A Beogram 4000 turntable from Australia recently arrived and I’m excited to share my initial assessment. Despite the packaging using incredibly small packing peanuts (resulting in a big mess!), the turntable arrived in great shape.

The attached image showcases the turntable as I unpacked it:

This Beogram 4000 has a nice dust cover with minimal scratching, good aluminum trim, and intact plexiglass hinges. It’s definitely worth keeping and polishing.

Under the dust cover, things are looking good as well. The aluminum surfaces are mostly undamaged and the platter looks great. The plinth is in excellent condition, even the corners are perfect:

After removing the aluminum panels for a closer look:

The turntable appears to be mainly in its original state, which is always a positive sign for restoration. Thankfully, there aren’t any obvious signs of previous tampering. Even the delicate red carriage position indicator is still in place:

Examining the motor reveals this is an early model Beogram 4000. The pulley is missing the integrated belt guides, instead using external ones bolted to the motor mounts:

The slightly crowned pulley makes these external guides somewhat redundant. They seem to mainly prevent the belt from coming off during transportation (at least, that’s my theory).

This Beogram 4000 arrived without a power plug, so I installed a standard American plug and set the voltage to 110V. When plugged in, the strobe light functions correctly (the one-sided appearance is a camera artifact from the light pulsing with the power grid frequency).

However, the carriage motor seems very weak and cannot move the carriage. Additionally, the AC platter motor produces a strange rattling noise. A quick check with an oscilloscope revealed the motor voltage is unregulated and much too high. I immediately unplugged the unit to prevent further damage and will investigate these issues during the restoration process.

In conclusion, this Beogram 4000 is an excellent candidate for restoration. Its excellent cosmetic condition provides a strong foundation and the technical problems should be solvable.