As we speak, Bang & Olufsen—the audio firm that has made what we known as “the prettiest devices on this planet”—is rereleasing its iconic CD participant, the Beosound 9000. In the event you have been alive within the Nineties, you positively noticed this CD participant standing in a spot of honor, six discs and glass lid gleaming, both in your bougiest pal’s house or within the background on an episode of Entourage. Now you should buy it once more as a brand new merchandise from Bang & Olufsen slightly than bid for one on eBay.
That is the second challenge in a collection of what the corporate calls “recreated classics.” Bang & Olufsen sourced 200 authentic items of the Beosound 9000 and introduced them to the corporate’s manufacturing facility in Struer, Denmark. There, the Bang & Olufsen group—a few of whom labored on the unique fashions—fastidiously disassembled, cleaned, and repaired every unit. Every was then individually examined and fine-tuned to fulfill B&O’s audio requirements.
To lend it a extra fashionable look, the group inverted the black and aluminum finishes of the unique. The brand new black backplate makes the CDs stand out much more as artistic endeavors. However by no means concern—all of the aluminum components are nonetheless from the unique Beosound 9000s. The items have been all brushed, etched, and blasted in Bang & Olufsen’s manufacturing facility, then re-machined and re-anodized to convey them in step with the seems of the traditional participant.
The dressed-up CD gamers will solely be offered as a part of a bundle that features a pair of high-end Beolab 28 audio system and a flowery Beoremote. The merchandise are bundled collectively beneath the identify Beosystem 9000c. Solely 200 items are being produced, and every bundle prices $55,000. Even when that value places it out of attain for many of us, the Beosound 9000’s design is worthy of celebration for what it represents.
What Goes Round
The Danish model has lengthy prioritized product longevity, utilizing high-end supplies and holding sturdiness in thoughts. Additionally, its merchandise exude timeless, quirky vibes that you just actually simply can’t get wherever else. I all the time consider the Beosound Bluetooth speaker that appears identical to a picnic basket, however in 2021 the corporate additionally launched the Beosound Degree, an exceptionally lovely $2,000 Bluetooth speaker that was designed to be simply repaired; the battery, wooden, and fabric parts are all replaceable, giving the speaker a lifespan of many years as an alternative of years.
“The buyer electronics business just isn’t as resource-efficient accurately,” says Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, the top of product circularity and portfolio planning at B&O, who I reached over e mail. By tackling obsolescence by means of design, he says, his group can “create a motion towards a extra long-lasting future, the place merchandise serve a function after their first helpful lifecycle.”
The unique Beosound 9000 was designed by David Lewis, a legendary industrial designer whose work is at the moment showcased within the Museum of Fashionable Artwork. The participant’s design—with its interior workings on full show and encased in glass—was primarily based on the idea of “audiovisuality,” which is the concept exposing a music machine’s fundamental performance is gorgeous.
In fact, nowadays it’s no large deal to see a transparent pc case or a folding cellphone with an uncovered hinge. However again within the Nineties, watching a easy clamp slide soundlessly between CDs or seeing the Beosound 9000’s motorized glass lid slowly swing open was the peak of luxurious.
Comes Again Round
Bang & Olufsen’s rerelease additionally comes at a time of a CD revival. In my twenties, I labored in a file retailer—which we known as a file retailer, despite the fact that we principally offered CDs. That is the place bands performed free daytime reveals and did CD signings and the place we wandered over to the demise steel or African funk listening stations as a result of the nation part was too crowded.
That click-click-click of individuals shuffling by means of bins of jewel circumstances is completely embedded in my mind. Plenty of us miss it, even these of us who weren’t sufficiently old on the time to take heed to music on compact disc, as evidenced by Gen Z patrons gobbling up long-neglected CD collections.
