Release Date: 1988

Posted on by

BeoCom 750

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 750

In the mid 1980s, Bang & Olufsen entered the field of telecommunications. This was partly because of the merging of the applied technologies and partly because the company needed to acquire experience in digital communication. This led to the formation of a separate company, DIAX, for the development of digital telephone exchanges. Later followed the formation of TELECOM for the purpose of developing telephones for consumers.

‘Bang & Olufsen Telecom’ began production of telephones in 1986 following an approach from the then Jydsk Telefon. Inspired by B&O’s proven competence within the audio-video segment, the Danish telecommunications company was eager to exploit this expertise within the field of telephones, especially in terms of design and sound. Seeing telephony and telecommunications as future areas of interest – and anticipating steadily increasing convergence between telecommunications and the A/V systems of the future – the Group formed a partnership with Jydsk Telefon.

In addition, B&O had experience with transmitting sound to the ear – via earphones. The result – Beocom 750 – broke with all conventional telephones in terms of design, sound and functionality. Launched in Jydsk Telefon’s teleshops in December 1986, Beocom 750 was adopted by other telecommunications companies after only a few months in the market. In April 1987, the first Beocom 750 was exported.

Posted on by

BeoCom 1000

Bang & Olufsen BeoCom 1000

BeoCom 1000 was similar to BeoCom 2000 but it was not fitted with a loudspeaker or an LCD display. This lowered the cost while at the same time offering the usual high quality sound There was a choice of four colours: black, blue, green or red.

Bang & Olufsen did not invent the telephone. They just developed it a little further Bang & Olufsen’s Telecom Vision is to “constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences”

Loudspeaker quality

Earphone coupling loss factor, receiver loudness rating value and acoustic leakage are technical terms that mean little to most telephone users. They are just some of the things that Bang & Olufsen test for to determine the sound quality of a BeoCom telephone.

The enhanced sound of the BeoCom telephone range is the result of Bang & Olufsen’s long-standing specialisation in the miniaturisation of high-performance loudspeakers. Every BeoCom handset contains a built-in pressure chamber loudspeaker that ensures optimal natural sound reproduction while minimising distortion and sound leakage.

But Bang & Olufsen telephones are not only the result of theoretical calculations and complicated acoustical analyses, the final test is the human ear itself. A listening panel made up of people with an extraordinary sense of hearing provides the most crucial evaluation of BeoCom telephones.

Telephone competence: even good telephones have bad days

Telephones are used a lot more than other electronic equipment and sometimes under tougher and more hazardous conditions. Design and technological features mean little if your telephone lets you down when you need it most, so the anticipation of what can happen to a telephone has been turned into a fine art at Bang & Olufsen.

Our telephones are exposed to extremes of heat and cold, we spill coffee over them, blow dust at them, step on them and subject them to a whole series of bumps, vibrations and falls.

And it’s not only the unexpected that’s tested for, a robot assesses daily wear and tear by methodically lifting and replacing the handset of a telephone 100,000 times, while a mechanical finger dials telephone numbers over and over again. In a space of days, we simulate the life of a telephone and everything the modern world may throw at it.

Posted on by

BeoCord 4500

Bang & Olufsen BeoCord 4500

Beocord 4500 cassette recorder housed exciting details and distinguished technology. Like Auto Reverse, so you did not need to turn over the tape. Automatic registration of the type of tape, and Bang & Olufsen’s patented HX-PRO recording system that provided optimal sound reproduction. Both in design and technology, Beocord 4500 was a direct extension of Beomaster 4500.

The cassette recorder featured Bang & Olufsen’s own HX-PRO recording system which ensures that recordings are made as perfectly as possible. With the Beolink 1000 terminal or by lightly touching the panel itself, you could select a particular piece of music you wanted to hear. The search system found it automatically whether it was on Side 1 or Side 2 of the cassette. For Beocord 4500 had Auto Reverse so you did not have to turn the tape over.

The recorder was also equipped with Dolby B and knew exactly what type of tape you were using. Beocord 4500 could be used as part of the Beosystem 4500 hi-fi system.

Posted on by

BeoVox RL 140

Bang & Olufsen Beovox RL 140

The idea behind Beovox Red Line speakers was one of flexibility.

A Red Line speaker was so flexible that it could be placed anywhere. On the ceiling, the wall, or on the floor. You could hang them semi-permanently on the wall, and if you had a party you could place them on the floor and thereby add extra emphasis to the bass. The different ways of placing them accentuated different frequencies.

You could also tilt them if you chose to hang them on the wall. This allowed you to adjust the sound image and direct the sound right at your listening position. However, Red Line was more than merely flexible. It was an impressive bass reflex speaker with a revolutionary new cabinet that ‘curved’ round the sound thereby eliminating irritating resonance because there were no parallel surfaces.

Music that never stands still
Red Line loudspeakers followed your music tastes right up the wall if you wanted! All models except the RL35 could be hung on the wall or be suspended from the ceiling; and, if your dancing feet wanted to make the most of the bass notes, then Red Line could be positioned on the floor, supported by the built-in floor stand. By using Red Line speakers, you weren’t plagued by cables that wrapped themselves around your feet like spaghetti either; Red Line’s flexible spiral cables provided the decorative and practical answer.

The shell was cast in a hard synthetic material and the shape that was devised for the range was characterised by the fact that it allowed for practically no resonance whatsoever.

Great and small
You could choose Red Line in four sizes. They started with the baby 35 watt RL35 – perfect for a Beolink round-the-house system where you needed speakers all over the place. Then there was the 45.2, the 60.2 and the immensely powerful 140’s – big and beautiful with it. All the Red Line collection came in metallic grey with a distinctive red line around the edge. A matching cord was available to accentuate the red line after which the speakers were named.

In 1991 the former Redline series – RL35, 45, 45.2, 60, 60.2, 100 and 140 were superseded by the Mark 2 range of loudspeakers: RL1000, 2000, 6000 and 7000.

Posted on by

BeoVox RL 60.2

Bang & Olufsen Beovox RL 60.2

The idea behind Beovox Red Line speakers was one of flexibility. A Red Line speaker was so flexible that it could be placed anywhere. On the ceiling, the wall, or on the floor.

You could hang them semi-permanently on the wall, and if you had a party you could place them on the floor and thereby add extra emphasis to the bass. The different ways of placing them accentuated different frequencies. You could also tilt them if you chose to hang them on the wall. This allowed you to adjust the sound image and direct the sound right at your listening position. However, Red Line was more than merely flexible. It was an impressive bass reflex speaker with a revolutionary new cabinet that ‘curved’ round the sound thereby eliminating irritating resonance because there were no parallel surfaces.

Music that never stands still
Red Line loudspeakers followed your music tastes right up the wall if you wanted! All models except the RL35 could be hung on the wall or be suspended from the ceiling; and, if your dancing feet wanted to make the most of the bass notes, then Red Line could be positioned on the floor, supported by the built-in floor stand. By using Red Line speakers, you weren’t plagued by cables that wrapped themselves around your feet like spaghetti either; Red Line’s flexible spiral cables provided the decorative and practical answer.

The shell was cast in a hard synthetic material and the shape that was devised for the range was characterised by the fact that it allowed for practically no resonance whatsoever.

Posted on by

BeoVox RL 45.2

Bang & Olufsen Beovox RL 45.2

The idea behind Beovox Red Line speakers was one of flexibility. A Red Line speaker was so flexible that it could be placed anywhere. On the ceiling, the wall, or on the floor.

You could hang them semi-permanently on the wall, and if you had a party you could place them on the floor and thereby add extra emphasis to the bass. The different ways of placing them accentuated different frequencies. You could also tilt them if you chose to hang them on the wall. This allowed you to adjust the sound image and direct the sound right at your listening position. However, Red Line was more than merely flexible. It was an impressive bass reflex speaker with a revolutionary new cabinet that ‘curved’ round the sound thereby eliminating irritating resonance because there were no parallel surfaces.

Music that never stands still
Red Line loudspeakers followed your music tastes right up the wall if you wanted! All models except the RL35 could be hung on the wall or be suspended from the ceiling; and, if your dancing feet wanted to make the most of the bass notes, then Red Line could be positioned on the floor, supported by the built-in floor stand. By using Red Line speakers, you weren’t plagued by cables that wrapped themselves around your feet like spaghetti either; Red Line’s flexible spiral cables provided the decorative and practical answer.

The shell was cast in a hard synthetic material and the shape that was devised for the range was characterised by the fact that it allowed for practically no resonance whatsoever.

Posted on by

BeoCenter 2100

Bang & Olufsen BeoCenter 2100

Beocenter 2100 – three variations and a one-finger exercise

Beocenters 2200, 2100 and 4000 – each with a totally distinctive style but sharing the unmistakeable themes of Bang & Olufsen quality and simplicity.

If you loved true hi-fi but you weren’t a record fan, then Bang & Olufsen ‘had your radio perfectly taped’! Beocenter 2100 had all the features of Beocenter 2200 but without the record deck so that it took up even more of a conveniently small space.

Beovox X25 loudspeakers were the offered choice but you could equally mix and match the Beocenter with any other Bang & Olufsen speaker on the market at that time. When linked with Beovox X25 loudspeakers, the combined system was known as Beosystem 2100. A recommended record deck to complement your system would be either the Beogram RX2 or TX2.

Posted on by

BeoCord 5500

Bang & Olufsen BeoCord 5500

As part of Beosystem 5500, this advanced tape recorder was as close to professional standard as could be made at the time, bristling with features you just loved to use!

There was Auto Reverse, letting you play or record both sides of a cassette as one continuous tape. And automatic adjustment of sound levels avoided annoying volume changes from one recording to the next. Then there was Bang & Olufsen’s famous HX-Pro recording system which gave vastly superior sound quality on the higher frequencies, creating a richer, more detailed sound image.

Beocord 5500 automatically adjusted itself to match standard, chrome or metal tapes. You had the option of Dolby B or C during recording. During playback, the recorder automatically switched itself to the noise reduction system you recorded with. Automatic track search was also included – just key in the track number and the recorder did the rest.

The cassette recorder could be controlled via the two-way Master Control Panel 5500 as part of the Beosystem 5500.

Auto Record level

One of the less-pleasant chores in making a recording is setting level control to its optimum position. Setting it too low raises the level of background noise on the recording. Setting it too high makes the recording distorted at high music levels. With this in mind, Bang and Olufsen introduced an automatic record mode which was called ‘Auto Record’.

Auto Record worked in two steps: when the record button was pressed for the first time, the cassette recorder went into a record pause mode, where the incoming signal was monitored. Under microprocessor control, the highest level was monitored and the record level was set at the optimum level for that music. On pressing the record button the second time, the tape was set in motion and the recording started, but continuing to make minor adjustments. If at any time during the recording, the level of music rose above the monitored level, the level control was lowered by exactly the amount required for the new optimum recording level.

This method of setting the level control closely imitated the action of a highly skilled recording engineer, if asked to set the level for a recording. It was the best that could be done when the full recording could not be monitored before recording started.

This feature incorporated a new method of monitoring the signal, which proved to be a more effective method over conventional methods. It was patented by the company with the patent number 158702.

Posted on by

BeoLab 200

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 150

On the amplifier itself were buttons for adjusting bass and the level of sensitivity. This meant that you could arrive at a permanent adjustment that matched the room exactly.

BeoLab 150: Controlled overdrive

At the base of the BeoLab Penta column was the BeoLab 150 amplifier with a power output of 175 watts DIN/IEC. This could give your music a tremendous boost, both to the quality and the actual power output. It was ideal if you loved to party but had a relatively small music system. Big power needs careful control – so the amplifier was equipped with Bang & Olufsen’s Dynamic Soft Clipping system. This was a circuit that prevented both distortion and damage to the speaker units by softly rounding off signals that were too powerful. Another circuit prevented damage due to prolonged overloading.

BeoLab Penta turned on automatically when it received a signal and also turned itself off three minutes after receiving the last signal. BeoLab Penta had a light display that indicated the volume level and which sound source the music was coming from. This was especially useful with Beosystem 5500 and Beocenter 9500.

BeoLab 150 and 200 were used as part of the BeoLab Penta active loudspeakers range.

Connections:

At the bottom of BeoLab 150 were two clip-sockets and a four pole DIN socket for connecting speakers, a line input phono socket and a mains cable.

Posted on by

BeoMaster 5500

Bang & Olufsen BeoMaster 5500

Beomaster 5500 was the brains and heart of the system which it made up.

Connected by Datalink to the record player, tape recorder and CD player it allowed the user to remote-control the whole system via the Master Control Panel. The 2 x 60 watt/8 ohm tuner/amplifier gave true hi-fi quality. Bang & Olufsen’s Automatic Power Handling Control system prevented overloading and distortion, regardless of how many speakers were connected. Up to 20 stations on the tuner could be preset and the frequency synthesizer took care of automatic search and fine tuning of stations. The result – superb reception of LW, MW and FM wavebands and impressive ease of use.

Beomaster 5500 was aesthetically balanced to match the rest of the components within Beosystem 5500

These days, these receivers are the cheapest of the Beolink 1000 controlled stackable systems. They do have the huge advantage of having not only DIN connectors but also a full complement of RCA plugs. This actually makes them ideal for present day use as the extra connections allow computer and digital music connections in addition to usual sources.