I’m considering having my Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4004 sent off for a complete restoration. What prompted my decision is that I recently heard that Bang & Olufsen had bought up all the Beogram 4000 series turntables they could find. They called in retired employees with knowledge of the 4000 series and set out to completely restore and upgrade the turntables with modern features. They priced them at $11,000 and were quickly sold out. You can read about it here:
robbreport.com
I bought my Beogram 4004 new in about 1980. One look at its gorgeous design and I had to own it. I love its tangential tracking and its automatic operation. I’m not surprised that It is on display as a noteworthy example of industrial design in museums like New York City’s MOMA.
Mine looks brand new because it has never had a lot of use because I acquired it at the end of the LP era and when CDs became popular. I played CDs gratefully and almost exclusively. The 4004 would go down from time to time because the belt would take a set from disuse. Every time I took it in for a new belt I would get hints that I could do better with a different brand of turntable. About ten years ago and during one of those periods when the 4004 was down, I bought a Rega RP40 Anniversary Limited Edition turntable. I rarely use it because I’ve now devoted most of my listening to streaming.
But all that said, I’d love to play LPs again. And I’d prefer to use the Beogram 4004. But is the audio quality it produces worth the $3000 I’m planning to pay for a complete restoration? Or said another way, does it deserve the disrespect it gets from serious audiophiles?
Bang & Olufsen’s Legendary Beogram 4000 Turntable Is Reborn, and Our Heads Are Spinning
Limited to 95 examples, each $11,000 Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000c turntable is restored from a 1970s original.
robbreport.com
I bought my Beogram 4004 new in about 1980. One look at its gorgeous design and I had to own it. I love its tangential tracking and its automatic operation. I’m not surprised that It is on display as a noteworthy example of industrial design in museums like New York City’s MOMA.
Mine looks brand new because it has never had a lot of use because I acquired it at the end of the LP era and when CDs became popular. I played CDs gratefully and almost exclusively. The 4004 would go down from time to time because the belt would take a set from disuse. Every time I took it in for a new belt I would get hints that I could do better with a different brand of turntable. About ten years ago and during one of those periods when the 4004 was down, I bought a Rega RP40 Anniversary Limited Edition turntable. I rarely use it because I’ve now devoted most of my listening to streaming.
But all that said, I’d love to play LPs again. And I’d prefer to use the Beogram 4004. But is the audio quality it produces worth the $3000 I’m planning to pay for a complete restoration? Or said another way, does it deserve the disrespect it gets from serious audiophiles?
