Beogram 1800

(1983-1984) Stereo turntable, 33/45RPM, MMC 5 pickup

Picture by Nick Jarman

Description

A new form of Beogram with a new fast acting mechanism. There was no ‘Beosystem 1800’ or ‘Beolab 1800’; this Beogram was designed to work with any Beomaster, old or new. To that end, it was fitted with a 5 pin DIN plug and lacked Datalink, though the electronics existed inside for Datalink use. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The actions were made faster by the use of two mode cams, instead of one, as fitted to previous models such as the Beogram 6000. One cam moved the arm across the record, the other operated the cueing device. They were both small and turned quickly, so the response times were much improved over what was previously offered. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Another feature was record sizing by weight. When Play was selected, the centre part of the platter would raise gently, with only just enough force to lift a 45RPM single. An LP would be too heavy to lift, so the mechanism would set itself to 45RPM and 18cm if the record lifted, 33RPM and 30cm if it did not. The speed control keys could then be used to override the choice for non-standard records. The parts could also detect if a record was not present, and prevent the turntable being activated. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The new machine was much slimmer and more attractive than previous radial Beograms, and looked very modern when compared to the Beogram 1700 that was offered with the Beomaster 2300 in the same year. The styling of the front edge also offered a clue as to how the Beomaster 2300 replacement (Beomaster 2000) would look, as the matching Beogram for the this model, the 2000, was visually very similar. Despite being a low profile model, only being shown in a small picture at the back of the catalogue, the basic design spawned many variants, the Beogram 2000, 5000, RX, RX 2 and the turntable section of Beocenter 2200, and became the last of the radial Beograms. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Type numbers

5811, 5813, 5814, 5815

Prices

1983£99 
1984£109 

Further Reading

In print:

On the web: