Tim listen
The Beogram 4000 has a smooth, silky, luxurious
sound that encourages long listening sessions. No matter how late it is, there
always seems to be time for one more side of an LP. Another quirk is that vinyl
surface noise is unusually well suppressed, making quiet passages and the gaps
between tracks sound almost CD-clean.
Removing
the top plate reveals the sheer complexity of both the mechanics and
electronics involved. The sub-chassis and cue/lead screw are both clearly
visible
Furthermore, the use of tangential tracking
means that distortion levels do not rise at the beginning and end of each side
of the record (as they do with conventional arms), so after a while it is easy
to forget that you’re listening to vinyl. Nevertheless, one occasionally hear
an unusual ‘swooshing’ sound which is generated by the record slowly walking
round on the hard plastic ribs of the platter if the former is not completely
flat. Contemporary reviewers repeatedly complained about this and begged
B&O to change the design. This it only did in 1982 for the last of the big tangential-tracking
Beograms, the 8002. The stubby, tapered centre spindle and the shallow lid
preclude the use of clamp to minimise this effect.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition [RCA
Victor LSC-2201] proved to be a compelling listen on the Beogram 4000. The
recording requires a turntable which can set sudden bursts of activity against
a quiet background, which the 4000 did exceptionally well. Although not the
brightest sounding of decks, the B&O rendered the percussion and woodwind,
both of which occasionally become quite energetic, with an ease that leaves you
wanting for nothing more.
B&O
also released a receiver to match – the Beomaster 4000
At the bass end, the thundering subsonics
of ‘Bydlo’ were both fulsome and accurate, suggesting that the sophisticated arm
is at ease and well behaved. There was no loss of detail as each side came to a
close, so you are able to enjoy the likes of the ‘Ballet of the Chicks in their
Shells’ as if it were optimally placed in the centre of the recorded area. To
these ears this ability alone places the Beogram 4000’s performance above what
is achievable with conventional turntables of any type.
The Mussorgsky album is typical of what the
original Beogram 4000 customer would have listened to, but even more modern
styles do not seem to seriously wrong-foot it. Along with an album of 12in remixes
of Howard Jones tracks, The Pet Shop Boys’ Introspectiveand Kate Bush’s The
Kick Inside, one of the LPs I tried was Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Architecture
And Morality [Dindisc DID12, blue outer sleeve version].
Beogram
cable
Here, when playing tracks like ‘Souvenir’, I
found that the Beogram 4000 possessed surprisingly good timing for a
belt-driven deck. Of course, the accuracy of a good Japanese quartz-locked
direct drive was never going to be on the menu, but the heavy platter and
powerful motor meant that the B&O came surprisingly close.
True, some will prefer a more vivid top-end
when listening to electronica like OMD’s, but set this aside and the 4000 just sounds
relaxed, solid and natural – surely the purpose of the whole business of hi-fi.
Buying secondhand
Finding a used Beogram 4000 is not difficult.
Broken styli can now be repaired and Soundsmith manufactures complete replacement
cartridges.
The ‘tongue’ onto which the cartridge mounts
is fragile, as are the connections to the coil inside the cartridge itself. The
latter cannot be repaired, so don’t remove the cartridge unless it is absolutely
necessary to do so.
Instead of the correct SP15, MMC4000 or
MMC20EN cartridges, one occasionally sees units fitted with lesser models,
often taken from worn-out music centres. Types MMC3000, MMC20S and MMC20E fall
into this category and while they will work, they do not offer the same level
of performance. At the other end of the scale, types MMC6000 and MMC20CL are
useful upgrades if you can find examples of either in good condition.
