One of the world’s most stylish audio brands has announced it’s resurrecting another of its classic legacy products with an ambitious recycling plan that shows the industry what a circular economy can look like.
Today Bang & Olufsen announced the Beosystem 9000c Music System consisting of a fully restored Beosound 9000 CD player marked with a pair of Beolab 28 speakers. The Beosound 9000 CD was one of the most iconic pieces of audio design back in the 1990s thanks to its swish glass panel and ability to handle six discs at a time.
Back in 2020, B&O had the ingenious idea of buying up as many used Beogram 4000 turntables as it could fine to remanufacture them. The company bought up used Beograd 4000s and returned them to its legendary Struer factory where it remanufactured the turntables before adding the latest wireless audio technology to create a new product that married the best of B&O’s iconic design with the latest audio technology.
The new Beosystem 9000c is the second product in B&O’s planned series of recreated classics that demonstrates the Danish company’s commitment to longevity and its mission statement of: “Creating products that can stand the test of time.”
“With our Recreated Classics series, we are showcasing how Bang & Olufsen’s unique capabilities within sound, design and craftsmanship are creating long-lasting, circular products. We want to demonstrate that a second-life product can be just as attractive as a new product and that a high-quality item such as the Beosound 9000 doesn’t need to have an end date,” said Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, Head of Product Circularity & Portfolio Planning at Bang & Olufsen.
“More than showcasing our commitment to product longevity, we wanted to celebrate the revival of physical media that has taken place in recent years. Vinyl and CDs have returned to being something special, where people invest time and energy to connect with the music and artists they love. Longevity in design and the passion for music listening are essentially what we are celebrating with the launch of Beosystem 9000c. It is all about keeping listening choices alive,” added Kogsgaard Hansen.
Bang & Olufsen has managed to secure 200 units of the original Beosound 9000 CD player and returned them to the company’s factory in Struer, just outside Copenhagen. This is the same place where the original product was made back in 1996. The CD transports have been disassembled and thoroughly inspected by a team of service technicians, including some of the original employees who worked on the Beosound 9000s in the 1990s.
B&O says that every component is painstakingly cleaned and repaired before undergoing close inspection. Each Beosound 9000 is then tested and fine-tuned to meet Bang & Olufsen’s specifications for the new product.
Based on the design of the original CD player, Bang & Olufsen’s team inverted the deep black and natural aluminum finishes of the original product to match the Beolab 28 speakers. These stunning speakers feature Natural Aluminum lamellas with a Cosmic Black aluminum base that has turned surfaces of deep black, creating exceptional depth and layers.
“We wanted to enhance the graphic edge of Beosound 9000 whilst maintaining the integrity of the original design. To do this, we introduced a Cosmic Black finish to Beosound 9000’s aluminum back plate so that the CDs stand out even more as artworks which was Lewis’ original design intention. This creates a stark contrast against the Natural Aluminum on the control panel, creating a bold and modern finish whilst referencing the 90’s aesthetic of the original CD player,” said Tiina Kierysch, Head of Design at Bang & Olufsen.
“The result is timeless and showcases that even though the two products were designed in different decades, they become closely related through the application of colors, materials and finishes,” she continued.
The Beosystem 9000c showcases B&O’s expertise in handling aluminum. To achieve the various finishes, the metal was hairline brushed, etched and pearl-blasted in B&O’s Factory 5, in Struer, Denmark. All aluminum elements of Beosound 9000 are the original parts that have been re-machined and re-anodized to create a visual harmony between the two products even though they were produced decades apart.
The original Beosound 9000 was unveiled in 1996 and had a six-CD changer with built-in AM/FM radio that offered visual playback at the height of the CD’s popularity. The Beosound 9000 was originally created by industrial designer David Lewis, who believed in slow evolution. Lewis’ ideology was that any product should have a long life, both in desirability and endurance, believing new products should only be created when the customer needed them. The designer’s long and successful collaboration with B&O was due to a shared aim of product longevity by simplifying technology.
The key to Beosound 9000 is the idea of ‘autovisuality’ where basic functionality is exposed so that music can be displayed, putting the user ‘in touch’ with the music. According to legend, the idea came to Lewis when he was walking past a record store in London and saw six CDs laid out in a row in the window. This inspired his concept of displaying album art linearly rather than hiding it away in a black box. The visible six CDs, the swift movement of the CD clamper and the glass lid reflected and showcased B&O’s tradition of creating technology in an innovative and stylish way.
The Beosound 9000 contains several mechanical movements including CD clamper’s linear movement. The complex construction provides swift and soundless movement between the CDs. As it moves from the first to the sixth CD, the mechanism holds it and registers the information before starting playback within seconds. The auto-positioning feature wasn’t essential for the product to work, but Lewis thought it added an element of magic so that users could always read the text on the CD.
The motorized glass lid of Beosound 9000 opens and closes in the same uniform movement whether it is lying down, standing up or hanging on a wall. Two optical sensors and a digital time control constantly monitor the door which opens and closes within the set time limit of 3.5 – 4.0 seconds.
When the Beosystem 9000c music system is turned on, the curtains on the Beolab 28 speakers slide aside and the speakers are powered up and ready to deliver sound. The position of the curtains indicates whether the beam width of the speakers is narrow or wide. The narrow mode minimizes wall reflections while wide mode broadens out the listening area by projecting sound around the room.
The new music system also comes with a Beoremote One that enables users to control the entire setup, but the system can also be controlled from the Beolab 28 speakers or with a smartphone app.
The Beolab 28 speakers feature a physical interface on their top that lights up to reveal controls for playback, skipping tracks and controlling volume. With four favorite buttons, users can also add their preferred radio stations using B&O Radio or a playlist from their save their favorite music streaming services. Wireless connectivity offers a choice of Airplay 2, Chromecast and Bluetooth 5.0 from computers, tablets or smartphones.
The idea behind the new Beosystem 9000c was for B&O to demonstrate its commitment to creating timeless products with a beautiful sound. The resurrection of the iconic Beosound 9000 comes at a time when CDs are enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity. Its possible that the combination of nostalgia and the attraction of physical music formats will create an emotional connection for future generations who can enjoy the legacy of B&O’s iconic design heritage and audio engineering excellence.
Pricing & Availability: The Beosystem 9000c is limited to just 20o units globally and the price will be around $55,000 / €50,000 £45,000.
More info: bang-olufsen.com
