I personally prefer the Century. You have the ability to control the tone controls and having a tape player is a bonus. No timer though. Not all Centurys have AM though. The BS1 looks more modern though.

Hi david,

        We have a Century on the wall in the kitchen. Despite its age it still looks cool. The sound from it never ceases to amaze us and our guests. Nice to be able to change the fret colours too. I know it can be done on the BS1 but not as cheap. All in all, still a nice piece of kit IMO.

     Jonnie

We had a Century for years and the sound was really good. I also think that with the sliding door it is more B&O, but that's a real personal impression.

Especially when wall mounted the slim design is pretty cool. To me Century looks like a proper stereo, while the Beosound1 is more a portable system.

Marcus 

I have a century and it is a good music center, good sound, easy to remote.

The century is a real B&O item... now my little girl has it is here room.....

My first reaction would be: Beolink Active linked to your BS4. But:

- BS4 does not have AM; and

- sadly, Beolink still does not enable to listen to different sources in the master and linked rooms (and I cannot understand why B&O has not developed such a convenient functionality yet).

Anyway, I think you would be pleased with both the Century and the BS1 (it will also be a question of price and design, I guess).

Kind regards,

Jean-Sebastien

Hi David,

I was faced with the same issue a few years ago. Here are my thoughts.

The Century is only 11 centimeters deep, which is a real advantage in a small room. Personally I think it doesn't look as nice as a Beosound 1. The Century is mainly plastic, with a bit of glas and 4 pieces of cloth to hide the speakers. Later versions had the aluminium clamper which helped a bit, but I would have preferred more metal. I don't care for the cassette option on the Century. I have a few tapes left, but I have a Beocenter 9300 which I use for that purpose.

As for the Beosound 1, I love the design. A simple mass with a beautiful aluminium speaker grill. It's more of a portable system than the Century, which may come in handy.

I can't help you with the performance issue. It's so long ago I have heard a Century. General opinion seems that the Century is better, though.

So which did I choose. You'd probably guess a Beosound 1. You're wrong, this time. I bought a Beosound 2300 with a couple of Beolab 2500's. Works for me. 😐

Wow thank you so much for the opinions, i love both the designs in a different way. The century looks classier, but the Beosound 1 just looks cool and modern and the design is awesome. I just assumed that the Beosound 1 sounded better with the extra woofer and larger cabinet volume. The Century on a table stand in 1 centimetre larger than the Beosound 1...

I just can't choose. I think it is a choice of form or function. I can't think of a time where i have wanted something portable.

From what you said Razlaw, the century sounding far better than the 1 considering you have both, then it looks like i will end up getting the century.