Bang & Olufsen is one of many high-end brands engaged with a creative rediscovering of their past. The Danish audio brand's Recreated Classics series takes icons from the past and updates them for the modern era. The programme started with the reboot of the celebrated 4000c turntable, first revisited in 2020, then as part of the limited edition Beosystem 72-22 music system in 2022.
Beosystem 9000c joins Bang & Olufsen’s Recreated Classics
Now there's another revival in town. This is the Beosystem 9000c music system, a meticulous update of the 1990s-era Beosound 9000 CD player. In the pre-streaming era, the 9000's stack of six discs allowed you to cue up hours of music, with B&O's trademark theatrical mechanisms on show in the form of the moving CD clamper.
Designed by the late British industrial designer David Lewis, who oversaw many of B&O's designs during the 1980s and 1990s, the player was unique in the way that it exposed the discs, normally hidden away inside the mechanism of the player. The motorised glass lid was another vivid illustration of Bang & Olufsen's 'magical' approach to product design.
The Beosystem 9000c includes a pair contemporary Beoloab 28 speakers, making this a sophisticated all-in-one system for those of us still wedded to our sizeable CD collections. In fact, with the digital disc making something of a comeback amongst collectors and musicians alike, the new Beosystem 9000c is perfectly placed to go straight to the top of every CD aficionado's wishlist.
They’ll have to be quick. The manufacturing process began with sourcing 200 examples of the original Beosound 9000 units and brining them back to Bang & Olufsen’s facility in Struer, Denmark. Here the company’s technicians stripped each unit down to clean, repair and replace (where necessary) every single component. The original workbenches were brought back into use, with some long-standing technicians even reliving their role in bringing this elegant CD player to life once again.
Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, head of Product Circularity & Portfolio Planning at Bang & Olufsen, describes the Recreated Classic series as a way of '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,' he continues.
In addition to the six-CD charger, the Beosound also incorporated an AM/FM tuner. Additional sources are catered for by the Beolab 28s, the Beoremote One remote control and B&O's own smartphone app, which allows music streaming services and wireless playback through the speakers via Airplay 2, Chromecast or Bluetooth 5.0.
The restoration process reversed the original colourway of the Beosound 9000 and paired it with new aluminium lamellas on the cylindrical form of the Beolab 28 sculptural speakers. Black and natural aluminium finishes abound, offset by the red LED display of the CD player.
'We also wanted to celebrate the revival of physical media that has taken place in recent years,' says Hansen. '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.'
Beosystem 9000c, 50,000 EUR / 45,000 GBP / 55,000 USD, limited to 200 units, available from Bang & Olufsen's new flagship Mayfair store, further information at Bang & Olufsen, Bang-Olufsen.com, @BangOlufsen.com
