This tangential-tracking record deck offered superb sound quality from records plus the assurance that its playing precision minimised groove wear and kept your albums ‘like new’ for a very long time.
Operation was totally automatic. Record size and speed were identified by a ‘magic eye’ (photodiode) carried on a detector arm which travelled ahead of the tone arm. Fast and slow scan (both inward and outward) facilities allowed you to locate and play inner tracks without touching the delicate arm or pick-up.
The pick-up was the MMC3 with an unframed elliptical diamond carried on a tapered tubular cantilever of aluminium. The total effective tip mass of this arm/pick-up combination was a mere 0,35mg – no wonder Beogram 6002 was so kind to your records!
The motor was a DC tacho-motor controlled by an electronic servo-circuit. Turntable drive was via flat belt. The turntable and its bearings were mounted on the same inner chassis as the tone arm, and this was totally isolated from the motor, deck plate and outer chassis by a sophisticated pendulum suspension system.
When connected to Beomaster 6000, Beogram 6002 had a one-way data-link which makes it controllable via the Beomaster’s main controls or optional remote Terminal. Beogram 6002 could be used as part of a full stereo system – the Beosystem 6000 or 8000.
This deck was the Beogram designed for use with the Beomaster 6000.
To all intents the same deck as the Beogram 8000, it had a MMC20EN cartridge and black keys to differentiate it from its more expensive brother. Not replaced directly when the newer cartridges were released as the Beogram 6002 was belt drive rather than tangential drive.
This was a confusing product as it offered the same performance as the Beogram 8000 but was cheaper due to the lesser cartridge. It was not a big seller and it was not surprising that the range was rationalised by keeping a top performing Beogram in the Beogram 8002 and a substantially simpler deck in the Beogram 6002.
If you built up an LP Collection of good music to conjure up wonderful memories, you obviously would have wanted to enjoy it for many years to come. Which is why Bang & Olufsen put so much effort into Beogram 6500.
It was a superb, precision instrument that ensured perfect sound reproduction of your records. The electronically-controlled tangential arm played the record exactly as it was recorded.
The tone arm was suspended in a special Optimum Pivot Point system that prevented vibrations from reaching the MMC2 cartridge which has a stylus pressure of only 1g for minimal friction. And Bang & Olufsen’s special chassis suspension prevented external vibrations from reaching the platter. And Beogram 6500 automatically registered the size of the record you were playing and adjusted the speed accordingly.
The BeoGram 6500 also contained an inbuilt RIAA pre-amplifier, which essentially means you can just “plug in and play” with any modern B&O system through an AUX or similar socket – making this a very desirable deck! Of course as part of the Beosystem 6500, it was part of the top of the line system comprising in addition, the BeoMaster 6500, BeoCord 6500, BeoGram CD6500 and MCP-6500.
Like many Bang & Olufsen turntables, Beogram 7000 was designed with a tangential arm, which ensured optimal playing of the record. It also came equipped with the patented OPP system (Optimal Pivot Point), so that the pick-up – MMC2 – was not disturbed by vibrations.
Fully automatic and remote controlled via Beolink 7000
Integrated MMC 2 pickup cartridge
Tangential tonearm with OPP (Optimum Pivot Point)
Pendulum suspended sub-chassis
Built-in RIAA amplifier
By the mid-1990s the CD had rapidly become a replacement for the black vinyl record with many new albums released only in the CD format. This is why Bang & Olufsen ceased production of its record decks, with Beogram 7000 being the last in a very long line of high quality turntables. However, even today the vinyl format is alive, as so many treasured record collections were originally based on the vinyl format in its heyday, with many more of the more esoteric albums still awaiting CD reissue. The requirements that have to be met by a record player have become threefold:
“The preservation of precious vinyl records in as perfect a condition as possible
The ability to pick up information from the grooves and reproduce them faithfully
The operation must be made as similar to the other sources in a system as possible.”
Beogram 7000 met and exceeded all these requirements. The MMC2 pick-up cartridge weighed only 1,6g – the lowest own weight of any pick-up cartridge – and had a very high compliance and low effective tip mass. The result was a very good tracking ability with little record wear and in combination with the contact line nude diamond the optimal contact with the groove walls was ensured – to pick up the full music information. The MMC principle – Moving Micro Cross – gave a high channel separation, especially in the bass range, a low distortion and very little channel difference, which are all elements that significantly contribute to the achieved sound quality.
The MMC cartridge was mounted in a tangential tonearm, which eliminated tracking errors. The unique Optimum Pivot Point and the pendulum suspended sub-chassis made the reproduction virtually immune to vibrations from the outside.
The tonearm’s axis for horizontal movement was positioned behind the vertical axis and thus behind the tonearm’s centre of gravity. If the pivot point for horizontal movements vibrated, the rear part of the arm with the counterweight also vibrated, whereas the stylus remained still, because it was in the centre of the vibrations. The MMC was completely integrated with the tonearm and the low weight of the cartridge meant that the tonearm resonance could be optimised to the ideal value of 10 – 15Hz.
The pendulum suspension efficiently insulated the inner chassis with tonearm and platter from the outer cabinet to prevent vibrations to affect playback. The suspension consisted of three pendulums and leafsprings and gave the inner chassis an inherent resonance of 5 – 6 Hz.
Operation of Beogram 7000 was via Beolink 7000. The turntable automatically determined record size and selected playback speed accordingly (33 or 45 rpm.). If no record was registered, playback did not begin. It was only possible to lower the pick-up cartridge if there was a record on the platter. When you operated Beogram 7000 from Beolink 7000 you could not by accident lower the stylus outside of the record surface. By preventing unauthorised operation of Beogram 7000, Bang & Olufsen gave priority to both the preservation of the pick-up cartridge and the vinyl records.
Beogram 7000 could ideally, be used as part of Beosystem 7000
In 1973, Bang & Olufsen launched the world’s first record player with an electronically controlled tangential arm. It was dubbed a state-of-the-art product by the industry, and revered and appreciated by music lovers all over the world.
Beogram 8000 was Bang & Olufsen’s third generation of tangential arm decks.
The special benefit of the tangential arm is that it helped to secure the most authentic reproduction of sound from records because it tracked records in the same way they were cut. But the tangential arm was only one of the features that contributed to the achievement of the company’s goal. For Beogram 8000 also benefited from B&O’s unique approach to turntable design: integration, in which all components of the gramophone were carefully matched from the product’s earliest design stage.
To secure constantly accurate rotary speed a Tangential Drive system was developed. It incorporated a quartz-controlled electronic flywheel, similar to the system used in electricity meters. Like your domestic meter, the system is highly reliable and extremely accurate. It works all day, everyday, and never needs repair. You never needed to make corrections in the Beogram’s rotary speed. A digital display kept you informed of speed during play. Because the conventional motor has been discarded, there were no motor vibrations to distort the sound. A unique pendulum suspension system prevented external shocks and vibrations from affecting sound reproduction.
Beogram 8000 was fitted with the widely acclaimed MMC 20 CL pickup cartridge, which guaranteed excellent tracking and minimum record wear, thanks to its low effective tip mass and optimum groove contact. A stylus brush, mounted inside the tangential arm compartment, kept the diamond free from dust and micro-particles, thereby enhancing the gentle treatment of records.
Beogram 8000 could be used as part of a full stereo system – the Beosystem 6000 or 8000
Beogram 8002 was a ‘state-of-the-art- product with a performance capability as near ideal as anyone had up till then devised. The platter was driven not by a conventional motor, but by a unique tangential-drive system that had no moving parts and no physical contact with the turntable.
Tangential drive works on the same principle as the ordinary domestic electricity meter (a form of electric ‘motor’ which you have probably always lived with yet been totally unaware of, since its disc continues rotating, silently and accurately, year after year without any maintenance whatever). It is based upon a law of physics by which any current-carrying body placed within a magnetic field experiences a force which will cause it to move.
Bang & Olufsen took full advantage of this simple law by placing the edge of the Beogram’s under-platter between two fixed coils. When current was applied to these coils a magnetic field was created in the gap between them, thus moving the under-platter without physical contact of any sort. The speed of rotation was dependant on the amount of current passing through the coils and B&O’s use of a quartz-controlled electronic servo-circuit to govern current flow keeping the turntable speed constant and highly accurate.
The tangential-tracking arm was made of hard-drawn brass. It carried the pickup in a straight line from the edge of the record to its centre – the same geometry used in cutting the original master-disc – so skating effect did not occur and vertical tracking error was barely measurable. The tone arm was preceded by a detector arm carrying a photodiode which could ‘see’ the surface below it. If the PLAY button was pressed when there was no record on the turntable, this magic eye ‘saw’ the broken pattern of the platter’s black ribs rotating and a safety circuit blocked any user command to lower the pickup. So Beogram 8002 was safe as well as extremely sophisticated.
The pickup arm used the latest type of cartridge – MMC2 – weighing a mere 1,6 grams. Its unframed diamond stylus had a multi-faceted (contact line) profile which could follow every last detail of the groove modulations.
Beogram 8002 had a computerised control system that made operation so easy that you didn’t even have to think about it. Just press PLAY. Machine intelligence identified the size and playing speed of the record. If you wanted to hear the same disc more than once, it was necessary to just press PLAY for each time you want to listen – up to 9 times. The number of repeats you ordered would appear as the last digit on the speed read-out panel.
You could scan the arm – inwards or outwards – to any track on the record in fast or slow motion. Manual override buttons were provided for playing non-standard discs and the pause control made it easy to resume play after an interruption.
Beogram 8002 could be used as part of the Beosystem 6000 or Beosystem 8000
To complement Beocenter 8500, a dedicated record player – Beogram 8500 – was designed specifically for this particular hi-fi centre.
The technical aspects of Beogram 8500 were identical to Beogram 9500; it was only the finish that was different which was coloured soft grey to complement the rest of the system.
In design, technology and operating philosophy, the Beogram 9500 turntable was a perfect match for the Beocenter 9500 system.
Using a light-weight MMC2 cartridge, its electronic tangential arm played each record at the exact angle it was cut giving the most precise reading of the grooves ensuring that every nuance of a recording was captured.
The arm was suspended by a patented Bang & Olufsen system which helped prevent vibrations from any source reaching the cartridge. And the chassis suspension acted as an effective buffer against external vibrations.
If you valued your record collection, rest assured that it would have been in safe hands with Beogram 9000. The electronically controlled tangential arm played the record at the exact angle that the original master was cut, giving a precise reading of the signals in the groove. The delicate MMC 4 cartridge had a stylus pressure of only 1,2g, minimising friction between record and cartridge.
Beogram 9000 – Beocenter 9000’s record player
There was built-in protection against vibration too, with the special chassis suspension and a short, rigid tone arm. Which all added up to longer life for your record collection as well as superior sound. Like the rest of Beocenter 9000 the record player could be operated through the remote control.
A basic radial armed turntable which replaced the Beogram 1800 in the range.
It was designed for use with other makes of amplifier and hence was fitted with phono plugs instead of the more usual, for B&O, Din plug. It came without a MMC pick up though most would be fitted with a MMC5.
