Hi All,

I have a shot at buying a BeoSound 9000 (not sure which Mk version at this point) and I was wondering if all or which Mk-versions can play CD-R/CD-RWs? I remember that this was for some time an issue with CD players in the 90's...some would only play store bought CDs...Any input would be welcome! Thanks+a Happy New Year!

Rudy

First of all...I don't know if the BS 9000 can be considered as 'Vintage'

But -to your question: I am not sure about the BS 9000 -but I have some older B&O's -a Beogram CD 4500 and a CD 6500 -and an even older CD50 from '86/'87 -and they can all play CD-Rs. So I guess that even the first BS 9000's also will play those.
As far as I know -If a CD player can not play CD-R's, it's often a problem caused by some ageing capacitors. And those can be replaced.

Interesting! I asked this question since I recently had an encounter with a Beocenter 9500, and the CD-Rs I brought along for testing did not work, while the standard CDs did...bad capacitors??

Every BS9000 that I have had will play CD-R. I use a crappy scratched CD-R copy of Brothers in Arms or Dark Side of the Moon as a test for every B&O CD player that I sell.

Don't know about CD-RW as I don't use them.

So could one then postulate that playing a CD-R is a good test for the condition of a CD player? I have no experience with B&O CD players so far, since I focused on older vintages until now...On a general level, what do you think about the 'serviceability' of the Beosound 9000 series? I noticed that there is only a service manual for the MKIII version on beoworld...how different are the MKI&II versions?

HarryPierce:

So could one then postulate that playing a CD-R is a good test for the condition of a CD player?

Yes - if it can't play a CD-R (or starts having problems playing any CD's) it's probably some electronic problems -like bad capacitors.
However -if you bring it to a B&O dealer, they'll probably tell you, that the laser/or CD-mech is dead -and they need to install a new one.
Or -if it's an older model, they will tell you that they can't get any spareparts anymore. Don't believe that!
In most cases it can be repaired, if you find a serious repair shop. (Some here on Beoworld can fix it too, depending on where you live).

To your previous question about Beocenter 9500:
I have one of these too -and it plays anything: CD's, CD-R's and CD-RW's. So the one you have seen could probably be fixed by the right repair-guy.