Your favourite product from B&O’s first 100 years?

[Steve at Sounds Heavenly]

Hi Beoworlders,

To celebrate 100 years of B&O, I met up with Paul at the Belgian B&O museum to find the most iconic B&O products ever made! Please check out the video below and let us know which B&O pieces you would choose as your highlights of 100 years of B&O!

https://youtu.be/fm4CDTwnJT8

Kind regards, Steve.

Location: The cable workshop, England

Favourite Product: Beosystem 72-23

Signature: Cables, friendly advice and great ideas for connecting Bang & Olufsen! Ask any questions at https://soundsheavenly.com to get the best from your B&O! Please visit my B&O YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables

My B&O Icons:

[ajames]

I have too many, it would either be the original Beovision Avant as I spent many a happy hour watching Nordic crime on it or the Beocenter 9000 series with a pair of Lab 8s.

Location: United Kingdom

Favourite Product: Beocentre 9300

My B&O Icons:

[Saxpy]

TV: AV5, it was a bit odd, but it was such a cool device. I had the fortune to work with some people in the video department at B&O and they regarded the AV5 to be the best television set they had ever developed.

Audio: Beosound 9000…

Speakers: Beolab 8000, maybe not their best sounding speaker but for sure the best design.

Telephone: Beocom 6000, excellent sound and I loved the wheel control.

[NQVHNWI]

AV5,  I remember that as I was getting in to my first major purchase. Again, a legacy TV where the CD-i or CD-Rom outdated it immediately and would have done well if only they adopted or updated to the DVD standard.

[NQVHNWI]

I think a lot of B&O – although it looks splendid from a distance in my opinion actually ages like everything else. I’ll probably offend a lot of people but there are lots of models which today I would not entertain now but in the day…thought it was the bees-knees.

Aside, for my 100 years…..

 

Childhood Dreams….wall mounted BeoSystem 4000

 

Owned and loved:-

Audio: BeoSound 5 – modified with a zippy HDD – it was not as bad as many have stated.

Loudspeaker: Beolab 5 – I think this put B&O in the “serious” Loudspeaker and amp market

 

 

[artig]

For me the favourites will always be the ones I had a hand in creating, and of these the Beocord 9000 stands out as one of the best. It was probably one of the most advanced and best cassette decks of all time from any manufacturer in the consumer marketplace.

[carolpa]

Highlights:

Beovision: AV9000 – superb picture at the time and  a amazing sound wrapped up in the ultimate design

Beosound: I love the design of the 90th such as the Beosystem 4500 and 6500. The sound is great and I learned a lot about the multiroom capabilities with these systems.

the most iconic B&o music design for me is the Beosound Shape though.

Beolab: the 5’s

Multiroom: Netlink – no masters no slaves. All can be extended and mixed….. even old and new

edit:

I almost forgot – the Beogram 4000 family timelessly designed

 

[Tignum]

I am a fan of the Beomaster 1900, the first B&O product that I got close to at my parents in law: I now own a 4500, the last one of the series. Very nice product with lots of connectivity (and remote controlled).

Furthermore the BeoSound 5 – so different from anything else!

One more thing I really like B&O for: their careful design approach and use of aluminium and wood (I once saw photographs here of a modern BM5000 prototype with only the lower part of the sides in veneer, I might one day make a mod :-))

This one:

Regards, Johan

Location: Netherlands

My B&O Icons:

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

BS 9000. It still delights me every time I use it.

Location: Toronto, Canada

[Evan]

After reading some of the responses above, I am having more difficulty than I thought I would with this!

First gut feeling was BS9K but the BL8000 is a close second. BL5 is a GREAT suggestion as well.

However I would like to put my vote up for something a little out of left field: the Beo4. I think it is truly my favorite.

Location: San Francisco

[Evan]

Severed_hand_of_skywalker wrote:

BS 9000. It still delights me every time I use it.

Now there’s a set of 4000s that need some table stands! Let me print you some bright silver ones 🤠

Location: San Francisco

[pepps]

Reading through these responses is a nostalgia trip!
For me I grew up with a Beogram 1500. The weight behind the lift/split volume/balance control was fabulous to the touch. And that gorgeous slow balanced tonearm and soft-edged raise/lower lever. Ohhh for a small boy all of that was sensory overload. I used to stand and stare at the stylus as it landed gracefully into the leader groove. Such fond memories.

As a teen I was stunned by the design statement of AV 9000! It was superb and looked so tactile in the glossy adverts in the Sunday newspaper magazines.
I went on a trip to London and stumbled across an AV 9000 setup in Harrods. I spent ages standing in front of it leaning and turning to see it from as many different angles as I could. Just praying someone would come over and express interest in it so the shop assistant would run the demo again. Curtains in a tv!!!!

And to stop myself from rambling on and on I’ll be brief with the following:

Beovox: 1702 is in my mind the best pressure chamber bookshelf speaker. Mount a pair on some stands at ear-level. Toe in to crossfire just in front of your listening position and stick on the Nina Simone. Honestly they’re gorgeous. Melting butter smooth and crisp as mountain air.

Beolab: Penta. Just beautiful and excellent with music, film and spoken word.

Beosystem: 6500 is just stunning. (But I love the 3500/4500 too.)

Beocentre: 9500. The Daddy.

Most iconic: Beosystem 2500.

Most comforting and familiar: Beolink 1000.

Location: Kent, UK

Favourite Product: Beosystem 6500

My B&O Icons:

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Evan wrote:

Now there’s a set of 4000s that need some table stands! Let me print you some bright silver ones 🤠

Oh my god how they look and how much?  I was against black ones from B&O as it kills the vibe.

Location: Toronto, Canada

[danezro]

My first and by far favourite TV, the glorious Beovision 3 32, imposing, awesome sound and different to all other TV’s at the time.

Location: London

[Capt’nGerard, formerly known as Gaea]

From what I own(ed); BS9000, Shape, Beogram 4002.

Special mention for Beosound 5 Encore: the operation was so nice that I never used a  remote with it. But thhe internals where badly designed and therefore never had a software update.

And it looked so good

Location: Netherlands

[skolesen]

My favorite is the BM 1900 I got as my confimation present back 1979 from my parents and later on in 1984 I added a 2nd hand BG 8000. I still own both.

Now I use on daily bases my Beosystem 7000 with a pair of Beolab Penta mk 3 operated with Beolink 5000/7000. All has undergone a renovation.

Location: Hvidovre, Denmark

My B&O Icons:

[Leosgonewild]

Mine are:

Beosystem 5500

Beovox Penta

Beosound 9000

Beogram 4002

Beolab 5

Beosound 3200

Beosystem 5500 and Penta since it was what my grandfather had in his home, and it was what got me into B&O when I inherited it and had to figure out how to repair it.

Beosound 9000 being a childhood memory from I was 12. I was in a classmates birthday party, and her father had a Beosound 9000 hanging on the wall. My classmates and I was in awe: “WOW! 6-cds!!! How much does it cost?”. The answer was a very dry “Enough.”
Ironically that exact unit ended up in my possession 25 years later.

The Beogram 4002 since I have restored about 10 units. Seeing the 95 anniversary restoration done by B&O, I went “I can make that.”

I remember the first time I heard the Beolab 5´s in a store in Norway in 2013. I said to myself “That is the goal. If those are ever in my living room, I´m done.”. 10 years later I carried a pair into my apartment. That was a very happy moment in my life.

Beosound 2300,2500,3000,3200, and ouverture has something very magic to them.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 6 hours ago by Leosgonewild.

[Peter]

I have had most of the older things in my time and have given almost all away. The ones that really impressed:

Beolab 5000 system – the 60s amplifier and tuner along with the Beogram 3000 (had both the Thorens and Acoustical versions – the Thorens is the better). Beovox 2500s to go with the real speakers!

Beogram 4000 – beautifully built – the best of the series.

Beolink 7000 – still makes me smile – use mine with a BC9500 but rarely.

Beolit 700 – just a fantastic sounding radio which looks great

Beolab 5 – made B&O a maker of really high end speakers – I am sure the 50 and 90 are better now but the 5s were the real turning point.

Confess to being unimpressed with most of the TVs after the Avant CRT. I have an 11 which is less easy to use than my LG sets and the new remotes are awful – the Beo4 is far superior. Beolink 1000 possibly better still!

 

 

My B&O Icons:

[Author]

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