Although I’ve never owned a B&O turntable or even know much about them, I can say that they made some pretty good turntables. Some of them did suffer from some Danish idiosyncrasies though, including often not being able to use cartridges from other manufacturers, and things like that. I do remember as a schoolboy interested in hi-fi back in the mid 1970’s seeing a very convincing demonstration of a B&O turntable’s strengths. The particular model had a suspension system to isolate the tonearm and platter from external vibration. The salesman (did someone say cowboy?) demonstrated how good it was by setting it playing a record, then slamming the dustcover shut with quite some force – and it didn’t miss a beat! I was actually buying something much cheaper at the time, and it was being demonstrated to someone with more money than a poor schoolboy, but it was a very convincing demonstration! There is a good website with info on Bang & Olufsen equipment at http://www.beoworld.co.uk , but it doesn’t list your turntable. You don’t mean the Beogram 1203 do you? That is listed on there, and the performance is shown as:
Beogram 1203 Specifications
Types: 5239 (1974 - July 1975)
5243 (1974 - Aug 1976)
Speeds: 33 - 45 rpm.
Pickup-arm System Ball bearing
Cueing Control Mechanical
Drive system Idler wheel and belt
Motor Asynchronous
Wow and flutter < +/- 0.15 % peak value (DIN), corresponding to +/- 0.06 % rms
Rumble Din A: > 37 dB; Din B: > 58 dB
Speed Control Range: > 6 %
Recommended, Stylus Pressure 2 g
Stylus Pressure Range 0 - 3.5 g
Power supply:110 - 130 - 220 - 240 V
50 Hz, 10 W
Dimensions H x W x D 12 x 44 x 33cm
Weight 7.2 kg
It says that it has a “pendulum suspension which made the record-player insensitive to vibrations”, so it may have been the one I saw demonstrated, although many of their turntables had a similar system of suspension, from the 1960’s onwards, from looking at that website.
Go the Aussies (in the cricket)!
Beogram 1203 Specifications
Types: 5239 (1974 - July 1975)
5243 (1974 - Aug 1976)
Speeds: 33 - 45 rpm.
Pickup-arm System Ball bearing
Cueing Control Mechanical
Drive system Idler wheel and belt
Motor Asynchronous
Wow and flutter < +/- 0.15 % peak value (DIN), corresponding to +/- 0.06 % rms
Rumble Din A: > 37 dB; Din B: > 58 dB
Speed Control Range: > 6 %
Recommended, Stylus Pressure 2 g
Stylus Pressure Range 0 - 3.5 g
Power supply:110 - 130 - 220 - 240 V
50 Hz, 10 W
Dimensions H x W x D 12 x 44 x 33cm
Weight 7.2 kg
It says that it has a “pendulum suspension which made the record-player insensitive to vibrations”, so it may have been the one I saw demonstrated, although many of their turntables had a similar system of suspension, from the 1960’s onwards, from looking at that website.
Go the Aussies (in the cricket)!
My bad 1203....
FInaly had a brainfart and connected it to the old sansui amp which has a phono input... had to battle to get both channels playing as the source selector switch seemed to have seen better days....
Compared to the last 10 years' CD listening I was blown away, it just sounds SO GOOD. Listned to some of my dad's old records and it was like he was right there enjoying it. In contrasts CD's on this amp sounds thin and without bass.
I wouldn't go slamming the lid, bt has pretty good suspension yes, hardly registered some of the knocks it got while I did final adjustment and tinkering...
Now I must make work of building a good pre.
Is there an specific goal to the dial on the tonearm's weight?
FInaly had a brainfart and connected it to the old sansui amp which has a phono input... had to battle to get both channels playing as the source selector switch seemed to have seen better days....
Compared to the last 10 years' CD listening I was blown away, it just sounds SO GOOD. Listned to some of my dad's old records and it was like he was right there enjoying it. In contrasts CD's on this amp sounds thin and without bass.
I wouldn't go slamming the lid, bt has pretty good suspension yes, hardly registered some of the knocks it got while I did final adjustment and tinkering...
Now I must make work of building a good pre.
Is there an specific goal to the dial on the tonearm's weight?
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hi,
Well done, these decks are good performers, and age well. The suspension really works as you've discovered.
It's true that you can only use B&O carts, so I recommend you keep a watch out for a spare.
The dial on the tonearm sets the tracking force for the cartridge. I would guess that you have an SP14, if so it should be fine at 1.75-2.0 grams.
The speed is adjustable using a thumb wheel at back left, just below the wooden plinth.
Regards
Colin
Well done, these decks are good performers, and age well. The suspension really works as you've discovered.
It's true that you can only use B&O carts, so I recommend you keep a watch out for a spare.
The dial on the tonearm sets the tracking force for the cartridge. I would guess that you have an SP14, if so it should be fine at 1.75-2.0 grams.
The speed is adjustable using a thumb wheel at back left, just below the wooden plinth.
Regards
Colin
First magnetic cartridge I ever had was an SP1 on a Lenco deck. Got taked into trading it for the Shure top model. Bad decision.
I have just got another B&O deck with current cartridge and am happy. (Its the only B&O stuff I have).
Your deck is a good one, the tangetal tracking one is better, but if not used very frequently becomes unreliable, so best stay away from that one.
Like all firms, B&O has some good stuff, and some bad stuff. You pay (a lot) for the good looks and the user friendliness, but my wife wishes we could afford to.
I have just got another B&O deck with current cartridge and am happy. (Its the only B&O stuff I have).
Your deck is a good one, the tangetal tracking one is better, but if not used very frequently becomes unreliable, so best stay away from that one.
Like all firms, B&O has some good stuff, and some bad stuff. You pay (a lot) for the good looks and the user friendliness, but my wife wishes we could afford to.
Hmmm, ok I tried the knob, but t seems a little stuck, don't want to break anything..., think I'll take it in for a service...
I remember my dad haveing a near fit once when I broke one of the needles as a kid, because they were so expensive...
Man I am haveing a ball listening to LP's this morning, lotsa brass band, and hammond organ stuff in between, the old man had realy good taste (and he was a drummer for 25 years).
I remember my dad haveing a near fit once when I broke one of the needles as a kid, because they were so expensive...
Man I am haveing a ball listening to LP's this morning, lotsa brass band, and hammond organ stuff in between, the old man had realy good taste (and he was a drummer for 25 years).
Nordic said:
What knob are you talking about?
You need to set the stylus pressure to the correct tracking weight, depending on what cartridge is fitted to it. According to the Beoworld website, they could be fitted with any one of the following three cartridges:
Cartridge Tracking Weight
SP 14A 2g
SP 10A 1.2g
SP 12A 1.2g
If you’re new to turntables, and haven’t set one up before, the correct way is to remove (by hand) the tonearm from its rest, and rotate the weight (at the rear of the tonearm) right off, so that the tonearm will float in a horizontal position, and is perfectly balanced. Then, set the ring on the tonearm weight to read zero. Now set the tracking weight to either 1.2g or 2g, depending on the model of cartridge fitted (it should be labelled with the model number), by rotating the weight until the weight ring reads the correct tracking weight.
There is a firm that specialises in the cartridges for Bang and Olufsen, http://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/indexBeo.html . Although you can’t get replacement cartridges for your model, they can rebuild the cartridges if necessary, and can supply replacement styli. The replacement styli are hard to get though, and most places that specialise in styli replacement just don’t have them. There is one of the specialist firms which has two replacement B&O styli at reasonable prices, though – see http://www.garage-a-records.com/index.php . The specialist turntable site http://www.lpgear.com also have a range of them.
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