Beogram RX

[erikzen]

My father is moving and is getting rid of his turntable and vinyl. I said I'd take them. He has a B&O Beogram RX. I Googled it and it seems like it's a mid 80's machine. Anybody know anything about this TT? It looks like it's not too tweakable. I'm also wondering if you can replace the cartridge with something other than the B&O stock one. Will this TT be better than my Technics SL-1900?

 

[episiarch]

I have a similar model - 1978 vintage. I thought it was an awfully nice turntable at the time. I don't know if it's objectively better than your Technics, but it's pretty good.

The standout features of these TTs are the suspension and the automation. It's no big deal to move the tonearm and drop the needle yourself, but having it automated was for me an unexpectedly large pleasure (maybe because my room wasn't well lit). As for the suspension, it can absorb an awfully big jolt before the needle jumps from the groove; good if you have the TT in a cabinet with a door, or in a rack system that someone occasionally bumps into or whatever.

The tonearm is not at all built to have anything but the B&O carts snapped onto it, nor does the counterweight have enough adjustment range to deal with anything that weighs much different from the B&O carts. Modding it for third-party carts would take a pretty skilled machinist, IMO.

Give this TT a try. You might like it.

 

[erikzen]

Well, I can't beat the price of this one (free!) so no reason not to give it a try. I might want to find a replacement cart for it though. I found one place that sells replacement cartridges online (Soundsmith) but the "rebuilt" ones are super expensive ($900!

- Who would spend that much money on this turntable

) and the compatible stock ones are $150. That still seems like a lot for a turntable that probably wasn't much more than that when brand new.

 

[episiarch]

According to this page it was 399 dutch guilders back then. I didn't do the homework to figure out what that was or is in dollars, but you're right, it's not at the high end of their line.

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch I didn't do the homework to figure out what that was or is in dollars, but you're right, it's not at the high end of their line.

About $215.

 

[jpelg]

That B&O stuff still looks damn sexy to me! Always has.

 

[memepool]

This is not a bad deck at all. It looks amazing and the auto features are really well executed unlike almost every other manufacturers semi auto deck.

This is basically the last iteration of the beogram 1800 design, and the last radial tracking deck they made. B&O had pretty much given up on Turntable development by the time this was made and were concentrating on cassette decks.

It sounds pretty nice even though it's a simpler Beogram. The more expensive ones don't add a whole lot more fidelity, mainly automation. It cost about 150UKP in the mid 80's, so it's in a similar league to a Rega Planar 2. It was well reviewed by HiFi Choice in the UK at the time.

The B&O stylii are very highly specified in their own right being pretty expensive and sought after these days. The Soundsmith version is very good by all accounts and they are B&O approved. The design of the arm is very clever in that it's a very low mass and the stylus tracks at 1g so it is very kind to your records.

On a good surface with an unworn stylus it should easily be the equal of your Technics. I wouldn't have a Beogram as my only deck, but it's ideal for a relaxed environment as it does a lot of the work for you. You don't need to worry about leaving it to it's own devices.

They also hold their value and in good condition with a working stylus should fetch 100-150 UKP. So you could always sell it and get a Rega arm for your SL1900 if it can support a new arm. Or sell them both and get an SL1200/1210 and then save for the Rega arm...

These days you will need to spend over 1000USD to get anything new which is substantially better....

 

[bigshot]

I'd advise sticking with the turntable you've got. Technics is a fine turntable, and you don't have the hassle of having only one choice of proprietary cartridge for it. B&O made turntables that looked sexy, but were a pain in the ass to maintain, and they had way too much automation for my taste. If you want to upgrade the Technics, I'd suggest a vintage belt drive Thorens.

See ya
Steve

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg That B&O stuff still looks damn sexy to me! Always has.

Agreed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool These days you will need to spend over 1000USD to get anything new which is substantially better....

Thanks Dad!

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot I'd advise sticking with the turntable you've got. If you want to upgrade the Technics, I'd suggest a vintage belt drive Thorens.

I'm not big time into vinyl so it's not like I'm really looking to upgrade. The only reason I'm considering this table is because it's free. I don't know how much a vintage belt drive Thorens will cost but I imagine a refurbished one will cost me at least as much as the Sound Smith cartridge, and who knows, maybe the cartridge that's on there is still fine. I know I can probably find one for $50 on eBay but I'll probably end up spending $150 just to get it working, unless I get lucky.

The problem with my current TT is that the direct drive just seems too noisy. You don't notice it through speakers but through headphones it's quite noticeable. I appreciate your advice but by the same token I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[bigshot]

Does your Technics turntable hum? If so, a simple grounding will fix it. That particular model was top of the Technics line in the late 70s. It's got a lot of automation, but it's probably a better TT than the B&O. It's certainly built more ruggedly.

See ya
Steve

 

[erikzen]

No hum at all. I can hear some vibrations from the motor moving the platter. It's really only noticeable with headphones but since that's about 99% of my listening, it's pretty significant.

 

[memepool]

The SL1900 was a pretty entry level Technics as far as I remember, nowhere near the SL1200 in build quality. By no means a bad deck though, the main weakness will be the tonearm which has a lot of rubber isolation in it and will make everything sound a bit mushy regardless of the cart you use.

So spending loads on a high spec cart won't get you anywhere near the same bang for buck as a modern rega RB250 derived tonarm and a basic cart.

look here
http://www.tonearm.co.uk/dj-technics-arm.htm

I am not sure if you can switch arms on this though as it looks like the whole of the deck is a one piece molded plastic affair. correct?

This would be a pretty noisy resonant deck unless you mount it on it's own shelf away form any source of vibrations. Also look into a sonically dead surface like marble. Sl1200's are often place on paving slabs for this purpose. Also take the lid off when you use it as this will cause microphony further amplifying surface noise.

If this doesn't solve the problem and what you are hearing is a metal on metal sound, as maybe you suggest, it could be the bearing which is failing and this would mean SL1900 RIP.

Place you fingers on the edge of the platter without a record on there and listen through your cans with the volume up when the deck isn't spinning. Take off the matt and glently push the platter back and forth on it's axis. it shouldnt rock at all and you shouldn't hear any metalic sounds....

 

[erikzen]

I have very limited space for my turntable. I have it set up in my attic/home office, away from young children and the like. However, I did manage to rearrange things a bit so that I now have the turntable on a built in shelf attached to the wall. This seems to have eliminated the vibrational noise I was hearing. A substantial improvement, indeed!

I guess now I'll just take the Beogram and compare the two. I'll just keep the one that sounds better. Is there any way to tell if a cartridge needs replacing other than knowing how many hours it has on it? I don't think my dad ever replaced it, but I don't think he used the table much, either.

 

[tanfenton]

Memepool's advice is excellent. I can't emphasis enough how stunningly good the B&O cartridges were, the saphire-cantilevered MMC-20CL and MMC-1/2 in particular, and all at less than two grams, a force that will barely keep a Grado in the groove. The later would fit your table and be underserved by it or any of the other Bang and Olufsen decks.

The RX was the subject of some rather handy cost-cutting from the earlier designs though, to tell the truth, the uni-pivot models are all very similar mechanically. You'd hear the difference if you rapped on the RX next to, say, a 1700 or 1800. That sound translates pretty well down the line of transduction.

If you want to hear Jacob Jensen's work at its finest, you need to hear the 8002 or the TX linear-trackers. There is an outfit in Texas that will return them to factory specification (which will more than likely need to be done), but the name slips my mind. These are more than worth your time pursuing with a budget of less than $1000.

NGF