B&O Turntable - To repair or cut bait?

I have a B&O Beogram 8000 turntable which I just adore. If you've not seen one, it is a piece of art. Anyway, I'm facing a potential repair bill of $750, and it seems as though I'm just throwing away good money after bad, considering what I've already spent in repairs vs. the amount of play time I've gotten out of the turntable. I'm using a Beogram 4004 as a backup, but I think it's days are numbered before it needs restoration as well.

I've not shopped for a turntable in 25 years, is it possible to get a new turntable and cartridge in the $1,000 range that will approach the quality of the B&Os?

Thanks to anyone that has any advice.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com

 

I guess it's the price you pay for a Museum of Modern Art classic. I'm having Soundsmith restore my 4002. I got it for free, so it's still reasonable considering how cool these are.

A Rega RP-1 with an Ortofon will compete sonically however, as will a number of other tables in that investment category.

 

I loved my B&O table back in the day.

AFAIK, they aren't supplying the cartridges anymore - are they?

If not, I'd put that $750 towards a different table, but I'm out of the vinyl loop now so take my advice with the appropriate grain of salt.

 

I had a TX-2 for years and it was great (see http://beophile.com/?page_id=826 ). It became harder and harder to get cartridges, and the armature had the tendecy to bend to one side. Finally the TT itself died 5 or 6 years ago.

I looked at the VPI Scoutmaster, but ended up going a little less expensive with a Music Hall MMF-7, which I think is a bit over $1000 but comes with a good cartidge already installed. They have other models in their line as well. I'm happy with it, and I think it sounds better than the B&O, though obviously it doesn't have the B&O's styling or automatic convenience (or tangential tracking!).

Too bad B&O gave up vinyl. Seems that they cater to decorators more than music lovers.

 

The problem was the competition. This was very expensive good quality equipment at the time. Their loudspeakers got several best in class awards from magazine tests. But the design/tooling cost coupled with limited production and sales (they only sold through specialist dealer chains, not the high street) made them very designer niche. Seen in magazines, high class stores but not homes much. They really faded after the 'component' turntable came in the mid-70's and they stuck with their custom integrated design.

Soundsmith still makes and repairs the last cartridge designs.

Like most 80s custom turntables, the electronics content is no longer available so these will die eventually.

I always lusted over their portable radios, the ones with the slide-rule tuning dial and cool color molded sides. Way better than the Grundig models. Could never afford one in the 80s. http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=847

 

pas, spend your money elsewhere, my ex had the 8000 series B&O system, the problem with them is you have to use them, sounds silly but, they are tempremetal beasts, I think he payed $4,000 to repair the TT, cassette deck and the receiver over a two year period. Looked great in the wall unit tho.

Look for a nice vintage Thorens 124 or 125 with a SME arm, slap a nice Grado Platinum on it and enjoy!!

 

You can always shop e-bay and see what might be available......

 

Does your problem have to do with the tangential arm lifting inexplicably before the end of the record? I have the 8002 and it has been in the box due to this arm-lift problem.

 

It was eBay that started this whole mess. It arrived dead in the box, and a $450 repair later, I got a few hours of play out of it. Then one afternoon the platter inexplicably started spinning about 100 rpm and I thought 'I'm really in trouble if I unplug this and it's still spinning'. Well I unplugged it and now it's as dead as a doornail. The fuse is still good, but the power light does not appear. One of the B&O sites described the problem and said that it was the Solenoid Piston that had to be rebuilt. The more I think about this the better the Music Hall tables are starting to look.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com

 

Did you see the number 100 in the RPM display on your 8000? It appears the problem with my 8002 is somewhat different from yours. My problem is the unexpected power-off of the 8002.

 

If you are looking for those MMC cartridges, SoundSmith of Peekskill NY has been making the equivalent ones ...

 

Chip,

if you like the facility and automatic functions one of the smaller Technics players will do all that and they do seem to be long-lasting. The SL-5, SL-J5, SL-D5 models are pretty small but solid and work well. You'll need to put a good quality cartridge in there to come close to the Beogram, and there's no built-in preamp (if your model had one, it was optional)

 

well I use to have the cheaper model and the arm finally started to scracth the records
at the end of the side,Now I have a Linn which cost too much to repair,thank god
for cd,a lot cheaper

 

Do you have an MMC equivalent made by SoundSmith?

 

For me, for $750, it better work like new or better and be guaranteed for 5 years or more to do it. And have parts available. Otherwise, it had better be way higher end than one of these machines. And retain that value for me.

 

I'm sitting on three B & O tables. I can't remember the model numbers and I was going to get them repaired, but after seeing the repair costs, I retired mine (and the NAD 5120) and got a Rega RP-1 at Christmas.
Best decision I made in a while, as I love the Rega!
I'll probably just throw these tables on Ebay for parts.

 

DAMN, those B&O 'tables look cool, though......

 

B&O

To answer the OP, buy something else. Considering that you have spent $450 and are looking at another $750 to fix the current problem I would just put yours on eBay for someone who wants it to repair or for spare parts.

With Rega and MusicHall making good TTs for $1000 or less I would get one of those.

B&O made some interesting and visually stunning equipment but the B&O equipment that I've heard was not better than other brands, many of which costed less.

Scott

 

Unfortunately, B&O probably no long stocks many of the parts that are required for any repair ...