Vintage Products

Re: BM 4400 stereo balance

Cleviebaby — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:44:40 GMT

Martin,

Thank you for a really comprehensive response - I will certainly give that a go.

Cleve

Re: BM 4400 stereo balance

Dillen — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:47:21 GMT

The problem with contact cleaner is that it won't remove the dirt, dust and oxidation.
It will losen the oxidation and allow the dirt and dust to shift around a bit.
In the best of cases the contact cleaner will evaporate completely (leaving the dirt where it just happens to sit now) but in
the majority of cases this doesn't happen and the contact cleaner have only added to the mess.
The result is often fine at first but come back a week later and the problem has returned.

For most things, like f.e. potentiometers, I like to take them apart, add contact cleaner and
then wipe clean, dry and put back together.

Having said that, there are places that are very difficult to get into, like f.e. the front row of switches
of the Beomaster 3000/4000/4400 series. Here I usually place the Beomaster face down on a towel or similar
and spray contact cleaner in from behind.
Let it flow through the switches and drip out the front, excersizing the switches all the way as you go back and forth.
Let it soak for a couple of minutes and then flush and excersize again
This will flush a lot of the mess out and the results are usually fine.

If you doubt a speaker switch, you can bypass it momentarily for a test but make sure you don't short an
amplifier output.

Martin

Re: BM 4400 stereo balance

Cleviebaby — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:08:08 GMT

Hi Martin,

The switches have been execised, but always a bit wary about cleaning the switch contacts. Some people say use contact claener, some say don't use contact cleaner - what would you recommend?

Cleve

Re: BM 4400 stereo balance

Dillen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:09:09 GMT

First clean and/or excersize the speaker switches.

Martin

BM 4400 stereo balance

Cleviebaby — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:11:50 GMT

I've recently noticed the stereo balance from my BM 4400 has moved noticeably 'out of balance', in that the sound is clearly coming more from one speaker than the other, regardless of source. I have to adjust the balance control some two to three points on the slider scale to create a more accurate sound stage.

I have checked this with both 'speaker 1' and 'speaker 2' outlets and with 4 differemt sets of speakers and three different sets of cables all with the same results. All the speaker pairs have been set up equidistant from both end and rear walls so there is nothing in the room layout to affect sound dispersion. Headphone balance, though, is spot on, with the strereo stage absolutely right when the 'balance' slider is set to its central point.

Any thoughts on why this imbalance may be occuring?

Cleve