Having trouble with my B&O turntable i.e. cables

[niko-time]

Well, I grabbed the Beogram 1000 cheap off eBay and am trying to set it up now.

The thing which I am confused about is this cable:

Where does it go? Lol. I have the TC-760LC phono stage: Phonopreamps.com TCC TC-760 Details and Hookup and am not really sure how to plug it into it, do I need a converter? If so, what is it and where can I get it from?

Cheers

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'd ask the folks here if they know:

BeoWorld - Everything Bang & Olufsen

There are forums for B&O geeks there. What you need to find is the pinout for your turntable. This looks like a male 5 pin DIN jack, so you can get a female DIN and wire it to a pair of RCA jacks to run to your phono preamp.

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd ask the folks here if they know: BeoWorld - Everything Bang & Olufsen There are forums for B&O geeks there. What you need to find is the pinout for your turntable. This looks like a male 5 pin DIN jack, so you can get a female DIN and wire it to a pair of RCA jacks to run to your phono preamp.

I have wrestled with these things back in the 1980s, they were a royal pain. You used to be able to get cables from audio shops which had a 5 pin female DIN on one end and 2 RCA (phono plugs) plus a ground on the other. This is what you need, the ground **is necessary*** since the B&O connection grounds through a pin which you cant do. This will be hard to find these days but there used to be an excellent parts shop in Tottenham Court Road. Good Luck.

 

[niko-time]

Thanks guys.

I grabbed 5 Pin Din Socket (Female) - 2 Phono Adapter B&O / NAIM on eBay, also Interconnects Terminated, Cables Connectors, Home Audio Hi Fi, Consumer Electronics (end time 13-Feb-08 21:09:44 GMT) which looks like it will work.

Fingers crossed I guess

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks guys. I grabbed 5 Pin Din Socket (Female) - 2 Phono Adapter B&O / NAIM on eBay, also Interconnects Terminated, Cables Connectors, Home Audio Hi Fi, Consumer Electronics (end time 13-Feb-08 21:09:44 GMT) which looks like it will work. Fingers crossed I guess

You may need to run a ground off it as well, the B&O plug will almost certainly be grounded through one of the pins but that cable doesnt have a ground i.e it isnt designed for a turntable but to replace a line level DIN plug.

Also check the pins on both the B&O and your adaptor, not everyone wired these things the same way - you should be able to just gently pull back the casing on the DIN ends.

This is really what you want...

You can probably get one made for you from ......

Din - Phono - RCA - Connectors & Cables and More From Flashback Sales

 

[niko-time]

Oh damn.

I'm really no good with cables or soldering or anything, how could I put a ground on the cable I ordered?

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh damn. I'm really no good with cables or soldering or anything, how could I put a ground on the cable I ordered?

Ah, you need a bodge

Well personally I would hesitate to connect an earth wire unless it was securely connected, but...

Pull the sleeve from the DIN end of your new cable back and insert a wire with the end 1/4 inch stripped so that it rests on the outside of the metal sheath and makes good contact, then push the sleeve back, if you are lucky it will hold tightly - try pulling it slightly if it moves you are out of luck. Strip 1/2 an inch from the other end of the wire and that is your ground end.

Soldering is better though.

EDIT: Why not email the eBay seller and ask him to make you a suitable cable , seems like he/she does a lot of these cables- probably far easier than messing around your self..

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I grabbed the Beogram 1000 cheap off eBay and am trying to set it up now.

Oldskool baby.:

: There are a few different versions of this Beogram 1000 deck some of which have a built in phonostage so you may not need the TC-760.

If you do then get one of these Rare - for Bang & Olufsen : Phono Adapter bei eBay.de: Audio Cables Connectors which are the original B&O adaptor with ground, from a German ebay seller's shop hifistudio9.

Also keep a look out on ebay for the original Beomasters like the Beomaster 3000 which may match this deck, as the correct DIN balanced phonostage will sound the best.

What condition is the stylus in? and which model is it? Soundsmith : Bang & Olufsen® Phono Cartridges will rebuild the SP14 with a modern eliptical stylus which is the best option. They are the only official source of brand new B&O endorsed carts still in business so they'll be able to give you good advice.

B&O kitis a little more involved than most vintage kit because afficioados usually only used it with other B&O equipment so therefore it's not as easily matched to third party stuff ancient or modern. But this deck you have is a real classic and obviously beautifully designed and made so well worth the effort.

 

[niko-time]

It is the beogram 1000 5229, its not on that site so who knows what that means, it is apparantly this one: Beogram 1000

I may grab the Beomaster 3000 when I get some more cash, I'm possibly going to sell my E500's as I do not use them enough to warrant the price and may downgrade...who knows.
Although it is a little large...if my TC-760 doesn't work it may have to be the only way.

Stylus seems fine, I cant really tell, all I know is that it was in fully working condition from the seller who sold it to me.

Quote:

Hi there. Quite a lot of people have purchased this to connect a B&O record deck to their amp with no problems. The middle pin is earthed but I know that sometimes the deck has a seperate ground/earth. I can't make the cable with the seperate ground cable. All I can do is suggest that you try this lead and let me know if it worked. Regards, Matthew - Beocable.

That is from the seller of the cable.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is the beogram 1000 5229, its not on that site so who knows what that means, it is apparantly this one: Beogram 1000 Stylus seems fine, I cant really tell, all I know is that it was in fully working condition from the seller who sold it to me.

I'd email beocentral as they will probably be very interested if it is indeed a substantially different model and they should be able to advise about the pre-amp situation and how to remove the stylus etc.

Unless you have any reason to 100% trust the seller I would send the cartridge off to Soundsmith for inspection as it's just not worth risking damaging records. They charge a token amount for this service 25USD or something. It is possible it's anywhere between 35-40 years old remember as this model hasn't been made since 1972 and rubber does perish. You can try and examine it yourself following a guide like this Examining Your Stylus | A Short Guide by John Fink | Vinyl Engine but you really need to look at it under strong magnification.

 

[niko-time]

Are there any UK places that do it? I fear that overseas shippign may increase the cost slightly

Is it really worth it? I bought it for £30 shipped.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko-time /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are there any UK places that do it? I fear that overseas shippign may increase the cost slightly Is it really worth it? I bought it for £30 shipped.

Expert Stylus Company is the obvious choice and I think prices there start around 70UKP for retipping.

Soundsmith are the B&O experts when it comes to stylii though and so it will definitely be worth emailing them. I'd say their prices are pretty reasonable and of course you benefit from the weakness of the US dollar so it may well be cheaper than getting it done in England. Remember you are only talking about shipping a cart which will fit in a parcel the size of a cigarette packet.

But this may not be necessary as I think the stylus is removable from these SP series B&O carts unlike the later ones so you may just be able to buy that from somewhere like LP Gear. However their carts are NOS or copies of the original B&O vintage ones with spherical stylii so will be more authentic but perhaps not as good sounding the Soundsmith's eliptical tips.

It may even be possible to get a headshell adaptor of some sort so you can fit a 3rd part cart like an Ortofon for instance. Contact Hifistudio9 mentioned above about this.

All in all B&O decks require a little more time and effort than most but this is not just any old vintage turntable it's a Beogram 1000, the first one ever made ! It has historical significance and can only appreciate in value if you put a bit of time into getting it going.

If you don't want to go to any trouble and want a straightforward solution to just play records then I'd pass this on and get a Dual CS-505-II for about the same price or less from ebay.