Rosewood Archives

Posted on September 30, 2024October 6, 2025 by Multicare

BeoVision LX 5500

Beovision LX was the result of several generations of development. Superb technology offering a wealth of functions. And the elegant design was sheer pleasure to look at. Without doubt, Beovision LX was a thoroughbred, according to Bang & Olufsen’s 1990 catalogue. And the Beocord VX5000 video cassette recorder a worthy stable mate.

Bang & Olufsen continually seeks new ways not only to streamline operation and function but to simplify exteriors. The powerful speakers of Beovision LX had a totally smooth facade when they were originally introduced in 1990. The contrast screen in front of the picture tube stretches from the very top to the very bottom of the cabinet. And the lacquer was as polished as a grand piano’s.

The result was unity; no knobs or displays interrupted the flow.

You could keep an eye on more than one programme at a time by letting a miniature picture run in one corner of the screen. Or you could show 4, 9 or 16 ‘clips’ from programmes on air at that very moment. Beovision LX 5500 also gave fast, direct access to to four Teletext pages you used the most. And there was room for a satellite receiver to be installed as well as using the TV set for the connection of extra speakers, loop amplifier for the hard of hearing and TV game consoles.

By mounting the whole TV set on a motorised base, you could sit in your armchair and turn the TV up to 35 degrees to each side with just one press of your Beolink 1000 remote control terminal.

By programming it into the set, the TV then turned automatically towards your favourite viewing position every time the set switches on. And, naturally, the TV returned to centre stage each time you switched it off.

Colours: Beovision LX 5500 / 4500 – high-gloss black, white or grey or rosewood.

A stage designer can creative positive associations of purity by using predominantly white or light grey in stage sets and costumes. White and grey symbolize a simple style of living and, as the audience, we associate this virtue in our mind’s eye with the person who decorates with, or dresses in, these light colours. In interior design white and grey give a modern impression with everything blending together, perfectly executed down to the tiniest detail. For those who prefer an all-white look,. Bang & Olufsen in 1990 dressed its Beovision LX range completely in white; even the back.

You could put Beovision LX White Line in the middle of a large room if you so desired. It looked discreet and elegant and spoke its own, well-modulated design language. If a pleasant light grey was more to your taste, the Beovision LX range was available in a light grey finish too. All the other technicalities internally were identical to the other LX family members.

Posted on July 19, 2024September 29, 2025 by Multicare

BeoCenter 2800

Beocenter 2800 was a unique combination of FM/AM tuner, a 2 x 25 watts RMS hi-fi power amplifier and record player. The tuner section offered Long and Medium wave reception as well as FM. There were facilities for pre-setting the four FM stations you listen to most frequently. Ceramic filters, AFC, split-supply output and a phase-locked loop decoder were some of the features that ensured outstanding reception and reproduction of even distant stations.

The record player was fully automatic – one master switch controlled all operations. The anti-skating device was built into the arms suspension and worked automatically. Electronic Servo Drive (ESD) ensured constantly correct speed. There were sockets for tape deck, two sets of stereo speakers and headphones.

This was a compact, space-saving unit which was easy to use thanks to automatic circuits and logical controls. Beocenter 2800 could be made up as part of the Beosystem 2800, when linked together with other compatible Bang & Olufsen products

Posted on July 19, 2024September 28, 2025 by Multicare

BeoCenter 1500

Beocenter 1500 was a combined FM/AM tuner, hi-fi stereo amplifier and cassette recorder with a specification level that was unique for combination units in that price bracket. In the AM section, which covered long and medium waves, Bang & Olufsen placed an emphasis on the set’s ability to separate stations from each other. The FM section had outstanding channel separation and stereo reception. The amplifier’s technical specifications were way above the average and fulfilled accepted hi-fi norms by a wide margin.

The built-in cassette recorder had its own operation panel but was otherwise fully integrated with the rest of Beocenter 1500. There was a switch for normal and chrome tapes; recording level was monitored on an illuminated indicator: red signified overload and green meant that all was well. The tape heads were of a super Permalloy and had a higher performance level and longer useful lifetime than ordinary heads.

Beocenter 1500 had connections for record player, two sets of stereo speakers, headphones and an extra tape deck.

Beocenter 1500 and Beocenter 1600 were, at the time of their production, two of the market’s most compact audio systems, but despite their small external dimensions they could fill a large room with sound. All the push buttons of Beocenter 1500 were of solid aluminium, and the solid aluminium front panel on the Beocenter 1600 was anodised – a process which was more expensive and more demanding but which also made the set more robust and resistant to marks and scratches.

Posted on July 19, 2024October 4, 2025 by Multicare

BeoGram 42V/VF

The B&O 4-speed record player is an important step on the road to full musical enjoyment, being designed specially with a view to vibrationless and rumbleless operation. This feature is of great importance when playing stereo records as the pickup stylus must be sensitive to vibrations in all directions in order to be capable of “scanning” the record properly.

Understanding the numbering of these Beograms is really quite easy: the ‘V’ in ‘608V’ means that it is powered with AC voltage and ‘F’ means that it has a built-in preamplifier. The designation 608, 609 and so on, indicates the year the product was marketed. There was also a ‘U’ version for both AC and DC voltages. Beogram 608 for example, was a turntable without a built-in RIAA preamplifier and was produced for the 1962 season (internally many were date-stamped e.g. September 1961 would indicate the year it left the factory).

The difference between the models 41xx and 42xx was that the 41xx had a small turntable and the 42xx model had a larger turntable.

Posted on July 19, 2024October 4, 2025 by Multicare

BeoGram 41V/VF

The difference between the models 41xx and 42xx was that the 41xx had a small turntable and the 42xx model had a larger turntable.

Posted on July 19, 2024October 4, 2025 by Multicare

BeoGram 6000 (1981)

Beogram 6000 – Type 5751 – was a fully automatic record player with one-touch operation.

Put a record on the turntable, touch START and let Bang & Olufsen technology do the rest. The lightweight, low inertia tone arm was fitted with the MMC 20EN pick-up cartridge. This had a naked elliptical diamond and a low Effective Tip Mass which, together with the lightweight arm, secured excellent tracking performance and minimum record wear.

The patented spring suspension system effectively prevented external knocks and vibration from affecting tracking and sound quality. This later radial 6000 model was fitted with Datalink and was really a Beogram 2402 with new electronics in the same design. It really did not match the Beomaster 6000 and was a short lived and frankly unpopular model but was offered as a cheaper alternative to the tangential tracking and tangential drive Beogram 6006. These decks were both replaced by the Beogram 6002. This deck had the newer MMC3 cartridge and was a strange amalgam of the two earlier decks in that it had a simplified tangential arm but belt drive for the platter

Posted on July 19, 2024October 3, 2025 by Multicare

BeoGram 1800 (1968)

This was a rare and interesting model. It boasted a new arm and motor compared to the Beogram 1000 but retained quite a lot of the design and the uninspired rubber mat.

It also had a most unusual dust cover with a metal surround with only the top panel being transparent. This design was to be seen also in the prototype Beogram 6000 but not in any production model.

Posted on July 19, 2024October 2, 2025 by Multicare

BeoGram 1500 (1978)

Beogram 1500 combined ease of operation and advanced technology in a simple, straightforward way. All its operations were controlled via a single button.

Another advantage of this totally integrated design was its immunity to external shock and vibrations. The electronic servo drive system ensured correct turntable speed at all times. The low-mass arm had built-in bias compensation, and the MMC 20S pickup tracked at only 1,5 grams.

The unique pendulum spring suspension helped make the Beogram range of record players immune to the external shock and vibrations which would cause most other record decks to mistrack and damage the record groove.

Beogram 1500 could be made up as part of the Beosystem 1500, when linked together with other compatible Bang & Olufsen products.

This deck was the basic model of its time but the inherent design of this deck meant that the performance was extremely similar to the top of the range radial decks. Very easy to set up and simple to use, a true bargain buy in later years.