B&O Turntable - To repair or cut bait?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by lennonology, Jan 30, 2011.

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  1. drh

    drh Talking Machine

    Not squarely on topic, but I read a brief article today that indicated B&O lost big money a quarter ago and even more, despite closing a plethora of underperforming retail locations, in the quarter just ended. The author was questioning whether the company can survive much longer unless it figures out how to stop the bleeding pronto. All of which would suggest that those of us (not me, as it happens) sitting on dysfunctional B&O gear might do well to look into having it fixed forthwith, before it all becomes even more orphaned than it already is.
     
  2. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    My Rega Planet 2000 CDP is still working great. It is too bad that I am not interested in any of its integrated amps ...
     
  3. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    "It's" referring to Rega? No reason to if you aren't looking.
     
  4. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Yes, Soundsmith is proud of their Tandberg service and mention it on their website. They also used to do Nakamichi. I don't know if they do anymore. I'd certainly talk to them about all your vintage gear, including the Revox.

    If Soundsmith is close to you, I'd stop by and chat them up.

    (Getting someone to work on this vintage, non-supported gear can be tough. I tried to get Marc at Path Electronics to work on my Nak but he steadfastly refused. Too bad. He was a great Nakamichi tech. I ended up sending my Dragon to Willy Hermann who did a wonderful job. I have a DragonCT auto-centering turntable in need of service. Later this month I'm driving it to Pyramid Audio in Austin, TX, to get repaired. Chris Lewis at Pyramid willing to do the job, with help from one of the pre-eminent Nakamichi experts in the country, Jeff Galin from Electronic Service Labs in Wethersfield, CT. )
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2015
  5. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I have heard of ESL and it is a pretty drivable distance for me. Some of my Nak decks will need repair works. I had my Nakamichi ZXE overhauled a few years ago by Stephen Sank, a well-known Nak expert for close to $1K. He replaced all the caps and the overhaul was extensive.

    It is quite a drive from MN to TX ...
     
  6. sportzdad

    sportzdad Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Athens, GA
    I realize this is an old thread, but I will just leave a comment here in case anyone ever is considering what to do with their beogram TT.

    I inherited a beogram TX. was badly in need of a new stylus but still worked perfectly. It sounded pretty darn nice to boot.

    After about two weeks of use, one channel went out. I decided not to throw good money after it and bought a new rega rp3 with the elys cartridge.

    The rp3 sounds so much better.

    Now to find a buyer for the TX
     
  7. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Wasn't TX the second B&O linear-tracking model after the original 4004? I have the TX but it gave me nothing but problems ...
     
  8. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    coopmv, I've said it before in this thread and I'll say it again. You may have had nothing but problems with your TX but that was not what I experienced, selling maybe two or three dozen of them through my stereo store, along with dozens more TX-2 tables. They were very successful for us and our customers. I have to wonder what your experience with the TX would have been if Soundsmith had serviced your turntable back when.

    The TX was not the second tangential arm turntable B&O made but actually the sixth, and the third generation of that chassis. The first was the 4000, introduced in 1972. A new control panel for the 'table made it the 4002. It later became the 4004.

    With a new drive motor, tone arm and cartridge, the turntable turned into the Beogram 8000. When you took it apart, there was about half the electronics in a BG 8000 than was in a 4004. Microprocessor control, available in the 1980s, made that possible. The BG 8000 was also the first wedge shaped turntable. It later morphed into the 8002, which is the model I've been using for 29 years, for two-thirds of that time as my primary 'table. (It is now my secondary one but probably gets more use than my VPI/Lyra combo, its automation making it easier to use.) A simplified drive motor (belt vs. linear induction drive) and control system but with the same basic arm became the TX. Designed to work with other companies' electronics, the TX didn't need B&O's multi-room control and automation, which is built into my BG 8002. The TX was later simplified further, mostly in terms of styling and design, into the TX-2.

    Beyond these model changes, important to B&O is their four digit Type number. Lesser modifications required a new Type number. It was not unusual for a B&O model to have two, three or four different Type numbers as their engineering evolved.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
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  9. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    A couple of corrections from above:
    • A little research on the sites Beoworld and Beocentral shows that there were many more models of tangential arm turntables from B&O if you consider European models. I just know the US ones.
    • The MMC-1/2/3/4/5 cartridge line didn't come into play with the BG 8000 but the BG 8002. It was the major reason for the model change.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
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