Glitch
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Glitch wrote: Are you still thinking about offering anything based on the “universal link adapter”?
(snip) Don’t want to go that way.
Fair enough. It seems like the numbers were against the ULA concept. The subset of people that have the need for such a device, would want to pay a fair price for it, and have the skills and motivation to write the supporting code would be pretty small. However, a similar argument can be made for something like the Beolab 90, yet it exists ;-).
Glitch
Who is interested in such a thing?
I’m interested in the “MasterLink USB adapter” (MUA). I would like to hear more technical details about the hardware and (of course) the price.
I’ve been planning a major redesign of my audio system/network. I’m not sure exactly what it will be, but it will include a mixture of vintage B&O equipment, as well as equipment from other manufacturers (both new, old, and older). About the only thing that I have figured-out is that nobody seems to offer a suitable solution. As such, I expect to have to develop something custom.
Are you still thinking about offering anything based on the “universal link adapter”?
I think that that platform has a lot of potential. However, I’m concerned about the “care and feeding” of it from a software build standpoint.
I like the idea that the MUA could be used from a Raspberry Pi (or other Linux based PC?). Have you considered including a DataLink interface to the MUA?
Glitch
That is the part that scares me– finding a local person (1h South of Lisbon) who can put all the required connectors (if that is what is needed) and make it all work.
I’m a fan of the terminated wall plates like Tignum suggested. They are also available for various styles of coax (RCA, RG6, etc.), banana plugs, and many others. If you go the CATx route, you will find that terminating the cables is the easiest part of the project. The crimp (and punchdown) tools are cheap and easy to use.
You may have to create your own design diagram to get things rolling. As you may have noticed from other people’s posts, there is no standard way of making one. Any drawing method (software or by hand) will work. When creating a design diagram it would be helpful to include the model name, type number, and relevant software revisions for each piece of equipment. I would also add a diagram revision number from the start to make it easier to relate a particular configuration to the current conversation.
As you have undoubtedly already figured out, the technical knowledge of some of the members of this forum is on par with (or better than) the best of the dealers and installers. Their passion for the subject matter is unsurpassed. A good strategy is to make it as easy as possible for people to help you.
Consider setting up a “bench mockup” if your system starts getting complex. The general idea behind this is you can hook up all of the equipment (in London) and test the connectivity, functionality and interactions before committing to your final layout in your house (in Portugal). This would also give you something to play with while your house is being built ;-). Open utility shelves can be handy if you have a lot of equipment.
Glitch
I am afraid it may destroy stylus by arm returning whilst stylus is still down.
FYI, you can test the operation with the cartridge removed. Remove the cartridge, put on a record, add a small weight to the tone arm to simulate the weight of the cartridge (so the arm will fall when appropriate). Hit “start”. Once the arm drops into position at the lead-in groove, give it a slight nudge toward the center of the record. The arm should continue moving to the lead-out groove, lift and return. Testing without a cartridge is the prudent way of verifying proper operation. HTH.
Glitch
Das Platinenlayout für R3 lässt die Frage aufkommen, ob es innerhalb von B&O einen Streit über das Tuning gab. (hopefully this “Google translated” properly)
Glitch
i am building a new home with polished concrete floors and want to cable in the floor.
Have you considered a strategy where you install conduits? You then run whatever cable that you want inside the conduit. This would allow you to “future proof” your system as switching to a new technology would be as easy as pulling out the old cabling and installing the new.
I’ve not done this for concrete floors, but a few of my friends have done something similar where a conduit is run between the basement and the attic of a two story house.
Glitch
My Beomaster 8000 is VERY heavy and I live near Portland, Oregon. Is there a repair shop in the Pacific Northwest?
Your desire to use a competent, local repair shop certainly makes sense. In the event that you can’t find one, you may want to consider alternatives.
Have you considered shipping just the amp boards for repair? This would solve the shipping weight problem.
There are (of course) downsides to this suggestion:
- You would need to do some rudimentary debugging to isolate the problem to a particular board. I suspect that several people here would be willing to help with this step.
- The main amp boards are buried pretty deep within the BM8000. They are not the easiest boards to remove.
- There is a reasonably high chance that you will break at least one other thing within the receiver while removing/replacing the boards. IMHO, this is why many shops won’t touch B&O equipment. BTW, simply shipping could also cause new issues with the receiver.
- I don’t know if any repair shops will work this way. On one hand, it helps them avoid the issues in #3 above. On the other hand, they open themselves up to having a customer botch the reinstall and try to lay the blame on the repair shop.
Glitch
Philip,
IMHO, this is the coolest thing that has been posted here in quite a while! I’m undoubtedly biased since your project aligns with many of my interests and projects.
I have many questions about what you have done so far. I will be watching this thread closely to see the level of information detail that you are willing to share.
Would you elaborate on the connectivity to the non-B&O world? Which specific “use cases” are you currently supporting?
Glitch
p.s. I fully understand how challenging it can be to find the female/board side connectors. I’ve run into a similar situation where a seemingly common connector is unobtainable new. In my case, I ended up salvaging the necessary connectors from used equipment.
Did the previous owner give you any clues on the service history of the speakers?
Personally, I would just listen to them for a while and see if I liked them. You have plenty of time to make a decision. If you decide that you really like them and they will be a “forever speaker” for you, then invest the time and money in them.
Keep in mind that any time you open up vintage electronics it can be a can of worms. You can also negatively effect the value of an item if you are not careful (i.e. a scratch from the slip of a screwdriver or broken plastic clips). I would pay more for a untouched/unrestored piece of equipment than one with an amateurish repair. YMMV.
Glitch
Could the previous owner have already replaced the foam? Are there any signs of work being done to the speakers?
Glitch
I will order new drivers off eBay. My only concern is the part numbers don’t exactly match. The one’s on eBay are 8480232, and mine is 8480239
If you can’t find drivers with the exact same part number, try to at least get a replacement with the same impedance. They probably will not sound the exactly that same as stock, but something with the same impedance has a much better chance at sounding OK than something with a different impedance.
Glitch
Epic,
I suggest that you try to remove the old surrounds and glue before ordering replacement surrounds. You may end up fatally damaging the driver cones, depending on the glue used and your skill at removing the olds parts. This also opens up the possibility of ordering surrounds that will conceal any flaws left from the previous work.
I would also be very careful with using any solvents. They can have unintended consequences. When they work, they can work very well. When they don’t, it can be a real mess. Small test areas are the prudent way to proceed.
Glitch
Can anyone provide an explanation for how the “beam width control” actually controls the beam width on the Beolab8? I understand what the feature is supposed to be. I understand how this feature is supposed to work on B&O speakers with mechanical baffles. It is not clear to me how B&O would accomplish this with a seemingly standard 3-way configuration.
Glitch
How can they get damaged from within the speaker?
I’ve always assumed that the damaged coils were a result of people pulling their crossovers to check if their coils were damaged. 😉
An alternative (more serious) explanation is that the coils break loose from a hard impact during shipping.
Glitch
- Remove amp
- Remove bottom plate
- Remove wires from crossover(s). Wires are color coded and labeled on the crossover.
- Pull hard. The boards are held in place by friction (even though it might feel like they are welded in place). The boards slide into slots in the housing. There might be tape on the board to keep it from rattling. Try not to pull on any of the crossover components.
Hopefully this makes sense. Good luck!
Glitch
Tuning issues are usually caused by a bad U264B chip (IC8-Board2) or a broken wire on the coax cable between the FM board and the CPU board.
Replacement U264B chips can be hit or miss for working with a BM6000 (depending on the manufacturer). The ones sold at beoparts-shop.com work well. The cheap ones from China sometimes work, but you might need to try a handful of them before you find one that is compatible.
The broken coax wire is usually at the CPU end of the cable where the center wire connects to the connector pin. This can be repaired by soldering in a short piece of wire to reestablish the connection.
Glitch
In my experience it seems our human listening isn’t mega sensitive to height, more so side to side. I’m thinking it shouldn’t be a huge issue to place the center relatively low. Not to invalidate your experience at all, Glitch. I have a colleague who has a pair of center channels, one above and one below and he has tuned the [acoustic] image between them.
Different people are sensitive to different things. What one person doesn’t notice, really bothers another. Room acoustics can be quite different also. I could see where the bottom-center location would work someone with a dead floor and a live ceiling. The stronger reflection from ceiling would move the apparent image upward.
I’ve considered the over-under setup. I just can’t figure out a way to make it look “right enough” to be a permanent solution.
Glitch
I think for home theater it is best that there is a dedicated center channel physically centered below the screen. This will anchor the sound stage and center channel content to the image really well.
Yep, I understand why most people like the “centered below the screen” location. I like the center of my TV screen to be below eye level, which keeps the TV low. The center speaker is almost on the floor. Now the sound is coming from well below the actors faces (which are usually higher on the screen) and things like coffee tables are in the direct path to the speaker. The bigger the TV’s get, the worse this problem becomes. The “dual mono on the side” addresses some of these issues, but admittedly causes other issues.
The good thing about the lack of a perfect solution is that it opens the door for experimentation.
Have you thought about mocking up your original concept? Possibly something like pulling the tweeter/mid module and pairing it with a couple of conventional speakers as surrogates for the woofers?
Glitch
The problem with putting the same signal through both speakers is that you only serve a listener exactly in-between them.
This is only true if the radial dispersion is constant, which is not the case for the higher frequencies.This explanation isn’t quite correct. What I meant to say is something more along the lines of… This does not have to be the case if the system was designed to not have a small, narrow sweet spot.Consider the sound system in your car. The driver is much closer to the driver’s side speaker than the passenger side speaker, and vice versa for the passenger. Despite this, both driver and passenger can simultaneously experience a (mostly) centered image. The car audio engineers achieve this by carefully manipulating the dispersion fields of the higher frequency drivers. An overly simplified explanation is that a speaker is louder on-axis than off-axis. The speakers are arranged such the the far speaker is on-axis and the closer on is off-axis by the exact amount that it needs to be to get an equal sound level at the listener’s position. Look up some of the papers from Dr. Bose for a detailed explanation of the theory behind this.
It would be awesome of Geoff Martin could chime in and provide the dispersion data for the Pentas. I have to believe that B&O has this, but is likely wishful thinking on my part that they would make it available.
Glitch
