[cgrums]

So I've been thinking about getting into vinyl for quite some time. A couple weekends ago I was helping my mother clean out her garage when I stumbled across this all boxed up:

All I know is that it's older than I am and was supposedly considered quality back in the day.

Is this something worth building a system around? I'm going to be putting together either an Aikido or similar all-tube amp and would love to dedicate that to a vinyl rig.

If this is something worth keeping what advice would you give as far as bringing it back to life? It turns but beyond that I don't know the first thing to check for as far as it being in good condition. I know its been treated well but its been in storage as long as I can remember. Any advice would be much obliged.

 

[003]

Crap. I don't know anything about vinyl but I can assure you, its a steaming pile. Unlike many brands that used to make good products but then became crappy, B&O was crap from the get go.

They were the bose of those days.

 

[cgrums]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Crap. I don't know anything about vinyl but I can assure you, its a steaming pile. Unlike many brands that used to make good products but then became crappy, B&O was crap from the get go. They were the bose of those days.

Not quite the answer I was hoping for but thanks for the info. I was hoping more for a diamond in the rough scenario but have not exactly been holding my breath

 

[Herandu]

Wow!! A Beogram 1700. As I recall it was one of the most popular, if not THE most popular B&O TT. It uses a FG servo motor that in its time warranted several technical reviews in UK magazines such as Wireless World and Elektor. The TT can also detect 7 inch from 12 inch records by their weight! The controls were changed to electronics from the previous B&O mechanical TT assemblies.
I'll let you in on a secret: that stylus you got there is worth a small fortune if it is in good nick. Do you know a copy of it sells for U$300 plus these days? A new original goes for about U$500! Yes, I am talking about the stylus only.

My advise is to look after it as a piece of technical marvel. They are going cheap on eBay etc. mainly because people cannot find the stylus that easily, or are not willing to pay the price asked for one.

Don't expect Linn or Thorens type performance, but it was in my opinion the best TT that B&O ever built.

 

[003]

Hmm, I didn't realize they were sought after... All I know is that B&O did not make very good quality products, right? I've read that in many places.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I didn't realize they were sought after... All I know is that B&O did not make very good quality products, right? I've read that in many places.

Then you have read nonsense. Similar to Braun, B&O was never cheap, but used to make quite a few quality products with gorgeous design - not the smartest choice, if one was looking for very good price/performance, but not a bad choice in terms of quality, if one was willing to pay for the design.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[bigshot]

B&O turntables are severely limited when it comes to choices of cartridges.

See ya
Steve

 

[Herandu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I didn't realize they were sought after... All I know is that B&O did not make very good quality products, right? I've read that in many places.

B&O was the make of choice for the rich and famous in the 70's and 80's. They introduced many new ideas and technologies in electronics that were copied by other companies. I have never seen a B&O set up in the house of a poor or middle income family. The main London B&O dealer of the period I mentioned delivered the gear in a Rolls Royce!
As for the information you read about the quality and them being crap: compared to what or whom? Many modern day electronics manufacturer have yet to reach the skills in engineering, innovation and design that B&O had already achieved decades ago. I used to refer to them as the high-end version of the Philips products. That is because they used many philips parts and the Philips DIN connectors. Their CD players were absolutely fantastic bits of kits. Not many around to snap up on eBay or Audigon. As I said, they were the domain of the well off, so mare mortals had to save up hard. Which makes me wonder about cgrums. There might be more treasures of value in that loft of his

.

 

[pageman99]

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

This is a dead link, but the link is what google has cached.

http://www.beocentral.com/products/bg1700
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/ar...p/t-85857.html
http://www.beoworld.org/

Here's a link to the service manual which you can buy as a download for 14.50:
http://www.user-manuals.com/service-...OGRAM1700.html

Have fun!

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I didn't realize they were sought after... All I know is that B&O did not make very good quality products, right? I've read that in many places.

B&O these days make some very nicely styled but pretty mediocre sounding gear, which is where you got the idea from, but back in the day they were a force to reckoned with in Hi-Fi.

They were expensive on the whole but they also made some pretty reasonably priced gear which performed very well garnering many "Best Buy" awards in magazines like Hi-Fi Choice (UK) which were only given to products with a good bang-for-buck ratio.

Yes they were always the choice for the style conscious and well-healed like Herandu says, but the styling was more than skin deep back then unlike today and they were a famous engineering company which pioneered parallel (linear) tracking tonearms and HX Pro noise filtering amongst other things.

What you have there is the classic Beogram belt drive turntable from the late 1970s early '80s and a really good quality B&O stylus. http://www.beocentral.com/products/bg1700

As Steve says B&O turntables are problematic insofar as they only match B&O cartridges and these arn't cheap these days. But the reason for this is that the arm and cart are designed to to be perfectly matched and idiot-proof to set up so you don't need to worry about effective mass or VTF/ VTA etc. They are also very highly prized carts in their own right which were often fitted to SME tonearms on Linn and Thorens decks in the '70s.

If your cart is in good condition then you are sorted. Look at the tip under a 30x magnifying glass and clean off any gunk very very gently with a fine mascarra brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol being very careful not to drip it inside the main body of the cart.

Also check that the cantilever, which is the little thing pointing out of the cartridge body, is straight and when you mount the cart on the end of the arm (it just clicks in) that the cantillever is pointing straight down when viewed from the front.

If the cart isn't in perfect order you can maybe get it retipped or get a new one here
http://www.sound-smith.com/cartridge...x.html#classic

you can fit (s)MMC20E, (s)MMC20EN, (s)MM20CL, (s)MM20CL+ which range from 200 upto about 700 usd. It might sound expensive but this is a Moving Iron cart of similar quality to the top of the range Grado's but hand built like The Cartridgeman Music Maker III. The trademark B&O sound is refined and very detailed but pretty laid back, excellent with Jazz and Classical music or anything well produced and recorded but perhaps a bit polite for Hardcore Hip Hop or Thrash Metal. Although I guess Metallica can be quite epic...

All in all an exellent deck if it's running well, as good or better than a Thorens TD160 or Rega P3.

 

[Uncle Erik]

B&O kit isn't garbage. It might not have the highest performance, but it's usually built well. I came across an old Beomaster 1600 a few years ago that needed a little TLC. Some old caps went in the power supply. No big deal. I got it working again and performance is good. The thing is built like a tank and it's still undeniably cool, even after all these years.

In comparison, Bose is unstylish, plasticky and lacks even modest performance, yet is still advertised and sold at a premium. However, their early 901 and 601 speakers are interesting, decently built and sound alright. I'm a sucker for dipoles and indirect radiation, though. Nothing they have in current production is much good.

Before I get really far offtopic, I'd get that turntable working again and use it. Why not? It's free, so spin some discs.

 

[ronin74]

Did I miss something?? The 1700 is FREE! A system waiting to happen. And if you're getting into the vinyl world you'll be spending a boat load of cash. Upgrade later and keep it to play your crap (scratched and warped) albums. At least for now you won't need a pre-amp.

In college, A looong time ago, I considered the Beogram, especially the 5000, the very best of mid-fi. I wanted one but couldn't afford it. I settled for a Philips 414 and later, when fully employed, a SOTA Star.

 

[cgrums]

Wow!! I've gotta say I'm quite pleased by the turnout from this thread. While I didn't think I had the best TT in the world I also didn't think I had crap. I'm glad to hear that the ol' 1700 has a neat little spot in vinyl history. I was planning on keeping the deck anyways as it has sentimental value and now I"ve got more motivation to get it back online. Thanks for all the valuable info, you guys rock

 

[Herandu]

now you got 3 very good turntables, what are you going to do? I got two myself: one fully manual belt and one automatic direct drive. I use the manual when I am sober, and switch to the automatic when I am concerned I might scratch the vinyl.
Just a thought.

 

[cgrums]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif now you got 3 very good turntables, what are you going to do? I got two myself: one fully manual belt and one automatic direct drive. I use the manual when I am sober, and switch to the automatic when I am concerned I might scratch the vinyl. Just a thought.

I like that idea very much. I think I'll use the B&O when I'd like to worry less about the level of involvement of operation. With the other two I'm going to experiment between tube and SS phono stages and MM/MC carts...I'm getting the feeling I'm about to get into something pretty cool