the newts.net

Managed to get my hands on a 1987 Bang and Olufsen Beosystem 5500. My old boy’s got one and I remember it fondly as a young lad. There’s something mystical and special about a DO NOT TOUCH stereo. And luckily for me I’ve just inherited one for free :)

The sound quality was exceptional but the system had built in speaker protection so you couldn’t crank it up boomingly loud without it turning itself down. I’m working on this minor set back at the moment! First however I came across this minor setback with the B&O CX100 speakers. The rubber surrond on the drivers in the cabinets had completely perished. Gutted. I had a pair of CX100’s and a pair of CX50’s all with knackered drivers. Luckily, by far the most valuable speakers the Beo Lab Penta’s were both fine.

So it was a case of a temporary repair. I got hold of some german speaker drivers at my local Maplin store. They needed a bit of shaping to fit the square B&O cabs but after a quality soldering and rewiring job they sounded pretty damn good. The temporary job didn’t last long though because much to my surprise I had no problem getting hold of the original B&O drivers for both pairs of speakers. My local Bang & Olufsen centre ordered them from Denmark and had them shipped and ready for collection in 4 days! At £30 a piece with 6 to replace it seemed a bit expensive, but hey, I’d just inherited a five grand stereo for free.
All speakers repaired, the CX100’s are rear speakers to the Penta’s and my mini CX50’s are now bookcase speakers for my pc. Quality :)