Trying to FIX: 1976 Bang & Olufsen Beomaster 1900 Tuner Amplifier 

Its incredible how an amp from the mid 1970s manages to still look modern in 2020.

I love this old stuff. Nothing is glued or sealed and everything can be fix. Those lights with "digital effect" - just perfect. Brilliant idea.

Vince is the only person who’s happy when things are worse than it was described. 😄

It was, is and always will be a beautyful system. Of course it is worth 65 quit, it a B&O. Well done Vince!

I'd suggest getting some acetate sheets for a laser printer (be careful to get laser-compatible ones! inkjet ones will melt) and making some new transparencies for the indicators.

This was an object of desire when I was 16 in the 70's. My much older brother had one of these in his home. I remember there were matching speakers and turntable with floor stands for all the equipment too.

Those touch buttons and the design of the indicators is quite impressive for the time. No wonder this cost a fortune back then.

I owned B&O Hi-FI system and TV in the 70s I loved them superb quality and in their day they were very futuristic, wish I still had them!

Back in 1977 a girlfriend of mine, dad bought one. Threw me out of the house for earlier changing the bass & treble settings.

Man, these old things are still very good. The sound in these are incredible, even with todays standards. They are a piece of art. Also, this model was intended to be wall mounted...thus it don't have "feet".

I love this restoration! I didn't even know this technology existed in 1976! It was WAY ahead of it's time. £65 is a bargain!! I would love to own one of these! Well done indeed! Keep up the good work! :)

As a B & O owner for more than 45 years I have really enjoyed your videos on these wonderful products, expensive yes but timeless beauty and design, my system has been faultless since purchase, keep up the good work. 👌👍

I remember this unit well and I thought back then that the design would always look cool, maybe that was the inspiration that made me become a designer

34:00 Important! The knobby-like contact surfaces of the levers should point outwards where the electrical connection is to be made. You've inserted the levers with the knobs pointing inwards where no electrical connection is needed. These knobs on the levers minimize the burning of the contacts when switched on and off. When plugged in, every operation of the switch, produces arcs and can be destructive to the Material. These knobs you can find on the levers of relays too. Everytime when i get an older device to repair, i often found the same dark red capacitors but most of them with sightable cracks and arched tops. It's always better to measure them all for capacitiy and especially for leakage and replace the bad ones before something really bad can happen. It's the best to measure them out of circuit, so no other components can falsify measured values.

GORGEOUS B&O !!!!. Classic Jacob Jensen style.

Filter caps on the power supply may be dried, that buzz that it did when you raised the volume without tunning anything usually is caused by bad power supply filtering.

I've fixed a number of these 1900. Had a varierty of faults, the Bal and Tone foils can be remade at home. Dismanting the thing is an effort and so is reassembly where the little fingers need to touch the touchpad posts. It's very crammed inside. The lamps expire too, there's a re-cap kit available. I had one that would go into safe mode on power up, took an age to find the fault. When done, I still think it has one of the best FM demods ever, shame there are no radio stations worth listening to. I think we got ours new in 1975 and cost £250 which was a lot back then, it even came with the circuit diagrams, which I knew to keep and still have.

Oh Vince mate that’s brilliant. What a thing! So retro and from our youth. They just don’t make things like this now. You would not see aluminium in anything today. Night rider lights , early touch screen , what’s not to like. Utterly brilliant and well done

I was an independent audio repair shop then. B&O was one of the companies I was a fully authorized service station for. Not looking through all the comments, it had an ultrasonic remote control. I had an ultrasonic security system in my store. I walked by a customers warranty repair burning in on my bench. channels would change volume up and down. Took mea bit to figure it out. Bulbs a big pain. Performance great even with the WAF. I still have test equipment required to be full service by them and others. Sound technology FM and distortion analyzers, besides regular stuff. FM tuner was great. i normally would give a performance test sheet back with the unit. I should send this guy my official factory service manual to him with handwritten notes. I was factory trained in the Berkshires by them (later micro controlled stuff). Actually the day Ronald Regan was shot. The Danish instructor asked me what I thought of my president being shot. I had no idea, listening to dolby home recordings over the several hour drive to the hotel.

Wow, memories flush from the past. Had repaird a lot of those during my time as radio and television tech here in Denmark. During your test I already knew what all the faults was. 😁😁 There are a lot of tricks how to take this apart and back again. Thats why your controls are out. The worst with this type of unit are the damper greas on the lid. Its sticky like hell. Nice video by the way

I really like watching you work on B&O stuff, the attention to detail on these things is amazing.

Very nice find ! Good deal ! It looks like an item in a Stanley Kubrick movie... I was born in the 60's and I remember the hype around the B&O designs. Well built ! Excellent job !

That old b&o stuff is just so well built. The mechanics they designed to create cool light effects is so good and the futuristic look of it is just gorgeous. I allways loved that cd player with the 5 discs in a row where the player moves to the chosen disc. Great stuff Vince.

I have a b&o 5500 still looks great in Today. This system looks great still now after 44 years. Good video

Not Fur Elize again?! But seriously, this would be too old to have had a remote, wouldn't it. We are so used to a remote for everything these days, aren't we! Thanks for a wonderful restoration. I particularly enjoy your vocal deductive reasoning as you work your way through explaining to yourself what is or isn't happening!

I had this tuner/amp. As a young Airman, I knew I was going to literally the middle of nowhere, so, I invested in a stereo. I had the futuristic (back then) turntable and Frazier Monte Carlo speakers. I still own the speakers, and they still sound great.

Those capacitive touch buttons are a very clever way of making a button! Lil did they know like 50 years later, everything would be touch! I love B&O products, build to last! And looks so modern and stylish. Amazing piece of tech

Vince Thanks for your inspiration to have a go at repairs on what look really complex electronics. I recently bought 3 of these old Beomaster 1900 for very little money as I love the looks and they remind me of the 1970s. I know very little about electronics but working logically and in carefully I soon had 2 working. Eventually I got all 3 working and have now recapped all the capacitors in one. Yes the sound is transformed from the others. It is magnificent. I also have it working with bluetooth and my iPad so I can stream music to the unit via the tape plug. I now have 2 left to recap and I know it will be worth the effort. Great that the service manuals are readily available.

I remember when shopping for audio equipment that B&O was comparatively expensive considering the specs. Very futuristic when compared to most of the gear at the time. The price you paid isn't bad. I enjoy it when you save old gear and save it from the landfill.

This would blend in perfectly in the Tesla Cuber truck FOR SURE!! My grandma used to have this radio and I used to play around with the sliders and knobs when I was 10 yrs old. and I remember being in awe of the aesthetics and overall design. This was 28 years ago and I now realize that it was pretty old back then already. It's just Gorgeous!

Think this is one of the best te of sound systems to purchase. M late father bought the complete set, radio, tape deck and record player. I am turning 44 this ear and it's still working brilliantly for its age. Really worth every dollar.

Great to see it working again. Because of your Beocord 5500 Video i got myself all components of a Besosystem 5000 and after fixing them I have a fully working hifi-setup that can play tape, cd, radio and records.

OH holy crap I was in the service department and we were a B&O dealer. They were a nightmare to repair. Good luck with the switches, everyone of them are as crappy as could be. Just make sure you have stellar rounds or you will be chasing problems all around. Good on you my man

Congratulations you have one of the most sought-after Bang & Olufsen amplifier receivers ever made that unit still has some really good value to it too

Thanks for a peek inside! I almost had one of these on my workbench. I have always had a soft spot for B&O design. The ring core power transformer is high end stuff, it has hardly any magnetic field spreading.

Brilliant! A quality item like that deserves to be treated well, here’s to another 10 years of service. Well played Sir!

I salvaged one of these from the dump in the '80s. After a bit of care and soldering it worked nonstop for more than a decade, then I moved and I gave it to some friend. I wonder if it's still playing music somewhere. B&O sure made the whackiest stuff. I had a Beovision TV that was so thin you wondered where the CRT had gone. It sounded like a HiFi system and had a printer output that I never found a use for :D

40+ years and still beautiful to look at .... design world class

What a beautiful piece of kit. Cleaned up nice too. Good to see you giving it another chance to live on for some more years!

It's good that you spotted the bodgy solder joints Vince. It's a problem on older equipment.

You also need rubber feet, because the receiver needs a lot of venting, otherwise it'll overheat fast. Good work!

What a beautiful machine. B&O had always great designers !

So cool! I'm a big B&O fan. Jacob Jensen is the designer of the B&O products from this time period, and he had said in interviews that this 1900 was his favorite of them all. So you have a very collectable item in the B&O world. I've been able to piece together a Beocenter 9000 with Beolab Penta speakers. I have the Beogram 9000 phono to match, Beolink 1000 remote, and an Active AM 10 antenna to match. They are brilliant systems, and I hope it brings joy to your life. P.S. Beomaster is the equivalent of an amplifier/receiver, Beocenter is more of a "all in one" so to speak.

In the 70's Finland my friend's dad worked for B&O and they had this snazzy looking slimline stereo and other equipment too. It looked so modern then.

I love how thorough you are. What a nice piece equipment you brought back to life!

Lots of good ideas in these comments. One thing I think is worth checking is the 2/4 speaker switch. Depending on whether the extension arm was straight through (right = right, left = left) or swivel (right = left, left = right, which is what I think it was since there is a large empty hole in the middle where a pivot point could insert) you can't really be sure which position you are in. That being said, take note of the other comments that say not to flip the switch while powered.

GOOD VIDEO. I bought my 1900 in 1976 and still have it. It weighs a ton! BTW: your 2 or 4 speaker switch has broken off - that's the switch missing on the base plate. ROB

In these Beomaster models the lamps are not merely used for indicating purposes, - they are in each their way integrated parts of the electronic circuits; The two volume lamps vary in brightness as they form part of the electronic volume control. Any unbalance from a bad/wrong lamp (or a LED) can cause unstability in the volume control, typically seeing it running astray in either direction or just sitting blocked and unresponsive. The three lamps illuminating the balance and tone control indicators double as bleed-down loads for the standby-circuit to activate properly. With wrong (or burned) lamps or LEDs it can be difficult to bring the Beomaster into standby. It will often jump back on again. The sound source indicators assist to perform a brief muting of the sound while switching sound source - to avoid a loud bang sound. The two tuning discriminator lamps form part of the AGC circuitry with their varying brightness, tuning close to - and around - FM stations, the discriminator circuit depends greatly on the lamps varying flow of current (light output) to function correctly.

Good to see some knowledgeable people commenting. Those old B&O's are pieces of art. Should be cared for by those who know.

We had one just like it in a house in Palm Springs as a kid (1-6th grade). Was mounted on a wall at the end of a Pool Table. Really Cool ....1972

I have been watching you for years and I am amazed at the things you find and for people like me that love tech old and new it's great thank you for helping me through my break at work until next time

Looks really great and I love that they put keyhole routing holes on the base for wall mounting. I bet this would be amazing mounted on a wall.

Nice explanation on a practical approach on how to fix things.

I really like the resistor and LED trick. Good Job, nice repair!

I love these old B&O units... weirdly a few days after you posted the video of the cassette deck repair a few months back, I stumbled across a B&O hifi similar to this one in a charity shop and also a CD player. It's one of the first CD players from the mid 80s and it's amazing - has touch controls and a glass front panel. I had to get them and sadly the prices were pretty much ebay prices but the charity was a worthy one so I was happy to buy them. Now in my pile of stuff to service... By the way, FM stereo always sounds hissy if the reception is poor, a better aerial would get better results (even just a piece of wire a metre or so long would probably be fine).

I think that is really nice. You did very well with what you paid for it.

I find it hilarious to see all the burn marks on your work tray. Great videos and love your patience.

Very entertaining video! It's good to see tinkering on older things. You've inspired me to start my own repair channel!

Hiya! At the start of the video I'm like "wow that looks amazing. I would have loved to have that as a kid"! Then you opened that stunning lid and I was disappointed at the looks. Then you turned it on and I saw those night rider lights and was in love again! Such quality and things from that time period just seemed easier to take apart (without breaking clips etc) and easier to repair. Just a tip. If you get background music that will copyright strike you then you can always put your own low volume music to mask it rather than lower the volume. I had it on my other channel because I waked past a pub playing loud music. 😂😂🤣🤣 Another quality video. Enjoyed it a lot! Have a great day! 😊

I had a stereo that was similar (but not B&O) that had a classy control panel under a flippy slow closing lid like that, I took it apart to replace a capacitor that blew and stank out the house, and the mechanism was quite ingenious. The lid had a rack that drove a pinion connected to a slipper clutch that then drove a gear inside a sealed container that contained a viscous fluid. You could open it as slow or as quick as you want thanks to the slipper clutch but the idea was when you closed it, you pushed it far enough for gravity to take over, and the rack and pinion/gear in gooey stuff took over, gracefully closing the panel.

Thoroughly enjoyed this video I like the older stuff you repair Vince as well as the modern. Cheers

What a beautiful bit of kit that is, reminds me of the stereos that my parents owned, real quality. For 65 quid you have a nice bit of history there.

When I was buying my house in late 2018, I found a complete system an antique shop. Managed to get the whole system hooked up and working (much to the delight of the owner). We talked price and I went back to see it a couple times but ultimately didn't buy it - too much audio gear already is what told myself...I really regret passing on it!

I know this was almost 2 years ago. Those 12V lights can be found be searching 12V Grain of Wheat globe. They are common in early model railways. The hissing on FM stereo is normal with a weak signal. FM Stereo needs a much stronger signal to eliminate the noise than a mono signal does.

Having had the Privilege of owning a 2400 with P45 speakers and and the Beogram 1700, since 1978, which probably set me back 4x my monthly salary🙈 obviously over time there has been some work on the various components but now works perfectly. One suggestion though, that magical, soft close Aluminium “flap “should be raised by lifting both ends at the same time. This will prevent the plastic hinges from breaking! Speaking from experience! I managed to do a repair using PVC weld. Enjoy your classic!

thanks for the video, i was fixing one of these and needed your video for guidance and thanks for what you showed. mine had the two speaker connections (female) pushed into the metal frame on speakers no 2 got in and fixed them after watching your video. in reference to you speaker switch with the missing arm, you are absolutely right in reference to there being an extended arm going from the front to the switch. l have not plugged in the phono yet or the tape but they light up ,infect the all of the lights work,(but does not mean they realy do work) just one thing you could do is show the screws you take out and put in. together

(edit: okay, sorry, you later on had the same idea, however I used a 2K, it is better) Tip: You can also replace the bulbs with a 2K resistor and a (christmas) warm white LED (2K for each LED, to be able to run on 12v). LEDS are long lasting (bulbs are not) and produce less heat (also good to protect the plastic and other surroundings). Have done this in the past with a vintage clock radio, a vintage boombox and the results are great!

My first job on leaving school in the early '70s was in a 'proper' HiFi shop. We sold all the good makes, including B&O. We sold the B&O, not for its dynamic qualities, but for its very good looks and finish. Not every Lady would countenance what looked like a pile of battery chargers in her living room, never mind how good her Husband said they sounded. It was very expensive, but then so were the 'battery chargers'. Really interesting video, keep it up!!

The power switch under the top cover is the main power, and standby is to actually turn on and off the unit. FM Stereo will give you a stereo effect on a stronger signal, and FM mono helps to receive weaker signals, without the stereo effect.

Hey V Great video mate. Its also great to hear your enthusiasm. Keep them coming mate

Incredible job for one of the most beautiful amplifier. Thanks for sharing

This Beomaster 1900 was the first in a long row of similar units. The 2000, 2400, 3000, 3500 and 4500, just to mention some. Very beautiful and groundbreaking, with really nice sound - not high end, but good and sufficient for most people. Easy and logical to operate too. Now a couple of KEF LS-50 wireless II, maybe with a sub, is all we need - bit of a shame, I miss those nice designed tapedecks, receivers, and turntables.

What a Beauty and a wonderful restauration! Well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Hi as a long time enthusiast of hifi and a 15 years+ of buying and selling online...the b&o stuff is very slick design but pound for pound is blown into the weeds by more conventional separates. ...stunning to look at tho...hard to imagine but back when eBay was in its infancy I used to pick up these and models above it for relative pennies. ..

Another great vid from 'My Mate VINCE' 👍😊 very nicely done ! and I see you now have the CD / Cassette and the amp! Regardless of age they should all click together as I believe they used the same DIN plugs/sockets to interconnect. All in all with the complete systems together no one can moan re the price of and bear in mind the cost it would have been re labour and time spent doing repairs et Thankfully there are those around such as yourself that give us the pleasure of seeing a piece of history brought back to life. I'm currently working on a Siemens valve radio from just after the end of WW2 ONLY 2 left in the world, with full provenance / receipts (bought by a soldier in Germany who had to pay customs and storage fees to bring it into the UK) An amazing piece of gear with a German record player as well. The build just like the B & O gear is very high quality. Lots of wheels and pulleys plus mechanical switching and of course I'm doing recap and new power mods but have it already working after spending days over the last few weeks to bring it all together/ still work to do, the UHF / FM section is VERY intricate. Luckily the service guy back in 1947 also had the full circuit diagram et It's not about the money it's about HISTORY, what decade and so much more. I have my main hi fi system from the 70s+ of separates that have been fully repaired, serviced et and the sound is awesome. Keep em coming ! 👍😊

hey! I have one of these! Some of the indication lights are broken but it's completely functional. Getting it to use a modern audio i/o interface was a pain but the quality of this thing is exceptional.

I had a Beomaster 1900 for many years I got second hand. Used it through 80's and 90's for turntable and tape it's awesome. Well worth £65. The output impedance is 4ohm rather than the usual 8ohm speakers but if not driven too hard won't be a problem. The circular thing is a toroidal transformer which reduces induced interference (mains hum). I think you got a good deal there..a real blast of nostalgia for me.

My dad bought one of these in Frankfurt DE back in 1976. His was the white version. We used the hell out of this unit over 3 years in Tehran Iran. Then the civil war hit and the unit got left behind as we got the hell out of Dodge!! It's a damn shame it got left behind. We all really loved it.

I once repaired the plastic foil lines by printing new ones in a laser printer. You can get get transparent laser printer paper. Worked perfectly.

It's an awesome piece of vintage technology, would love to have one.

I have a pair of Beovox speakers I got from eBay for 25 quid, connected up to my 1990’s Sharp HiFi. They sound amazing! I also have a pair of corded B&O earphones and they are the best headphones I’ve ever had, cost a fortune. But they are such quality.

Very helpful! I intend to replace the lighting for the bass setting and now I know how to do it. Thank you very much!

Seeing how the sliders work was worth the price of admission...almost.

'Not as described' is basically a given for any type of hi-fi gear on ebay. I've bought so many pieces that supposedly worked and arrive broken, usually easily fixed, sometimes not.

Fascinating video. I love the analogue approach to the digital looking display for levels. I've always wondered how these things sounded, since when I saw them when I was little, they always sounded terrible to me. A few people my parents would visit had them, and they always seemed to have terrible, low-profile, B&O speakers that were more designed for looks than sound. So hopefully in another video, you can hook them up to a decent pair of speakers and comment on what kind of sound these amps produced; where they all looks, or did they sound good too?

You might be able to use overhead projector paper and print new gradient for the equalizer

My first job when I left Collage in the 70's was working in a Hi-Fi shop, called Kellys Radio in Southend-on-Sea, they sold high end audio and were B&O official dealers. I remember the Bang & Olufsen products well, I think the Beomaster 1900 came out in 1977. All of their products were Beo this or Beo that, for a laugh one day we relabelled the hover that the cleaner used, we called it a 'Beosuck' however, the cleaning lady ended up going all round town trying to get hover bags for a Beosuck! The 70's, great times, great Hi-Fi and great music. It's nice to see someone fixing up a thing from the past and not throwing it away.

Great video Vince. It's a lot of fun to watch electronics from the 70-80 being repaired.

nice repair mate well done

Very cool designs and engineering. Those days are long gone. Now we have terrible Bluetooth junk.

Very common for the FM Stereo switch to introduce static. This does not indicate a fault. FM mono is an easier signal to receive.

Superb ! Thanks for the link to Beolover. Found a manual for my Beomaster 3000-2 which solved some major issues.

Great video as always, it would of had feet. Try tuning with AFC off then turn AFC on when the channel is properly tuned to lock the frequency in. Great piece of kit.

nice video. I have a B&O BEOGRAM 1700 turntable. The dust cover was badly scratched so I used automobile headlight polish and it worked very well. You might want to consider using that for the black panel where the lights project. You would want to tape off the aluminum first so you don't scratch the silver surface.

Lovely repair! A nice tuner / amp for sure! It's a bit wide though =D

I still have my Beomaster 1900 I bought new in 1981 along with the Beocord 1900 cassette deck, Beogram 1700 turntable and Beovox S45 speakers. While there is not a scratch on any one of them and they look as beautiful as ever, I have had to have repairs done over the years. Loved your video Vince. Keep it up.

I like that amp! it looks like it belongs in an entertainment center beside an 8track/record player, atari and a 200lb CRT television with giant speakers on either side.

i love how ebay sellers list "could do with a clean" i think well bloody clean it then or send it to my mate vince

Very cool device, love that light panel, looks a bit like space ship control panel. Futuristic in it's time and now it's retro-futuristic :)

Brilliant video, a relative of mine, had this exact system, complete with matching B&O speakers & turntable, he bought it in Singapore in 1977, on a Navy trip out there. (He may still have it) I remember when I first saw it, (I was only 9 at the time) I was totally awestruck at how futuristic it looked, with it's red & green display panal & touch sensitive controls. Still looks modern today, although the inside looks alot more basic than I thought, all descreet components & not an IC in sight! It's common to get hiss on stereo FM broadcasts, you just need a good antenna, often an outdoor one too, if your in a poor signal area. The second set of speaker connections, may have been included because at the time, quadraphonic sound (using 4 channels & speakers) was touted as the next big thing during this period but it never really became popular.