Money no object
We love to give practical buying advice on the latest gadgets here at TechRadar. But sometimes what we love even more is to indulge in the most ridiculous, high-end, cutting-edge, luxurious tech on the planet. That’s what we bring you in these Money no Object columns – you can read the whole series here.
I want one of these, reader. The fact that I remember the 1996 original helps, but just look at it – how its vertical design showcases the six-strong selection of CDs you’re spinning today. Don’t you want people to see that? Wouldn’t it be great to see your music again, as you listen to it? And I challenge anyone not to squeal with glee when the the orb of light mechanism (or ‘CD clamper’, as it is affectionately known) quickly, smoothly scales up or down to whichever disc you’ve cued up.
You may remember the Bang & Olufsen Recreated Classics series from 2020, when the company reclaimed, recreated and launched the Beogram 4000c (a turntable initially made in the 1970s) which sold out in 23 hours – well, only 200 were sourced.
Cut to April 2024 and there’s now a second Recreated Classic receiving the 200-units only B&O treatment: the Beosound 9000 CD player, originally launched in 1996. Only this time, instead of the built-in AM/FM radio that came with the original, you get a set of the company’s Beolab 28 speakers, for all of the streaming smarts using Chromecast, Airplay or Bluetooth plus Bang & Olufsen Radio – which can all be controlled by the included Beoremote or the Bang & Olufsen App.
It’s beautiful, because it’s more sustainable
I’ve been lauding B&O’s commitment to cradle-to-cradle manufacture (meaning that in essence, every component that goes into a B&O product should be able to come out again, and be reused, even in a totally different product) since the modular, easy-to-service Beosound Theatre I got to hear in 2022. In a glorious nod to Sustainability Week 2024 (which is this very week, folks!) the Beosound 9000c involves using what was already out there, making it better, and re-releasing.
To clarify, Bang & Olufsen sourced 200 of the original Beosound 9000 CD player (from house sales, warehouses, and even auction sites, apparently), and returned them to the company’s factory in Struer, Denmark – the same place they were first created, in ’96. B&O tells me that the CD players were then disassembled and thoroughly inspected by a team of skilled technicians, including many of the same colleagues who worked on the Beosound 9000 in the 1990s, using the original workshop tables. Yes, strong ‘getting the band back together’ vibes – and you love to see it.
Every component was painstakingly cleaned and repaired of course, but it wasn’t simply a case of servicing ’em and selling again. Bang & Olufsen found an engineer to remake the CD mechanism, and the design team re-machined and re-anodized all the aluminum parts. These were hairline brushed, etched and pearl-blasted, so that the team could invert the deep black and natural finishes (using spray this time, rather than the rather more wasteful 1996 dipping technique) of the original colorway.
The corresponding Beolab 28’s meanwhile are new, featuring natural aluminum lamellas on the speakers with a Cosmic Black aluminum base to match the player.
I miss the days of talking about albums – and this feels like a return to them
The original Beosound 9000 was designed by revered designer David Lewis, who believed in slow evolution – that any product should have a long life, both in terms of desirability and endurance.
But for me, the Beosound 9000c’s main draw is its ‘autovisuality’ – i.e., the concept of the basic functionality being exposed, so that your music can be displayed, thus each user remains ‘in touch’ with music. I miss the days of listening to a full album and talking about it; this feels like a return to that.
And it doesn’t stop there, the Beosound 9000c contains several mechanical movements that delight me still. Aside from the CD clamper’s linear movement, the motorized glass lid of the Beosound 9000c opens and closes with the same uniform movement whether it’s lying down, standing up or hanging on the wall. Two optical sensors and a digital time control constantly monitor the door, which opens (or closes) within the set time limit of 3.5 – 4.0 seconds. And if a child’s finger reaches in during any of this, it simply stops.
I love it; I love that each CD is cued up not only by the hovering of the clamper, but with Xenera (or calculator font) text in red to tell you what you’re listening to, running alongside the CDs. Oh, and it’ll play any recorded CDs too (although not SACDs) so your old ‘mixtape CDs’ are also on the menu.
Ready for the delicate topic of coin? The Bang & Olufsen Recreated Classic Beosystem 9000c (which gets you the 9000c CD player and Beolab 28 wireless stereo speakers) is priced at €50,000 / $55,000 / £45,000 (so around AU$85,000).
It isn’t affordable, and I know that. But remember when CDs were new? I do. Remember when the artwork wasn’t actually that good, so CDs were largely silver-holographic affairs with a bit of small black writing on them just to cover the basics? Okay, and did you also take a sharpie to them, for quicker location in your CD book in the car? I used to do it for my mom. Now, I could re-spin those ‘ERIC CLAPTON, SLOWHAND!’ CDs on the wall (or on its stand), complete with my own early-90s scrawl, and think of her. To me, that’s priceless.