BeoVision 900
Beovision 900 and 901 TV sets were 50cm monochrome televisions manufactured between the years 1971 and 1976.
Release Date: 1972
BeoVision 600
In 1970, a young designer, David Lewis, created one of the world’s first transportable TVs – Beovision 600 – long before small portable TVs became widespread. Beovision 600 was a black and white TV with a solid handle and weighed just over 13kg. Compared to the pocket-sized TVs of today, it could hardly be called portable. Nevertheless, it was transportable with a 44cm screen and excellent sound quality. The TV set won the iF Design Award in 1970.
Full transistorisation meant that sound and picture appeared at the press of a button, a new and unusual feature at the time. The cabinet was made of plastic and the handle was concealed when not in use. Six pre-set stations could be operated by one press of a button and all settings were concealed in small compartments to prevent inquisitive little fingers fiddling with them. It also featured a retractable flex.
All in all, a pioneering TV design which, in later years, was copied by many other TV manufacturers. Beovision 601 replaced its predecessor in 1973, fitted with several new features which were missed out on Beovision 600.
BeoVision 4002
Beovision 4002 and 4402 were colour receivers with 26″ screens. Natural colours, sharp, precise image definition and high-fidelity sound reproduction are all features you can take for granted, according to the 1970 – 80 Bang & Olufsen product catalogue. Their high reliability levels were due to modular construction techniques and low heat-generation. Beovision 4002 consumed only 110 watts – less than a black and white set of years previously.
Both sets were extremely easy to use. There were facilities for presetting up to eight stations so that subsequent programme selection was just a matter of pressing one button. This turned the set on at the same time.
Beovision 4402 had the additional convenience of a cordless (ultrasonic) remote control. The set could also be supplied equipped for Teletext reception. There was automatic synchronisation of VCR programmes on all channels.
BeoVision 3100
BeoVision 2600
This “open screen” table model was one of B&O’s early attempts to produce a more compact colour receiver that was suitable for smaller rooms. Using the chassis from the Beovision 3200 and a 22” “push through” tube, the set was neat and elegant but still not exactly small, the two massive chassis were shared with the other models in the range and these, rather than the screen size, dictated the dimensions of the cabinet. An attempt to disguise the bulk was made by adding a black strip all around the back of the cabinet, breaking up the otherwise vast expanses of wood, though this can be said to be only partially successful.
The front of the Beovision 2600 was finished in matt black and trimmed around the outside with aluminium. The loudspeakers (two elliptical units made by Celestion in the UK) took up a new position to the left of the screen, displacing the convergence controls to a hatch on the underside. Access to these was easy if the set was mounted on the optional stand but impossible if it was placed on a (sturdy) table. This was not ideal, as a set of this design should not be moved once convergence is completed.
The Beovision 2600 was not replaced directly when the 3400 range was introduced as all these models came with 26” tubes. However, the table version of the Beovision 3400 was considerably smaller than the 2600 anyway, so in practice a problem did not arise. 22” sets were re-introduced with the new 39XX series models, for example the Beovision 3500.
BeoVision 1600K
BeoVision 1600
The Beovision 1600 replaced the Beovision 1400 range and included a new all-transistor chassis. As before, a 24” wide-angle tube was fitted, the largest monochrome tube that was available at the time. In contrast to the 1400 range, only one cabinet style was available, a table model, though this could be fitted with an optional pillar stand for free-standing use. The design was simple and elegant, with the minimum of cabinet work around the screen.
The controls were all of a new design, and concealed when not in use. Each one was mounted in a small latching drawer marked with a graphical symbol to represent its function. To adjust a setting (volume, brightness etc), one only had to touch the relevant drawer lightly and it would open, allowing access to an edgewise rotary control. The tuning worked in a similar manner, where the tuning controls were hidden inside the channel selector buttons. To adjust the tuning, one would press the button one wished to adjust, thus selecting the channel, then press again to slide out the drawer to reveal the tuning scale and control.
To make the most of the instant picture possibilities that the adoption of transistors (instead of the valves in previous models) offered, the heater of the picture tube of the Beovision 1600 was left energised at all times. In order to extend the life of the tube, when the set was switched “off”, the heater was run at a slightly lower level of power. Even despite this, the picture appeared truly instantly as soon as the “on” button was pressed, something that no other range of Beovision TV sets has been capable of since.
The rest of the design was quite conventional, with the exception of the voltage regulator which could tolerate a very wide range of mains voltages without picture disturbance.
The Beovision 1600 was the last large-screen monochrome Beovision model
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.
BeoMaster 4000
The amplifier section of this receiver had outstanding technical data: harmonic distortion was less than 0.1% at maximum power output and 0.06% at 50 mW. Frequency range was 20-30.000 Hz and effective bandwidth 10-35.000 Hz.
Frequency correction facilities were the LOW filter which reduced rumble on records (12 dB per octave at 80 Hz) and the HI filter which damped hiss (12 dB per octave at 4000 Hz). With the LOUDNESS control you could switch between objective and subjective linear reproductions. Beomaster 4000 had facilities for stereo and ambio reproduction. There were sockets for a record player and two tape-recorders, one allowing A\B monitoring. The headphone connection was placed on the receiver’s front. All inputs could be adjusted to give equal volume from all programme sources. The FM section had six pre-set stations. A light indicator assisted accurate tuning and an illuminated meter indicated the strength of a station. Field effect transistors, ceramic filters and integrated circuits were used.
When combined with a built-in record deck, the music centre was known as Beocenter 3500.
Receivers and amplifiers with the ambio function were products which, apart from stereo, could also reproduce the ambience or sound information of a room. Ambient information was included on most stereo vinyl recordings but could not be reproduced by a sound system with two loudspeakers or an ordinary stereo amplifier. Bang & Olufsen systems with the ambio function had facilities which electronically subtracted the difference signal (i.e. the difference between left and right channels) which contained ambient information. This information was fed into two extra loudspeakers which were placed as side speakers in a room. Ambiophony was an extension of stereo reproduction and enhanced the sense of realism. It could be used with nearly all stereo programme materials.
“Ambio is an extension of the type of sound reproduction known today as stereo.
Ambio is reproduced through four loudspeakers – two more than required for stereo.
Ambio is sensed as being more spatial and acoustically more life-like than conventional stereo. The sound picture has greater depth because you get the added feeling of being present of the concert hall, listening to the actual performance. Ambio is based on the principle that in the concert hall you not only receive sound impressions directly from the performing group, you also get reflections from the wall and ceiling. The spatial sensation is instrumental in providing the auditory experience and even a two-speaker stereo system will not bring it out fully. And you cannot accomplish the effect by connecting additional speakers to a conventional stereo amplifier because you still have the same left and right front signals merely distributed to more speakers.
In the Beomaster 4000 the left and right channels are subtracted from each other electronically and the resulting difference signal contains a certain amount of spatial information which is fed to the two new side speakers.
Many existing stereo records, FM broadcasts and tape recordings contain this spatial effect to a greater or lesser extent. In a concert hall, room acoustics will be recorded together with the actual programme material, appearing as time-delayed signals in both left and right channels. Recordings made in a strongly damped studio contain few time-delayed signals and the spatial sensation will therefore depend on how the producer mixed the sounds from the various instruments, perhaps adding acoustical effects by electronic means.
Multi-channel records such as SQ records, which are intended for use in a four-channel matrix system in order to bring out the sound effects , can be played successfully through the Beomaster 4000.
A good quality stereo turntable will provide ambio reproduction of both stereo and SQ records through your Beomaster 4000″
BeoVox 1001
The Beovox 1001 was a very similar loudspeaker to the Beovox 1200 (Beosystem 1200 version), but to match the new black finish of the Beomaster 1001 the metal grille was made black.
Sadly, the designers did not take the opportunity to fit a dome tweeter (as fitted to every other Beovox loudspeaker of the period), so the original (and outmoded) 2.5” cone type remained. As the Beomaster 1001 offered the facility of Ambiophonic stereo, 4 Beovox 1001s could be connected, and the model was also suggested for use with the Beogram 1500-1 record player.