35 shipping to the UK. I'll see what Alex says.

Cheers

Julian

Plus import duty which will be collected by the courier when he rings your door bell!!

Axel is within the EU so no import duty. He will charge you German VAT (19%) or sales tax, however.

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:21:16 GMT

Nice one thanks Graham. I was just checking out a new SMMC 4 from Soundsmith. $149.99 + $35 shipping to the UK. I'll see what Alex says.

Cheers

Julian

Re: Beogram 5005

joeyboygolf — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:12:01 GMT

If you want an exact price I suggest you email Axel Shuerholz at info@schallplattennadeln.de

He understands and will reply in perfect English! Expect to pay around 90 Euros

I'm a used B&O reseller so I get mine done in quantity. I can recommend.

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:49:18 GMT

Graham and Olly, thanks to you both. Good suggestions.

I can try another amp here - no problem. As for sending the cartridge off, as you suggested Graham, I'm sadly an idle Brit with rather limited multi-lingual ability. Have you used the re-pointing service before, as advertised on your recommended website? If so do they quote a price for a refurb upon enquiry or do you know roughly how much a refurb is likely to cost?

Re: Beogram 5005

Step1 — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:37:07 GMT

While it is 90% certain to be the cartridge maybe worth plugging into another phono input on a different amp? Just a thought really!

Re: Beogram 5005

joeyboygolf — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:55:35 GMT

I strongly suspect that the stylus is knackered (technical term!).

I have lost count of the number of decks that I have bought that had stylii that looked good but sounded awful.

Send it of to http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/ and get it refurbed and it will sound wonderful again.

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:50:47 GMT

Hi Soren,

Thanks - I've had a good look and the stylus is certainly the only thing in contact with the record as it turns.

The pictures below show the tonearm, cartridge and stylus in action.

Re: Beogram 5005

Søren Mexico — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:37:12 GMT

Check also when playing a record that the MMC4 head runs free of the record, only the stylus is to touch the record, a MMC2 of mine played well for 2 LPs and efter that the suspention gave in and the head was touching the record, awfull sound.

Re: Beogram 5005

pepps — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:27:52 GMT

Hi there - thanks for the fast response.

Yes I've unfastened the transport screws. No problem there.
I just unplugged the din from the Phono socket and tried it in Tape 1, then Tape 2. No sound from the playing record. I guess no alterations have been carried out on the original design.

I took a close look at the MMC 4. Looks fine, as in everything you suggest I check appears to be good and proper. The stylus sits nicely in the center of the head of the cartridge, it's free from dirt and looks to be in good shape. I've no idea what a 'good' stylus tip actually looks like though, so I've no way of telling if it's worn out. I guess it is. If one of you fine and passionate enthusiasts can concur that a knackered stylus will produce a distorted sound I'll go with that.

Any further thoughts? I really do appreciate your efforts.