This highly specified top-loading cassette deck closely matched Beomaster 2300 both in appearance and technical compatibility. But it was also worth serious consideration for use with any good hi-fi system, especially if ease-of-use was one of your demands.
Ferric, chrome and metal tapes could be used and the Dolby B noise reduction system kept your recordings clean and hiss-free. The large split-channel VU meters made it easy to set optimum recording levels using the input slider. The combined record/replay head was of long-life Sendust.
The 3-digit tape counter had a press-button reset; a memory function aided easy location of favourite tracks for repeat playing.
Piano-key controls separated all tape-transport functioned: these included a very precise pause control and a double-key record control – a safety check for preventing the accidental erasure of tapes.
Tape speed was highly accurate with deviation of less than +/- 1% and wow and flutter below +/- 0,15% DIN.
Beocord 2400 measured 40cm wide, 8cm high (11cm with cassette holder open) and 25cm deep. The slim cabinet was finished in either natural teak or rosewood.
At the 1969 Hanover Fair Bang & Olufsen and Jacob Jensen – designer of Beocord 2400 – were presented with the iF award for no less than 4 products for ‘outstanding industrial design’ including this sleek cassette recorder.
Beocord 1200 Type 4207 was a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Among its features it had sound-on-sound, automatic recording level control and mixing. The in-built PA amplifier could be operated without the motor running.
Beosystem 1200 – made up of Beomaster 1200, Beocord 1200 and Beogram 1200 was Bang & Olufsen’s B&O’s first designed system. 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 New York’s 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 tape 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.
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.
Beocenter 4000 was an elegant combination of an AM/FM stereo receiver (in effect the Beomaster 2200) and a high quality cassette deck whose performance levels matched those of more expensive separate decks. The Sendust tape head ensured the best possible playback and combined long life with optimum frequency response characteristics. There were two motors – one for fast wind, the other for normal play – so tape transport was smooth and stable at all times. A Dolby B Noise Reduction circuit ensured high quality, low-noise recordings. Despite its many technical refinements and comprehensive facilities, Beocenter 4000 was simple to operate.
Beocenter 4000, in which all parameters concentrate on the quality of radio and tape reproduction, was an unusual alternative to a disc system. The addition of a matching Beogram from the Bang & Olufsen range, plus two Beovox S45 bookshelf or P45 wall-mounting speakers converted it into the complete top-quality Beosystem 4000.
Beocenter 4000 comprised a 2 x 40 watts RMS amplifier, an FM, Long and Medium wave radio and a stereo cassette deck incorporating all the features you would expect to find only in separate high quality decks.
“Bang & Olufsen (the Volvo of electronics) have [one transistor] radio so elegant you can’t tell what it is, a completely anonymous plastic box that might well contain paper tissues, did it not appear to have a slide rule glued to one edge. That’s not the real trannie market, of course,; that’s just an executive toy for the man who already has hi-fi” – The art historian Rayner Banham in New Society 1974
Rayner Banham was one of the first to acknowledge that the youth and pop culture had the same artistic value as that all too objective modernistic demonstrating an anonymous anti-design. The first portable transistor radios appeared at the end of the 1950s, and during the 1960s they became part of youth culture. The early portable radios, including those from B&O, looked like ladies’ handbags and were anything but exclusive.
The Beolit 600 is an example of how Jensen goes in exactly the opposite direction from his competitors. Now the radio has become a design icon, a cult object, but in reality is something as banal as a redesign of B&O’s earlier, somewhat uninteresting, wood-clad transistor model – the Beolit 1000. Jensen compressed the cabinet until it was completely flat, very long and not very deep – an exciting and very architectonic shape. The openings for the loudspeakers were square and together constituted an asymmetrically placed rectangle.
People would take the transistor radio to the beach, so Jensen did what he could to make is sand proof and robust. A Plexiglas plate would not be appropriate, as it would be scratched if sand got underneath it. Jensen had the idea of taking the indicator down into the actual aluminium profile. It became a metal ball down in a groove. Jensen’s friend, the brilliant engineer Karl Gustav Zeuthen (the creator of Danish KZ aeroplanes), developed the system so that a magnet dragged the ball along down in the aluminium profile – flush again.
The sandwich construction consists of two plastic trays that can be removed in order to change batteries. They click into place on the aluminium frame. The plastic had a special velvety texture, a rough effect exuding quality. The model in black resembles charcoal. A smart detail is in the handle which can be tipped to one side as a support so that the radio can conveniently lie obliquely with the controls in front of you or on your work desk. After one of B&O’s factory buildings burned down, one of the employees happened to switch on a Beolit that had completely melted down and it played quite happily in spite of it all! ” taken from ‘Jacob Jensen’ by Christain Holmsted Olesen.
Beolit 400 – 600 range
A new range of transportable radios – the Beolit – was launched in 1970. The sound reproduction was unusually good – so good that many of the Beolits are still in use. In principle, the units were battery-powered, but the 600 version could also be connected to the mains. An amusing detail was the indication, of the selected station. This was shown by a small metal ball which moved behind a glass cover in parallel with a magnet on the exterior control slide and was thus encased and protected. Despite its sophisticated exterior, the Beolit was extremely robust.
With Beolit 600 the designer Jacob Jensen set a new standard for the manufacture and design of transistor radios. In its construction, details and finish the radio pursued the same straight lines which have always characterised B&O’s products. The radio was very functional and easy to operate.
Beolit 600: The transistor radio was one of Bang & Olufsen’s greatest sales success stories. At one time the B&O factory in Struer manufactured 600 units a day!
Even though it was light and compact it had surprisingly good sound. The solution of the scale by means of magnetic balls was both elegant and functional even though it was later overhauled by digital methods. An example of good-quality design work is the technique that can be developed and refined through time; another is the longevity of quality design. Jensen’s Beolit 600 was special because it took design seriously. Jacob Jensen was awarded the Danish Design Centre’s ID Prize in 1970 for his work with this product range.
Beolit 600 was a more comprehensive version of Beolit 400; the main difference being that AM was also included. Those radios sold in the UK offered MW and LW; in other markets the radio was fitted with two SW bands in their place. These sets also included fine-tuning controls for these bands. Another addition was that by pressing two of the band switches at the same time, the set became an amplifier and loudspeaker for use with a record player or tape recorder. An external loudspeaker or a pair of headphones could also be connected, either muting the internal loudspeaker or not, depending on how the plug was inserted.
The tuning pointer was also slightly different to that fitted to the Beolit 400. Instead of the plastic pointer, a magnet was fitted to the tuning slider inside the set, and this moved two steel balls in the grooves in the dial. Transparent plastic strips stopped them falling out should a jolt make them become detached from the magnet. This system would not work with the station markers, so these were not fitted.
In 1970, three Bang & Olufsen products designed by Jacob Jensen received the IF award. The winning products were: Beomic 2000 microphone, Beomaster 1200 tuner/amplifier and the 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. The 1970 ID award was given to the Beolit 600 transistor radio, creating new norms for construction and design. That same year Beolit 600 also received the IF award.
This was the development of the Beolit 400 and like that model was FM only. However it usefully included a mains transformer so the BeoPower transformer was no longer required.
Beolit 700 Type 1505 was equipped with FM, LW and MW. The radio was compact and light and offered extremely high quality sound. There were sockets for one external speaker and for a record player or tape player/recorder. The portable radio was produced for the European marked and used 220-240V, 50Hz 0,7-5W, or a set of five size-D, 1,5V batteries.
The Beolit was one of the very few portable radios that were suitable for reproducing more than just news broadcasts. Sound quality was so good that music programmes could be reproduced with a quality that made them worth listening to. The Beolit was fitted with a mains transformer and a detachable lead. Operation was simple and problem-free. And since portable radios can end up in unenviable situations, the Beolit was constructed to withstand some rough treatment. A robust chassis protects the internal circuitry and a special surface treatment protects the radio from scratches. Dirty marks were easily removed with a damp cloth.
Beolit 707 received radio programmes on FM, long and medium wavebands. This portable radio was Bang & Olufsen’s handiest music system. Its sound reproduction quality was so outstanding that it invites even critical music lovers to listen to music programmes when they are away from home.
Power input was specified at a pure 1 watt and frequency range was 65-20 000 Hz: exceptional for a transportable radio receiver. A large tuning scale with thumb wheels made tuning easy. Bass and treble was adjusted separately and there was an AFC facility to keep FM stations correctly tuned.
Beolit 707 could be plugged into the mains supply or run from batteries. The cabinet was finished in coloured Nextel – a synthetic material with a suede-like finish which is washable ands scratch-proof. It was designed by Jacob Jensen, the same as its FM-only sibling, Beolit 505.
The Beolit was one of the very few portable radios that were suitable for reproducing more than just news broadcasts. Sound quality was so good that music programmes could be reproduced with a quality that made them worth listening to. The Beolit was fitted with a mains transformer and a detachable lead. Operation was simple and problem-free. And since portable radios can end up in unenviable situations, the Beolit was constructed to withstand some rough treatment.
A robust chassis protects the internal circuitry and a special surface treatment protects the radio from scratches. Dirty marks were easily removed with a damp cloth.
Beolit 505 was a pure FM radio with AFC facility to ensure clean, sharp reception. It had an in-built large, high quality speaker together with a built-in telescopic aerial. It had six programme indicators (affixed to sliding tuning scale) and connection for a tape recorder. It was designed by Jacob Jensen, the same as its FM and AM bigger brother, Beolit 707.
The Beolit was one of the very few portable radios that were suitable for reproducing more than just news broadcasts. Sound quality was so good that music programmes could be reproduced with a quality that made them worth listening to. The Beolit was fitted with a mains transformer and a detachable lead. Operation was simple and problem-free. And since portable radios can end up in unenviable situations, the Beolit was constructed to withstand some rough treatment.
A robust chassis protects the internal circuitry and a special surface treatment protects the radio from scratches. Dirty marks were easily removed with a damp cloth.
A new range of transportable radios – the Beolit – was launched in 1970. The sound reproduction was unusually good – so good that many of the Beolits are still in use. In principle, the units were battery-powered, but the 600 version could also be connected to the mains. An amusing detail was the indication, of the selected station. This was shown by a small metal ball which moved behind a glass cover in parallel with a magnet on the exterior control slide and was thus encased and protected. Despite its sophisticated exterior, the Beolit was extremely robust.
Beolit 400 was a basic FM-only portable radio, in much the same way as its replacement, Beolit 505. The case was partly aluminium, partly coloured plastic, which formed the front and rear panels. Bright colours such as red, yellow, green and purple were offered, along with black. As the panels were only clipped on and did not form part of the chassis, they could be replaced with different coloured ones at a later date.
The design allowed the set to be used vertically or horizontally, supported by its handle. Even though there was only one loudspeaker, there were grilles on both sides of the radio, so that sound was distributed evenly from both directions. The sliding dial on the top of the radio was similar to that offered on Beomaster 901. A transparent plastic pointer, like that of a slide rule, was slid across the top in order to adjust the tuning, little wheels fitted to the side could be used for accurate setting. Little markers could be set, whose projecting tops slightly blocked the pointer on its way past, providing a reference to frequently-used stations.
A powerful AFC system, which could be turned off during tuning, was also included. The amplifier could provide 3 watts of output, unusually high for such a small set. Sockets for an external 7.5V power supply (via Beopower 600) and a tape recorder were fitted.
The Bang & Olufsen Beolit 400 transistor radio, designed by Jacob Jensen was presented with the IF Award in 1971 and the ID AWARD the year before. In 1972 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. Beolit 400 was were one of those seven products.
The first Master Control Panel and the first two way remote made by Bang & Olufsen, the MCP 7700 was designed to be used with the Beocenter 7700.
It can now be seen as the precursor to the Beosystem 5000 family though it was not as sophisticated as its descendants. It also had a back lit LCD display rather than the LED display used in the MCP 5000.
