Best speaker pairing for a B&O BeoCenter 2200

[Ryan_1993]

Hi all,

Yesterday I bought a BeoCenter at my local car boot for £5. I didn't even really look at seriously lol. I just saw it stacked in a far corner and given that it was so cheap just paid the guy. I actually thought it was a 4000 model with the dual cassette decks and was surprised given its slim appearance that it actually had a record deck inside when I opened it in the back of the car.

Anyways I knew it was going to be a difficult fix as it was missing the expensive MMC cartridge. My plan for this machine is to sell it for parts now. Its also in a rather poor state externally.

However, I liked the form factor of the machine so much so that I decided to go on ebay and I bought a fully refurbished example complete with a MMC4 cart. It was quite expensive, but compared to a new cartridge on its own actually quite a bit cheaper.

I know these systems get a lot of hate in the BeoCommunity as they mainly used a lot of Japanese parts, but In my opinion its a fantastic form factor and the current non working one I have fits perfectly on a small chest I have at the foot of my bed. So it will make for a good secondary Hifi for casual listening with headphones when I'm working from home overnight.

Basically I have heard the 2200 came with pretty rubbish BeoVox X25 speakers so I just wondered if there was a better pairing anyone could recommend? I have some small white BeoVox CX50's I bought a few years ago now and was going to use them with it for the meantime along with my sennheiser momentum 2 headphones.

I do quite like the look of the RL'45s but wondered if that would actually be worthwhile?

For anyone curious here's a picture (attached) of the refurbished example I got yesterday afternoon.


Many thanks

Ryan

[Max Ripple]

I like these units,and that fact that so many are still in use is testimony to the design and build quality.
They are capable of good sound if decent 'speakers are used.

Any other B&O 'speaker would be better than the X25's that were supplied with the system.The designers seemed to have suffered an "off day"when they decided on those!!!
The Beovox CX50's are fine but the CX100 are better,but watch out for "foam rot"with either of these model's.
RL45's sound super with these units too,but again there may be problems with drive unit's.There are repair kits readily available of course.
The sound is rather "American",as loudness compensation is built in,making the sound rather bass heavy at low volume particularly.
You can of course also use the "tape in" socket as an auxillary connection for a cd player or Bluetooth adaptor.
Enjoy.
Nick

[paulsherwin]

You do of course have the option of using non B&O speakers. It depends on your requirements, preferences and budget.

[Beobloke]

Stick with smaller loudspeakers, whatever you go for. The unit has an in-built loudness compensation that cannot be turned off, which makes the sound a bit thick and boomy through larger speakers with reasonable bass output.

Whilst the Beovox X25s arent the greatest speakers in the world, they do actually work quite well with the 2200, as they were designed to!

[Ryan_1993]

Originally Posted by Beobloke

Stick with smaller loudspeakers, whatever you go for. The unit has an in-built loudness compensation that cannot be turned off, which makes the sound a bit thick and boomy through larger speakers with reasonable bass output.

Whilst the Beovox X25s arent the greatest speakers in the world, they do actually work quite well with the 2200, as they were designed to!

Thanks for this. Would you avoid going for the RL45’s they look pretty nice and with them being relatively flat thought they would wall mount quite well.

The other option I’ve spotted is the very small MCX35’s but don’t know if they’d actually be worthwhile buying.

[Max Ripple]

The MCX35's sound quite sweet actually,quite different from the X25 which in fairness was a budget 'speaker.
The RL45's are impressive too,particularly with rock music.The loudness compensation only kicks in fully at low volume,so at normal listening levels it isn't too intrusive.You can alway's reduce the bass if the sound becomes too boomy?
Nick

[Ryan_1993]

Originally Posted by Max Ripple

The MCX35's sound quite sweet actually,quite different from the X25 which in fairness was a budget 'speaker.
The RL45's are impressive too,particularly with rock music.The loudness compensation only kicks in fully at low volume,so at normal listening levels it isn't too intrusive.You can alway's reduce the bass if the sound becomes too boomy?
Nick

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the recommendation. I bought a pair of lovely looking MCX35’s only £34 so not bad at all. They should wall mount quite well I think above the 2200.

I’ll probably sell my white BeoVox Speakers as they don’t match really

[Beobloke]

Originally Posted by Ryan_1993

Thanks for this. Would you avoid going for the RL45’s they look pretty nice and with them being relatively flat thought they would wall mount quite well.

Personally, I’d avoid all the RL models full stop. I’m not a fan!

[richieyork]

You could also consider the B&O 3800 speakers. These are serious, 12inch Goodmans bass drivers and sweet as a nut Philips dome tweeters. I've just re-centered the bass driver cones in mine (they sag with age) and they really sing. They are however quite rare. https://beocentral.com/beovox3800