Integrated cartridge-tonearm design yields very low mass and eliminates all setup procedures. Cartridges at upper end of MMC line are very good. Spring-isolated platter assembly resists shocks well.

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Modern, sleek functional design and superb craftsmanship are strengths. Sound quality depends on how much you are willing to pay for a cartridge. At one end we have the M5 which you can purchase from SoundSmith for about $250.00 refurbished and get very decent sound quality. They also have M4 M3 M2 M1 and then one with a ruby tip called The Voice for around $7,500.00. Smoked plexiglass lid is the perfect touch and hides many sins.

Weakness is that there is only one resource for cartridges as B&O give all production rights to SoundSmith. I am having my M5 cartridge upgraded to an M3 by them. Takes 6 weeks and costs $200.00.

Am enjoying two of these Bang & Olufsen RX-2 turntables; lucky to get my folks oldie (1985 or 86), which mostly sat for many years and complemented their other B&O equipment. They mainly just listened to FM radio. My second RX-2 I just bought off of Craigslist, for $40 with the mmc-5. The folks unit is truly mint, equipped with MMC-2. The 2 has virtually perfect fidelity, having very low hours of previous use. The used buy (MMC-5) has much less bass crispness, and the upper ranges are a bit thin. However, both are playing my records beautifully, and my 80's retro components are set up in rack cabinets--one upstairs, one downstairs. Some of our guests drool! Let nature sing--Richard Betts is coming through my headphones right now, with an occasional click on pop. What a nostalgic trip!

Integrated cartridge-tonearm design yields very low mass and eliminates all setup procedures. Cartridges at upper end of MMC line are very good. Spring-isolated platter assembly resists shocks well.

Cheap cables, delicacy of stylus adhesive, decay of cantilever mount over time.

RX-2 is a sleek, beautiful machine with very reliable automatic operation, but with certain flaws in quality of materials that may give trouble as mine did: (1) chip controlling operation had to be replaced after about 2 years; (2) signal cables had to be replaced after about 7 years; (3) one cartridge (of 4) lost its stylus. None of these resulted from abuse, but I learned the hard way that solvent-based cleaners must not be used on the stylus. Initially purchased with MMC-4 cartridge (MMC-5 obviously substandard in store listening), upgraded to MMC-3 and then MMC-2, a very satisfactory stylus-cartridge combination. One further cautionary note on cartridges: in addition to normal wearing-out process and the fact that you can't replace the stylus without buying an entire cartridge, there is another limitation. The rubber holding the cantilever dries out over time; after about 5 years, you will likely experience severe and very audible signal degradation. Plan on buying new cartridges every 3 or 4 years even if you don't play records often, and beware of used cartridges or those gathering dust on a dealer's shelf. Star ratings reflect downgrading for reliability of an otherwise uniquely sophisticated turntable and cartridge. Note: RX-2 is no longer in production and parts may become hard to find. MMC-2 and MMC-4 are only available cartridges as of 2002; one is very affordable and the other is very good.

Great looks and sound

Hope the stylus lasts cause there tuff to find!

Man, regardless of the sweet price ($65 Canadian) this turntable provides endless enjoyment of new and vintage LPs. I listen to everything from Nofx to Jim Croce and it all sounds superb. Despite its high sensitivity its a great player. Grab it if you can find one! Thinking of getting a NAD PP-1 preamp to clean up the sound.

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None with the style + sound

Great asthetics and sound

Hope the stylus lasts cause there tuff to find!

Man, regardless of the sweet price ($65 Canadian) this turntable provides endless enjoyment of new and vintage LPs. I listen to everything from Nofx to Jim Croce and it all sounds superb. Despite its high sensitivity its a great player. Grab it if you can find one! Thinking of getting a NAD PP-1 preamp to clean up the sound.

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None with the style + sound

Superb design, ture Bang & Olufsen high quality craftsmanship, great sound. simply a beautiful turntable

prone to hum sometimes

This was once the entry level Bang & Olufsen Beogram turntable. It has held up well for nearly 20 yrs old. The design of this and all B&O turntables is a work of art.
Sound from the MMC-4 cartridge is great.. my vinyl never sounded so good. It does tend to bring out those pops and crackles from your old vinyl. But hey... it's worth being able to listen to them again. If you find a well maintained Bang & Olufsen some time.. snap it up. When I first got the turntable.. i sat and just stared at it for about 20 minutes. I was amazed at the beauty of it. I really wanted a B&O 5500.. but that was beyond my budget. The tonearm and platter work together so as to isolate any skips. Mine has never once skipped. Bang & Olufsen products are expensive... like a Jag car.. but worth it.

good looks and sounds like your a part of the record

HARD too find cartriges/styli especially the MMC-5

The turntable was my dads untill i got my record playin' paws on it. I like to spin all kinds of platters on it and the B&O plays them beatifully. I recomend that if you can find a B&O Beogram RX 2 buy it!

Just picked this gem up from a guy at a flea market for $20. His "major" complaint w/ it was that it was "too heavy." His loss I say.
Originally it had a MMC 5 cartidge, but I had buy a new cartridge cause the old one was completely gone. ($100 from a B&O store in McLean Va.) So therefore for $120 I got a really nice quiet turntable. Sound has been increadible incomperison to some other turntables I've heard (SanSui that my dad had w/ an oriphone sp? cartridge, pair of Teacs that the college radio station had, a Pioneer that my friend has.)

I'm giving the overall rating of a 4 because every now and then the "play" button doesn't bring the tonearm all the way out to the record... haven't found a tweak to fix it yet either.

If you come across this turntable for that much of deal, GRAB it!

Good isolation from bumps and footfalls, minimal rumble,easy on records, tolerant of warps, great sound. Looks sleek.

Absolutely none.

I bought my Bang & Olufsen RX2 turntable new, back in 1988. It still runs flawlessly and sounds great, rivaling my best CDs, with the original MMC2 cartrige/stylus. It has served me reliably and well over the years.
But the process of cleaning the records and stylus has become increasingly tedious, and, despite my best efforts, most of my LPs have degraded somewhat. And CDs are so much easier to play and preserve.
So I am currently in the process of transferring my remaining LPs (most of which are unavailable in CD form) to CD with my Pioneer CD-R recorder. Except for a few very exceptionally well recorded and pressed LPs, the transfers to CD are indistinguishable from the original LPs.
Soon I'll be done transferring my LPs, but I'll probably hold on to my RX2 a while longer. It shows no sign of faltering, and I occaisionally run across LP recordings that are not available in any other medium (most recently, some wonderful 20+ year-old releases on Japanese labels by the splendid tenor saxophonist, Billy Harper).
If you need a turntable, and you can find a B&O RX2 for sale in decent shape, it would be a great purchase.

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Various turntables: Dual, Thorens, Technics