I have a Beogram 6500 as part of a complete Beosystem 6500 I purchased brand new for my wife. It has not been used more than twenty times in its lifetime and not at all in the past ten years! When I decided to use it this week, it sounded fine at first but then the music gradually become distorted as the arm moved over the vinyl. The arm will move the whole distance and then retrn as it should to the 'park' position.

I guess it needs a really good check over/clean / service. Please can you advise me who could carry out this work? I will obviously pay for all carriage and any work necessary - in fact, if the distance is not too great, I'll deliver/collect the item.

I am most anxious that the work is done to the highest standard - the unit is absolutely concours & I want to keep it that way. I am a B & O fan (Beogram 3002 from new in 1973!)

Any suggestions or advice in respect of this problem would be most welcome,

Danny Wells ( ferrari458spider)

Location ??

I would start by checking the cartridge/stylus. If it hasn't been used for 20 years it is more that likely that the internal suspension in the cartridge has deteriorated & failed drastically as the playing of the record progressed. It seems a bit odd but when these cartridges fail they do so very very quickly.

Chris.

Was the record dirty?  Could be the stylus got gunked up as playing progressed.  Trying cleaning it using a stylus brush or better yet a Q-Tip (cotton bud) dampened (not wet) with isopropyl alcohol.   This will remove caked-on dirt better than a brush.  But be very gentle and only brush from rear to front.  

Either this or the cartridge suspension failed in mid-play, as Chris mentioned.  Quite common.

Thanks to you all for your interest. I have checked the stylus cantilever and it seems fine - flexes and returns as normal. The vinyl was spotless - I checked it out on my other system & the sound is  perfect. I have tried other vinyls and there seems to be a general distortion in the sound quality.

This distortion gets worse as the arm moves towards the centre of the vinyl. I wonder if the slide that the arm moves along is in need of cleaning/lubrication. If it is dry/dusty could it be impeding the smooth movement and therefore the tracking of the arm?

I really would like to get this unit sorted properly - whatever is needed.

Comments please, especially details of serious B & O technicians able to service the item to 'factory spec.

I am based in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire but am prepared to travel or arrange delivery/collection to where-ever is necessary.

Regards,

ferrari458spider

If the tonearm and sensorarm travels nice and parallel over the whole record, the
mechanical parts are fine.

In most cases of sound problems, the cause is the cartridge.

Martin

Do you have the tracking force set correctly for the cartridge you're using?

Good morning,

The unit is fitted with an MMC 2 cartridge and the tracking force set at 1.0 gm as per the manual.

As, from all the posts to date,  it is looking more & more likely to be a problem with the cartridge, if I should I need a new cartridge, where can I buy one from?

Axel at http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/ can restorate your MMC2, I can recommend him after having 4 carts retipped by him.

Maybe you should check the tracking force with a digital scale. It could have become out of adjustment.

Hi,

as for my first post here, maybe I could be of some help with this issue...

I have had a similar problem with the very deck...a few years ago I bought it for my daughter's B&O system as a faulty unit. The seller (former B&O authorized serviceman) claimed it was broken, actually the cartridge needed replacment. The symptoms were much alike these you have described. Every other aspect of the unit was perfect.

So the idea was (the price I have paid was rather symbolic, since known issues about cost and ability of getting the new cartridge) to try to modify the tonearm and equip it with some others brand cartridge (mods of this kind can be found over the net, and some of them seemed quite atractive!).

Anyway, I've got the deck and asked a friend of mine to make an inspection before modification we agreed about. The guy is, btw, a true hi-fi genius and after listening just about ten seconds of distorted sound coming from the vinyl, he said it was definitly not the cartridge problem...checked the stylus under the microscope- 98% o.k.- and than opened the deck...

...it was RIAA amplifier one chanel ''something'' broken, and some capacitors etc...he has fixed it in 5 minutes and, voila, MMC2 was singing full bodied!

Next step was to remove RIAA amp completely since we have realized that the built in my daughter's Beocenter 9000 RIAA  was much better constructed and sounding.

The deck plays flawlesly since, and spectaculary remotely driven via Beolink 1000!

So before going for new cartridge, please check other solutions, maybe it helps!

Best rgeards,

G