Hi all,
I live in the UK and have been into "hi-fi" for many years starting with an old Elizabethan stereo record player back in the in early 70s. This particular model, whilst not very "hi-fi" did introduce me to the joy. if you can call it that, of repair as it used to blow its amplifier chips quite regularly!! After a number of different systems over the next 15 years or so I managed to save up to buy a B&O 3300 system; first used with small Celestion LS10 book shelf speakers and then Mission 774 floor standers. This lasted me until about 2006 when I replaced it with a Cyrus 6vs integrated amp and CD player. After a couple of years I added an Cyrus 8 power amp. The CD player lasted until 2020 when it failed to read CDs again so I replaced it with a Rega Apollo CD player.
After I retired the B&O system to the attic for about 20 years (I now know that was a big mistake leaving it there for so long) I'm trying to get it working to use it in a spare room. Record player works fine as does the amplifier/tuner at present, but the CD and tape there lies another story 🙁🙁🙁
I live in the UK and have been into "hi-fi" for many years starting with an old Elizabethan stereo record player back in the in early 70s. This particular model, whilst not very "hi-fi" did introduce me to the joy. if you can call it that, of repair as it used to blow its amplifier chips quite regularly!! After a number of different systems over the next 15 years or so I managed to save up to buy a B&O 3300 system; first used with small Celestion LS10 book shelf speakers and then Mission 774 floor standers. This lasted me until about 2006 when I replaced it with a Cyrus 6vs integrated amp and CD player. After a couple of years I added an Cyrus 8 power amp. The CD player lasted until 2020 when it failed to read CDs again so I replaced it with a Rega Apollo CD player.
After I retired the B&O system to the attic for about 20 years (I now know that was a big mistake leaving it there for so long) I'm trying to get it working to use it in a spare room. Record player works fine as does the amplifier/tuner at present, but the CD and tape there lies another story 🙁🙁🙁
Welcome, hopefully you find the help need to get the B&O sorted out. Might want to look at belts for the cassette, and possibly for the CD loading mechanism (if it has one) - I expect 30 years in the attic has done them in.
Might want to look at the condition of the electrolytic capacitors, particularly those located in places where their failure could cause damage to no longer available components. Should have a good look for leaking capacitors (electrolyte, not electrons 😀 )
Sounds like a good project.
Might want to look at the condition of the electrolytic capacitors, particularly those located in places where their failure could cause damage to no longer available components. Should have a good look for leaking capacitors (electrolyte, not electrons 😀 )
Sounds like a good project.
Bang & Olufsen used bought out parts, the CD mechanisms were usually Philips, the tape units might be Philips / Sony / Panasonic.
They will need total cleaning, new belts, calibration and so on.
Just clean the tape mechanisms, parts like pinch rollers, heads, and belts are simply not made any more, so you are dependent on stored stock, which may be deteriorated.
The CD player will also be a tedious job.
Here the old Philips sets and their like (double cassette, radio, line in) sets are converted by adding an FM radio unit, which has USB, Bluetooth, line in and a remote, costs about $5 installed inside.
There is also a stand alone box, same price, which allows you to connect it to the aux / line in on the amp using RCA connectors.
Digital has its own advantages, you choice matters...
They will need total cleaning, new belts, calibration and so on.
Just clean the tape mechanisms, parts like pinch rollers, heads, and belts are simply not made any more, so you are dependent on stored stock, which may be deteriorated.
The CD player will also be a tedious job.
Here the old Philips sets and their like (double cassette, radio, line in) sets are converted by adding an FM radio unit, which has USB, Bluetooth, line in and a remote, costs about $5 installed inside.
There is also a stand alone box, same price, which allows you to connect it to the aux / line in on the amp using RCA connectors.
Digital has its own advantages, you choice matters...
B & O is no longer in the audio business, they are now focused on Aluminum machining, so do not expect any support from them...and some people think the units were fancy covers for fairly medium range (not Hi Fi) circuits inside.
Some models had STK chip amps, same as many Japanese makers like Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer and others.
It made little sense to pay 5 times the price for a fancy housing.
In any case, the entire Hi Fi market has seen a drastic contraction in sales, and B&O is not the only one to have been caught in that particular upheaval.
Now we have Chinese and Korean owners for American and European brands, the entire design, development and manufacturing is mostly in the Far East.
And digital has made the old recordings look terrible, I am seeing Class D amplifier boards available for a low price now, also assembled amps.
My advice is that just clean up things, the CD production has stopped in India about 10 years back, DVD is also getting difficult to find, and their parts as well...lasers are almost impossible, there were many variants shops got tired of keeping so many variants and having to hear did not work from repair men.
Transfer the CD data to USB / hard disk, and use that for listening to music.
As usual, no ties to any names above.
Some models had STK chip amps, same as many Japanese makers like Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer and others.
It made little sense to pay 5 times the price for a fancy housing.
In any case, the entire Hi Fi market has seen a drastic contraction in sales, and B&O is not the only one to have been caught in that particular upheaval.
Now we have Chinese and Korean owners for American and European brands, the entire design, development and manufacturing is mostly in the Far East.
And digital has made the old recordings look terrible, I am seeing Class D amplifier boards available for a low price now, also assembled amps.
My advice is that just clean up things, the CD production has stopped in India about 10 years back, DVD is also getting difficult to find, and their parts as well...lasers are almost impossible, there were many variants shops got tired of keeping so many variants and having to hear did not work from repair men.
Transfer the CD data to USB / hard disk, and use that for listening to music.
As usual, no ties to any names above.
Parts and belts are available for most existing cassette decks. I know this because I have repaired a few in recent years.
This is a good source I've used a few times, they're based in Portugal: https://webspareparts.com/
If you search for Beocord 3300, you get several belt / pinch roller kits.
If you search for Beocord 3300, you get several belt / pinch roller kits.
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NareshBrd
I think you should doublecheck your sources before you publish anything here. B & O is still alive. Go and check their website out. There is plenty of high end audio systems. Late Mr Linkwitz said that the Beolab 90 system was the best system he had ever heard. And its still available . Ok its not cheap. Anyhow I have an Indian acquaintance who bought the system.
I think you should doublecheck your sources before you publish anything here. B & O is still alive. Go and check their website out. There is plenty of high end audio systems. Late Mr Linkwitz said that the Beolab 90 system was the best system he had ever heard. And its still available . Ok its not cheap. Anyhow I have an Indian acquaintance who bought the system.
n India, B & O are selling only a variety of speakers, no amplifiers/ receivers / other sources that would feed speakers.
Those are not made at the original factory, which is machining metal now. You can check that out, searching for 5 odd year old news item will take up time.
Same thing with Hasselblad, some cell phones are saying Hasselblad optics (under license).
Hasselblad cameras are more or less out of production, they were a favorite of fashion photographers, interchangeable backs (you could switch between rolls in the middle of them), and custom Zeiss optics, better than those in Leica.
They did not manage the change to digital, the news was the company is now a pale shadow of itself...
Meanwhile, adapters for using old analog lenses on digital cameras are available, so the old SLR lenses, which go for scrap value, can still be used...
And off a random search on the net, part of a Quora answer:
Aug 17
Bang & Olufsen systems are primarily designed in Denmark, where the company is headquartered. The manufacturing of their products takes place in various locations, including Denmark and other countries in Europe and Asia. Some of their high-end products are crafted in Denmark, while others may be produced in facilities in places like China, depending on the specific product line and design. The company emphasizes quality and craftsmanship in their manufacturing processes."
https://www.quora.com/profile/Rick-Chapman-4
https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Wh...-expensive-products-ever-made-by-Bang-Olufsen
https://www.quora.com/Why-doesn-t-B...xpertise-so-I-thought-you-were-the-one-to-ask'
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Bang-a...8th-best-speaker-brand-in-the-world-Why-not-1
https://www.quora.com/Which-is-best-for-home-acoustics-Harman-Kardon-or-Bang-Olufsen
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-the-Ba...-a-premium-brand-that-should-offer-good-sound
https://www.quora.com/profile/Mike-Percival
https://www.quora.com/profile/Godrej-Appliances-2
'https://www.quora.com/profile/Mike-Marston
https://www.quora.com/profile/Brett-DeLong-3
Those are not made at the original factory, which is machining metal now. You can check that out, searching for 5 odd year old news item will take up time.
Same thing with Hasselblad, some cell phones are saying Hasselblad optics (under license).
Hasselblad cameras are more or less out of production, they were a favorite of fashion photographers, interchangeable backs (you could switch between rolls in the middle of them), and custom Zeiss optics, better than those in Leica.
They did not manage the change to digital, the news was the company is now a pale shadow of itself...
Meanwhile, adapters for using old analog lenses on digital cameras are available, so the old SLR lenses, which go for scrap value, can still be used...
And off a random search on the net, part of a Quora answer:
Aug 17
Bang & Olufsen systems are primarily designed in Denmark, where the company is headquartered. The manufacturing of their products takes place in various locations, including Denmark and other countries in Europe and Asia. Some of their high-end products are crafted in Denmark, while others may be produced in facilities in places like China, depending on the specific product line and design. The company emphasizes quality and craftsmanship in their manufacturing processes."
https://www.quora.com/profile/Rick-Chapman-4
https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Wh...-expensive-products-ever-made-by-Bang-Olufsen
https://www.quora.com/Why-doesn-t-B...xpertise-so-I-thought-you-were-the-one-to-ask'
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Bang-a...8th-best-speaker-brand-in-the-world-Why-not-1
https://www.quora.com/Which-is-best-for-home-acoustics-Harman-Kardon-or-Bang-Olufsen
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-the-Ba...-a-premium-brand-that-should-offer-good-sound
https://www.quora.com/profile/Mike-Percival
https://www.quora.com/profile/Godrej-Appliances-2
'https://www.quora.com/profile/Mike-Marston
https://www.quora.com/profile/Brett-DeLong-3
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I should have said that cassette player parts are hard to find in India, and must be procured from large cities which are far away.
Your example, as a reliable source, is in Portugal, not the USA, not quite local.
The mp3 CDs, which contained about 100 songs, and sold for 50 Rupees, allowed the user to have more compact storage than cassette, which was 12-20 songs, depending on tape length.
The players could play VCD also, and amp (mostly 12V chip amps) could drive speakers directly.
They ran on 12V as well as mains, and were very popular in long distance buses, apart from homes.
The CD was about the same price as a cassette, and life was much longer, that killed the cassette market here in about 2001-3.
Later versions, like DVD players, had a USB socket, and a built in amp, sold for about $20-30, with remote, the mp3 decoding chips were standard, you even got kits to convert the players did not have that built in.
Sound quality was mush better than worn out tape as well, another thing to like.
As a result, I was able to get molds for containers from a place in Daman, the owner sold the factory, and shifted to real estate...he was an OEM cassette molder, 150k daily, tried to succeed in houseware, did not do well, wound up.
He used to supply the housings to music companies, who would load the tape inside and sell the final product.
The parts for the cassette players gradually went out of production, and what remains here is unsold stock, so rollers and belts would have deteriorated in storage.
The situation was 'this is what I have, take it if the size is correct' in a shop here, and no chance if he did not have the right one in stock.
He was the last one to keep the parts in the market here.
That was about 6 years back, now there is a cell phone parts / repair shop at the place, the owner has retired.
MP3 are now on memory stick, a 64 GB stick will hold about 12,000 songs at 5MB each!
That has meant that storage media like DVD and CD are also not in demand, cloud storage and streaming are common...
Your example, as a reliable source, is in Portugal, not the USA, not quite local.
The mp3 CDs, which contained about 100 songs, and sold for 50 Rupees, allowed the user to have more compact storage than cassette, which was 12-20 songs, depending on tape length.
The players could play VCD also, and amp (mostly 12V chip amps) could drive speakers directly.
They ran on 12V as well as mains, and were very popular in long distance buses, apart from homes.
The CD was about the same price as a cassette, and life was much longer, that killed the cassette market here in about 2001-3.
Later versions, like DVD players, had a USB socket, and a built in amp, sold for about $20-30, with remote, the mp3 decoding chips were standard, you even got kits to convert the players did not have that built in.
Sound quality was mush better than worn out tape as well, another thing to like.
As a result, I was able to get molds for containers from a place in Daman, the owner sold the factory, and shifted to real estate...he was an OEM cassette molder, 150k daily, tried to succeed in houseware, did not do well, wound up.
He used to supply the housings to music companies, who would load the tape inside and sell the final product.
The parts for the cassette players gradually went out of production, and what remains here is unsold stock, so rollers and belts would have deteriorated in storage.
The situation was 'this is what I have, take it if the size is correct' in a shop here, and no chance if he did not have the right one in stock.
He was the last one to keep the parts in the market here.
That was about 6 years back, now there is a cell phone parts / repair shop at the place, the owner has retired.
MP3 are now on memory stick, a 64 GB stick will hold about 12,000 songs at 5MB each!
That has meant that storage media like DVD and CD are also not in demand, cloud storage and streaming are common...
Thanks for your input.
I've already replaced the the cassette deck belts and mechanically it works fine. But, and this is a pretty big BUT 🙂, there is no sound out of the left channel. After spending some time checking the caps and a couple of transistors (they were there), it turns out the play back head left channel read open circuit when checked with a multimeter. I'm pretty sure the head is unobtainable so I've reached the end with the tape deck.
I've put a lengthy post about the CD player problems in the digital source forum.
I've already replaced the the cassette deck belts and mechanically it works fine. But, and this is a pretty big BUT 🙂, there is no sound out of the left channel. After spending some time checking the caps and a couple of transistors (they were there), it turns out the play back head left channel read open circuit when checked with a multimeter. I'm pretty sure the head is unobtainable so I've reached the end with the tape deck.
I've put a lengthy post about the CD player problems in the digital source forum.
Head kaput is rare.
Check the soldering and connectors again.
I got Panasonic Sendust heads for my Sharp player in 1986 in Madras, replacing the original ferrite head.
I am 59 now...
Check the soldering and connectors again.
I got Panasonic Sendust heads for my Sharp player in 1986 in Madras, replacing the original ferrite head.
I am 59 now...
If you have a decent meter, the data for the pots is available, the readings should be so many mV.
Easier than fiddling.
And get a spare laser, those are now getting difficult to find as well.
The different models of CD mechanisms have different settings, so I would try to identify what it was, get the service manual, and go from there.
Easier than fiddling.
And get a spare laser, those are now getting difficult to find as well.
The different models of CD mechanisms have different settings, so I would try to identify what it was, get the service manual, and go from there.
B & O only sell powered speakers and everything you need to send music to them. They don't sell inferior amplifiers or receivers or speaker cables or any of the other stuff because they are not needed. Maybe have a closer look at the website.
It was over priced for what was inside, so if I use a POS amp, the B&O speakers will make it sound better than say JBL speakers?
And their BeoCenter / other amplifier / receiver units are out of production.
And how will I send sound to the speaker without "inferior amplifiers or receivers or speaker cables'?! Wireless? Indian magic?
The fact is that B & O are now mostly a design and trading company, getting product made at cheap locations and distributing it, just like Apple (Foxconn does all the donkey work), or Logitech, whose offices are mostly in Singapore and contract manufacturing in Far East.
Logitech is Swiss technology only for name sake, most of the design and control was from Singapore, and may have moved due to high expenses in Singapore.
And the product has become cheaper, the mouse cables are much thinner than earlier, so cost cutting has occurred.
You may be a fan of B&O, I am not, the only brand sold here locally (of world wide fame), was Philips, after 1991 there were mostly imported Yamaha/ Denon /others.
Kenwood, Pioneer, Sansui, Denon, Grundig, RCA and so on were personal imports, no dealers, service by skilled people who could analyze the circuits and fix it without service manuals...
And we are a cheap country, I get Creative and other famous computer speakers, for example, for 10% of the price asked by B&O, and if I open out a B&O unit, the materials inside are not made of gold...
I do not want to sound combative, the US market was also not a big one for B&O, they seemed to have sold mostly in Europe.
And no, I would not pay those prices after knowing it is just a fancy name and shape covering average to middle range parts.
I have no ties to any names above.
And their BeoCenter / other amplifier / receiver units are out of production.
And how will I send sound to the speaker without "inferior amplifiers or receivers or speaker cables'?! Wireless? Indian magic?
The fact is that B & O are now mostly a design and trading company, getting product made at cheap locations and distributing it, just like Apple (Foxconn does all the donkey work), or Logitech, whose offices are mostly in Singapore and contract manufacturing in Far East.
Logitech is Swiss technology only for name sake, most of the design and control was from Singapore, and may have moved due to high expenses in Singapore.
And the product has become cheaper, the mouse cables are much thinner than earlier, so cost cutting has occurred.
You may be a fan of B&O, I am not, the only brand sold here locally (of world wide fame), was Philips, after 1991 there were mostly imported Yamaha/ Denon /others.
Kenwood, Pioneer, Sansui, Denon, Grundig, RCA and so on were personal imports, no dealers, service by skilled people who could analyze the circuits and fix it without service manuals...
And we are a cheap country, I get Creative and other famous computer speakers, for example, for 10% of the price asked by B&O, and if I open out a B&O unit, the materials inside are not made of gold...
I do not want to sound combative, the US market was also not a big one for B&O, they seemed to have sold mostly in Europe.
And no, I would not pay those prices after knowing it is just a fancy name and shape covering average to middle range parts.
I have no ties to any names above.
B & O have used Samwha capacitors instead of Japanese or European capacitors, so really, I think over priced poseurs when I hear fancy descriptions of European audio equipment....
Saving $20 in capacitors on a unit whose asking price is $1000 is telling me a lot about the company, cheap skate is a proper description in my book.
And Samwha are far inferior to say Sprague, or Nichicon / Rubycon etc.
So their advertising about superior sound quality is cow dung.
No ties to any names here.
Saving $20 in capacitors on a unit whose asking price is $1000 is telling me a lot about the company, cheap skate is a proper description in my book.
And Samwha are far inferior to say Sprague, or Nichicon / Rubycon etc.
So their advertising about superior sound quality is cow dung.
No ties to any names here.
Then what are you doing in a thread of a B&O owner???
Seems trashing everything, you don´t own, is one of your specialities.
Read the thread from the start.
The repair tips I gave may have been useful as B&O used bought out assemblies, which are long out of production, and the service data is available outside the company's resources.
Sansui, for example, is also gone, defunct, as have many manufacturers of audio equipment, fortunately most used fairly common circuits and sub assemblies, so at least repairs may be possible, that is what it was about, restoring an old set, owner's sentiments and memories make them take extra trouble at times.
And are you the one with Magnepan speakers in Europe?
I know a lot of people who brought in audio systems back with them after their visits / studies in USA/ UK, I have seen the odd Marantz, and Carver maybe, the rest were all Japanese.
Some of them wear high end Rolex watches, and travel in S Class Mercedes cars, cost is not an issue for them, if needed they use private jets.
Not one B&O, and that goes for the speakers as well, mostly JBL and the odd Tannoy, apart from the Japanese speakers.
Imports were restricted, it was only around 2000 that we could buy imported music systems in the shops, and by that time TV had become the preferred music source.
In my knowledge, B&O never sold anything apart from speakers here in India, so it was not possible for me to buy or even listen to one in a shop.
Anyway, look at the Mahindra Thar Roxx, cheeky copy of 4 door Jeep, and most of it is actually licensed, Dana Spicer gear box and axles, metric converted from imperial.
It starts at 1.2 million Rupees, the Jeep started at 5.8 million, and the Mahindra is utterly reliable, the Fiat / Stellantis is not, did not sell much.
Mahindra was a licensee of Willys from 1946 onward, the arrangement stopped in 1986. They had a company called Mahindra Spicer for making axles and gear boxes, and are also the largest farm tractor maker here.
They also make two wheelers, three wheelers, trucks and small aircraft, also pleasure boats, a big operation.
Hotchkiss and Mitsubishi also made Jeeps under license from the American company, which has seen a lot of ownership changes over the years.
So I should buy which vehicle?
As usual, no ties to any names above.
The repair tips I gave may have been useful as B&O used bought out assemblies, which are long out of production, and the service data is available outside the company's resources.
Sansui, for example, is also gone, defunct, as have many manufacturers of audio equipment, fortunately most used fairly common circuits and sub assemblies, so at least repairs may be possible, that is what it was about, restoring an old set, owner's sentiments and memories make them take extra trouble at times.
And are you the one with Magnepan speakers in Europe?
I know a lot of people who brought in audio systems back with them after their visits / studies in USA/ UK, I have seen the odd Marantz, and Carver maybe, the rest were all Japanese.
Some of them wear high end Rolex watches, and travel in S Class Mercedes cars, cost is not an issue for them, if needed they use private jets.
Not one B&O, and that goes for the speakers as well, mostly JBL and the odd Tannoy, apart from the Japanese speakers.
Imports were restricted, it was only around 2000 that we could buy imported music systems in the shops, and by that time TV had become the preferred music source.
In my knowledge, B&O never sold anything apart from speakers here in India, so it was not possible for me to buy or even listen to one in a shop.
Anyway, look at the Mahindra Thar Roxx, cheeky copy of 4 door Jeep, and most of it is actually licensed, Dana Spicer gear box and axles, metric converted from imperial.
It starts at 1.2 million Rupees, the Jeep started at 5.8 million, and the Mahindra is utterly reliable, the Fiat / Stellantis is not, did not sell much.
Mahindra was a licensee of Willys from 1946 onward, the arrangement stopped in 1986. They had a company called Mahindra Spicer for making axles and gear boxes, and are also the largest farm tractor maker here.
They also make two wheelers, three wheelers, trucks and small aircraft, also pleasure boats, a big operation.
Hotchkiss and Mitsubishi also made Jeeps under license from the American company, which has seen a lot of ownership changes over the years.
So I should buy which vehicle?
As usual, no ties to any names above.
Welcome uknick!
Of course NareshBrd has a point. Many western brands are a faint contour of what they used to be and quality or recent devices is often so so (and chinese contract work anyway). Consumers buy this stuff often based on made up or old reputation and they are convinced they bought something very good even if it lets them down a few times and needs repair. NAD and Bluesound are famous for it, one rarely sees such bad part quality. With these one has owners practically apologising that their device broke down! That is what marketing apparently does. The owners tend to distrust the person telling them the device is EOL.
A category worse is when the device is also totally superfluous or simply an effect generator. The X-10D syndrome. Anyone active in repairing has a reciproke curve with regards to brand/device popularity 🙂
However the looks and functionality of many B&O devices are stunning. Beolab 8000 are pure art.
Of course NareshBrd has a point. Many western brands are a faint contour of what they used to be and quality or recent devices is often so so (and chinese contract work anyway). Consumers buy this stuff often based on made up or old reputation and they are convinced they bought something very good even if it lets them down a few times and needs repair. NAD and Bluesound are famous for it, one rarely sees such bad part quality. With these one has owners practically apologising that their device broke down! That is what marketing apparently does. The owners tend to distrust the person telling them the device is EOL.
A category worse is when the device is also totally superfluous or simply an effect generator. The X-10D syndrome. Anyone active in repairing has a reciproke curve with regards to brand/device popularity 🙂
However the looks and functionality of many B&O devices are stunning. Beolab 8000 are pure art.
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