Bang & Olufsen 5000 system

Does anyone here know anything about this brand. A coworker has offered it to me. Snapped some pics of it but didn't take it due to the wiring on rear. Couldn't lift it all at one time either by myself. I would like to know if it would be worth grabbing. He said it's not working.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Iconic brand know more for ergonomics than sound quality by the time that system came around. Very expensive, very capable in terms of multiroom installations back in the day, that day being about 25 years ago.

Also known for being difficult and expensive to fix now. More info here:

http://beocentral.com/

http://beophile.com/

http://www.beoworld.org/articles.asp

There's a B&O Beosystem 5500 on San Diego CL today for $150.

I was thinking to myself...."Man, they are beautiful, but I couldn't fix it if something's not working".

I would love to have another B&O turntable like I did in the 80's, but I think the connections on the back of these are proprietary.

I shall pass.

Pass unless it's free.

I still have my Beogram 3000 linear tracking table bought back in '85. Mint condition but not used due to the cost of a new cart. Had a nice small foot print and low profile when the cover was up. And I do have the RCA adapter.

Thanks guys. It's free. The guys father bought it new. He owned a OIL company. Sure he dropped some serious coin. I think I will pass due to complexity of the unit as a whole. Did you see that remote!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

B&o

Grab it and smile from ear to ear. As a B&O lover, a service Tech, and a former dealer for the brand it is great stuff. Not that hard to work on and there is a separate site that is very helpful. Most of the problems on the 5000 comes from bad connections on the front panel. That remote alone is worth about 200 bucks on the bay. Its winter jump in and have some BO you wont be sorry.

comish4 said:

Grab it and smile from ear to ear. As a B&O lover, a service Tech, and a former dealer for the brand it is great stuff. Not that hard to work on and there is a separate site that is very helpful. Most of the problems on the 5000 comes from bad connections on the front panel. That remote alone is worth about 200 bucks on the bay. Its winter jump in and have some BO you wont be sorry.

Click to expand...

Ok you talked me into it. Just messaged the guy and said I would grab the unit. Thanks for your arm twist lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Silly priced gear (on purpose) and Mediocre sounds. Designed & sold to/for the "Look at Me' crowd.
Don't pay more than $100

It's free, the worst that could happen is you have to give/throw it away.

There used to be a B&O store in a local luxury mall here. I loved the stuff. Beautiful to look at, wonderful sound, and some insanely innovative designs (I used to love these small integrated systems they had that you hung on the wall... The device would sense your hand approaching and these smoked glass doors would glide open... Or the vertical 5- or 6-disk CD changer on which the read head would move up or down from disk to disk ... Just really neat shit).

Very European, modern, contemporary. Go to Google Images and key in Bang and Olufsen, and the photos that come up are freakin' gorgeous! And every time I heard it... Amazing!

Expensive? Sure. But if I had the scratch, I wouldn't think twice about getting one. They have products in the Museum of Modern Art as exhibits, and the stuff in this system? Yes, it's gorgeous, but, compared to that stuff they used to have in that B&O shop, positively pedestrian.

Get it!

I'm sure someone on epay will buy it if all else fails.

I will grab the system and put it in my shop. Then I will research it. Open the units up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Major B&O fan here. In regards to those who said they've focused more on looks than sound quality, I'd say that applies more to their systems from the mid-90's onwards. The 5000 was the first in the line of what many collectors call "the separates", partly because following the line of separates, the company moved towards developing small fancy-looking mini systems, that weren't as focused on sound quality. The 5000 was followed by the 5500, 6500, and then 7000. All have similar designs, but the 6500 and 7000 are recognizable by the mirrored finish instead of the brushed aluminum. Usually the values also increase with the later the series number. Whether it's worth it will of course depend on the price.

Repairing them actually isn't very hard. Because these were high-end boutique systems instead of cheaply mass-produced, the internal designs tend to be very accessible. If you join the Beoworld website, there will be many helpful members there. An annual membership gives you access to the schematics and service manuals. A couple members have even put together re-cap kits you can buy from them. To talk about each component would take too much time here, but if you have some more specific questions I or others may be able to help. Did he specify what he meant by it not working?

@ camshaft...thanks for your input. The owner said he sent it to Houston,TX and spent $500 getting it repaired. I don't know if it was functional after that. I will call him later today for more info. I can perform capacitor removal and replacement rather well. I'm not scared to crack it open. I found a Bo forum and a restore thread on beomaster 5000. I'm getting excited now!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck with the 5000. The receiver may the prize of the set now. It is very good sounding and has an excellent FM section. Unlike later versions it can also be operated fairly well from the front panel without the remote.

The tape deck is superb for an auto reverse design. B&O were leaders in tape decks, they actually developed the "Dolby" HX Pro circuit and then gave it away to anyone who wanted it.

The TT is very good also but hobbled by a lack of affordable choices for the proprietary cartridge design. Too bad as the table/arm/cartridge system is brilliant.

The first CD that came with that series, the CD50 IIRC, was an unreliable dog. Win some, lose some.

Most people understand nothing about B&O. No, the whole budget does not go towards the best sound possible but it does not mostly go for looks either. They were leaders in ergonomics and functionality. Dismissing B&O because it does not have the best sound for the $ is like someone who drives 2 seat sports cars saying anyone who buys a sedan, wagon or anything else is an idiot. Different people have different needs and priorities and are therefore free to spend their money on different things. B&O offered something different that appealed to a lot of people. I used to work at one of the biggest B&O dealers in North America so I have a bit of experience with their gear from the mid 80s to early 90s. Bought one for my dad and it has outlived him.

Thanks for all the informative replies. I will put my efforts into the receiver. From what I gather it's the amp also? Hopefully get it operational then polish it up nice. Should look pretty trick chilling by itself for now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, the receiver is the amplifier with a tuner section.

Let us know how it works out!

bare said:

Silly priced gear (on purpose) and Mediocre sounds. Designed & sold to/for the "Look at Me' crowd.
Don't pay more than $100

Click to expand...

Don't talk such nonsense here, Dude...!

Seriously, has anyone here actually owned one of these systems? I have had a few of them and they are wonderful examples of how certain things should be done. Yes, they are unusual, european and riddled with din connectors and proprietary connections, but as a whole system, there is nothing to touch the user experience.

The master control panel is a work of art and a full two way communicator. there is also a simplified remote that gets the most use- ask where that one is. The receiver is a beast with a thermo controlled fan in it and truckloads of quality power. The cd player uses a CDM0/1 and a beautiful implementation of the classic Phillips chipsets.

I find it disappointing that people who've never touched, worked on or listened to B&O think they know anything about it.

bare: you speak complete uninformed regurgitated rubbish in relation to this system.

Have to say I have recently fallen back in love with my Beomaster 5000 system.
It`s currently my lounge main system and runs a pair of RL140`s.
It had been neglected for the last couple months while I have been stuck in my music room playing with other stuff.
It has been refreshing to spend the last week listening to it again.

I also have other B&O pieces I have picked up over the last 2 1/2 years I have been back into audio. It`s generally cheap to buy and easy to repair.

I have a reasonable amount of your more conventional Jap, US gear in my main system. It`s cost a lot more money but it gets nervous when I bring in some of the B&O gear in to do some comparison tests.

Get the 5000 system and give it a go. You won`t be disappointed.


Tony