Bang & Olufsen’s latest turntable harks back to the golden age of vinyl – but it’ll cost you
If you’re craving for a blast from the previous, dusting off your previous vinyls and giving them a spin in your turntable is one of the greatest methods to faucet into that nostalgia – and the latest report participant from Bang & Olufsen may very well be the greatest turntable for the job.
The Beogram 4000c was initially launched in the Nineteen Seventies, and a choose quantity of current fashions have been refurbished for 2020 – with out shedding its hanging retro appears.
It’s half of Bang & Olufsen’s new Classics initiative, during which the Danish audio firm is “restoring and reimagining classic products”.
Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, who’s main the initiative, explains: “In a world of consumer electronics, most products are regarded as disposable commodities. At Bang & Olufsen our products are built to stand the test of time. That is what differentiates us as a brand, what the Beogram 4000c so beautifully embodies and what we want to build on in the future”.
Carefully refurbished
In order to recreate the Beogram 4000 collection turntable and convey it up to date, the firm had to determine 95 current fashions, bringing them back to “the same facility where they were first created nearly five decades ago”, in Struer, Denmark.
Once there, the report gamers have been disassembled, with each element “painstakingly cleaned” and new elements added the place wanted.
The retro turntables weren’t simply given an excellent scrub, although. For starters, the aluminum plinth has been “polished and anodized in a warmer champagne tone, giving the surface a subtle glow” – and now we have to admit, it does look improbable.
Meanwhile, the 4000c has been given a brand new strong oak body and a mud lid to shield it whereas it is not in use – the touch-sensitive management pad has additionally been spruced up with a brand new, fashionable look.
Interestingly, the authentic designers of the Beogram 4000c in the Nineteen Seventies left house in the inside structure, to enable for “additional technology upgrades”.
That foresight means Bang & Olufsen have been ready to add a phono pre-amplifier to the turntable, which suggests it may be related to your stereo audio system utilizing a phono or 3.5mm line-level connection – no want for an exterior phonostage.
The tonearm on the upgraded turntable has largely stayed the similar, other than being given a contemporary stylus. According to Bang & Olufsen, the 4000c was “the first in a series of Bang & Olufsen turntables to feature an automated tangential tonearm”.
“On most record players, the tonearm pivots inward, causing the stylus to apply unwanted pressure on the record, which can result in sound distortion,” the firm explains.
However, on the Beogram 4000c, the complete tonearm meeting “moves uniformly toward the center of the record, keeping the stylus in a consistent position relative to the groove in the vinyl”.
Bang & Olufsen says that this enables the report to be performed in “the same manner that the master disc was cut”, hopefully offering a “more faithful acoustic experience”.
Want to get your palms on one of these restricted report gamers? You’ll want to dig deep – the Beogram 4000c Recreated Limited Edition prices $11,000 / £9,000 (about AU$15,000), with solely 95 items out there to purchase.
If you do have the money to splash on a refurbished classic report participant, you’ll give you the option to purchase it from choose Bang & Olufsen shops from October 12, or on-line from October 19.
Looking for one thing somewhat cheaper? Check out our information to the greatest turntables of 2020 for extra budget-friendly choices. And do not forget: Amazon Prime Day is arising on October 13-14, with Black Friday following quickly after in November, and each gross sales occasions may very well be nice occasions to decide up an inexpensive turntable.