Beocord 2000K De Luxe

For this version of this long running machine, B&O really excelled themselves. Those who thought that the “De Luxe” part of the name just meant a bit more chrome trim or restyled controls would have been in for quite a surprise, for large and important changes had been made in all the important areas of the design. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Most obviously, the sliding faders had been split in two, giving independent control of the left and right channels. An extra stereo fader had been added for “sound on sound” functions, which could also be used to regulate the new “line” level input, intended for the connection of a second recorder or to a quality amplifier such as the Beolab 5000. Because of the split faders, the balance control was no longer necessary and so the design of the two rotary controls was simplified, with one for treble and one for bass. A ¼" stereo headphone socket was also added, fed from the built-in power amplifier. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

The two-track model was fitted with an extra head, to allow the playback of four-track tapes. Four-track recordings could not be made with this machine however. The new head was selected using a pushbutton mounted behind the head cover. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

More refinements had been made to the preamplifier modules. The new units for record players and radio tuners featured a two-position switch for two different sensitivities. The record player preamplifier could be used with both crystal and B&O magnetic pickups, eliminating the need to offer two types. The switches could be easily altered through holes in the base of the machine. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

Mechanically, changes were minimal, though curiously the belt drive for rewinding that had been introduced with the previous model was discontinued and the arrangement of two idler wheels returned. The mechanical wow and flutter performance, along with the speed accuracy, of the Beocord 2000 De Luxe was guaranteed to reach the standards required for professional use, a considerable achievement for a domestic machine. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

In this form, the Beocord offered a mix of qualities that no similarly priced machine could match. It represented the height of perfection that could be achieved with available technology and offered the quality and flexibility of a professional machine in a compact, domestically acceptable package. The next version, the Beocord 2400, would be the final model in the series. Text copyright © Beocentral. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.