The Tombstone: The simple, modernist graphic is the essential element in Jacob Jensen mechanical designs for Bang & Olufsen. The type-face used on the surface is Helvetica, popular in the post-War era and used by many publications today. The Beomaster was only a plate with an inscription and so it was given the sobriquet of ‘The Tombstone’.

“The Danish Press in 1967 referred to the Beolab and Beomaster 5000 as a “cinema system in two cigar boxes”. With the Beomaster 1200, which was aimed at a broader sector, B&O were ready to go the whole hog and abandon all known notions as to how a radio receiver should look. The reduction was absolute: to a wooden frame around an operating surface. The body of the apparatus disappeared, and only a small cooler grill at the top serves as a reminder of the contents. The totally top-operated equipment can be hung vertically on the wall as a decoration along with the simply framed art products of the time.

This is a slide rule gone mad. The knobs have become part of the polished aluminium surface – flush”! However, not only have the knobs been made flush with the surface, but superfluous functions have also been removed. For Jensen design is a question of considering the consumer’s functional needs. Five permanently set stations are selected below the aluminium sheet in the right-hand corner; user friendliness in everyday life is at the heart. The compact technology has turned the designer into a fashioner of operating aggregates.” — taken from ‘Jacob Jensen’ by Christain Holmsted Olesen.

Beomaster 1200 – type numbers 2501, 2503 – was, at the time of its introduction in 1969, one of the world’s most modern-looking and sophisticated receivers. It incorporated an amplifier around an FM/AM tuner. Radio stations could be tuned in by means of a sliding scale. The format of Beomaster 1200 was to set the trend in Bang & Olufsen design for many years to come.

Beosystem 1200 – made up of Beomaster 1200, Beocord 1200 and Beogram 1200 was the second of Bang & Olufsen’s first ‘designed’ system. The very first was Beosystem 1000 in 1965. The design ‘kinship’, which emphasised the interdependence between B&O’s various products, became a characteristic of B&O for many years. Beosystem 1200 was one of the first products selected by the Museum of Modern Art for the museum’s permanent collection (not exhibition) in 1972.

In 1969 the Danish Society of Industrial Design awarded Bang & Olufsen and Jacob Jensen the ID prize for the Beomaster 1200 radio/amplifier, Beogram 1200 turntable and Beocord 1200 cassette recorder for unusually beautiful and user friendly design. The jury emphasised in particular the Beomaster 1200 receiver which pointed in a new direction for the design of radios.

And the year after, three Bang & Olufsen products designed by Jacob Jensen received the IF award. The winning products were: Beomaster 1200 tuner/amplifier, Beomic 2000 microphone and Beolit 600 transistor radio.

“Congratulations! Well, we have done this before”, said Prince Henrik – The Queen of Denmark’s husband – when he presented the Danish ID award of the Society of Industrial Design to Bang & Olufsen, represented by Jacob Jensen, the designer. The remark made reference to the fact that B&O had also received the award the year before.

In Jacob Jensen the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) chose seven Bang & Olufsen products designed by Jacob Jensen to be included in their Design Collection as representing excellent examples of the Museum’s criteria for quality and historical importance; design, in fact, which had influenced the twentieth century. Beomaster 1200 was one of those seven products.

The 1200 series represented the logical continuation of the line of development and design which put B&O at the forefront of manufacturers of entertainment electronics. The receiver was superseded by Beomaster 1001 in 1973.

These are superb looking receivers and are especially impressive when wall mounted. However to sound at its best, it really does need to use the recommended loudspeakers. With more modern speakers, the 1200 can sound a little weak and lacking in detail. The provision of Beovox 1200 speakers however reveals very satisfying performance. This is one of many examples where B&O have clearly designed a system.

Beomaster 1700 was an AM/FM receiver in a class of its own. It was defiantly different when most high fidelity components still tended to look alike. Different in its design, its use of technology and the benefits it offered.

The FM section had facilities for presetting 5 favourite stations which could then be tuned instantly by pressing a button. The AM section covered both the Long and Medium wavebands. Hybrid filters were used to achieve high selectivity (the tuner’s ability to discriminate between the desired station and unwanted stations adjacent to it)The stereo amplifier was rated at 2 x 30 watts RMS with high quality sound reproduction up to the last watt. The tone control circuits were designed so that they could not limit or distort the quality of the reproduced sound before the amplifier’s maximum output level was reached.

All in all, the quality and performance levels of Beomaster 1700 were beyond reproach. As they should be, with the best technology. But what was most interesting was the creative use Bang & Olufsen made of technology – a (then) new operation system which afforded sharp, precise settings that were easy to locate on the scale. Two flexible slider controls formed the centre of this operation system. One was used to regulate volume level, bass, treble and speaker balance. The other was for the precise tuning of stations on Long, Medium and FM wavebands. The sliders had a sensitive, ridged surface that prevented the finger from slipping during operation.

The set’s large glass-covered communication surface, with its clear graphic indications aided easy operation. During use, response was light and immediate. Illuminated markers – light emitting diodes – kept you informed of the set’s operational status at all times. The surface was easy to clean with no irritating dust traps.

A Beogram 1700 and two Beovox C40 hi-fi loudspeakers complemented Beomaster 1700 in creating the well-balanced Beosystem 1700.

Well the above is the official line seen in the brochures. What could not be denied was the design of the 1700 which was innovative to say the least. I some ways it resembled the Beomaster 6000 quad except that it had a manual mechanism and clutches instead of the electrical control of the 6000. It gained a decent glass panel instead of the perspex of the 6000 but was let down by very poor quality plastics in the clutches, tractor drives that slipped and broke and an amplifier which was indirectly coupled compared to the direct coupled 1500 which it had replaced. Although it looked better than the 1500, it could not get close to the performance. Perhaps the beginning of a range designed more for looks than performance.