Audionerd87
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As someone who started on the B&O bandwagon long after this generation was off the market (started frequenting this forum (on/off) in ‘07) the advice you have been given is much of the same as I was when starting out (actually in much friendlier terms, as I was a know-it all teenager then lol). Everyone so far on this thread means beyond well. The 8000 is a complicated deck both in terms of function and execution. Much like 80/81 Beomaster 8000’s they were paired with, some were simply better machines than others. The 8000 series components were effectively the hifi equivalents of automotive HALO models put into production. They pushed the technological limits of their time, implementing features that would go on to be continuously perfected and incorporated in some of their most advanced systems in the proceeding decade. However, as they transitioned from the end of the solid state era, into the digital revolution there was a bit of generational overlap unique to these pieces that may make them rather counter intuitive and not the easiest to troubleshoot without many hours of reading and practical trial and error experience.
These decks can be made functional (although longevity is not a guarantee) with a parts machine as a donor, or restored to greatness with the help of those who have done so before, but not so much brought back to life in piecemeal fashion.
I 2nd the non-trashing it approach (and if you still want to go that way i’m sure someone on here (myself included) would want to take dibs. Truth of the matter is you often need 2 units (one for use, one for parts) for anything in the 8000 series. Not only do you get spare parts, but they work as an in person roadmap for trouble shooting as well. I know it’s tempting to chase the dragon for the win trying to trouble shoot the individual boards/chips on these (especially a barn find) but they often cause more headaches than glory on what is already a rather idiosyncratic machine… trust me, I’ve been there- and if not me absolutely trust Martin’s post above, his opinion is the gold standard. If all of that hasn’t discouraged you I’d start looking on eBay (I know I know, but for their purposes it’s probably no harm). These have started to go from vintage to just old with an ever shrinking number of qualified service people in the last few years; the parts unit market is reflecting this situation with whole units going for $100-150 (some even with cartridges) at auction. You just have to keep an eye out. Any investment that stays under $250 and ends with a working BG 8000 will more than return its costs. Feel free to DM me if you want to walk through your current issues, there are a couple last ditch areas you can check I don’t see mentioned in your posts.
Have you double checked the connections to the processor board (one by one) at the front of the unit. If it is actually turning on (which is a good sign, didn’t fry the CPU ) it may be a connection issue seeing as the cables and corresponding plugs are pushing 40 years old. Additionally, you may want to look at the internal IR sensor. They can cause a host of unusual problems when they start to go bad.
