The thread about Beomasters set me thinking about the relative prices of a radio with an amplifier during the years B&O have been selling in the UK. I have not added speakers, though this could allow comparison with today's systems if wanted!

1968 Beomaster 900M would cost £1075.48 in today's money as a start. I thought the most expensive would be the Beomaster 6000 quad which turns out would cost £2868.91. The main competitor would have seemed to have been the Beomaster 8000 but this weighs in at a paltry £2467.50! The Beomaster 4400 was clearly a bargain both then and now at £1705.59 and the Beomaster 7000, although the most expensive in cash terms at £920 when new, would be £1380, so thoroughly cheap!!

We have however not hit the top of the range! Should one have bought a Beomaster 5000 and Beolab 5000 in 1968, the combined price would now be £3249.82.

This shows a number of things - electrical goods are cheaper now than then being the major one. I am also cheating slightly as the BL5000 dropped in price in the following years. It does show that in terms of price, we are not really spending that much more now than then - and how on earth did they sell so many 5000 systems! (Because they were so good is the answer!)

The price of a fully specced 5000 system with speakers, Beogram and Beocord reel to reel would be £7909.12. Makes you think!!

Interesting comparison!  Makes me feel a little better about getting a restored BL5000 from Frede (still waiting excitedly)!   Amazing that many could afford this back then as it seems like fewere had the discretionary income to buy such goods. 

Trying to project the original prices into current value has always been one of my hobbies - if for nothing else, but trying to shock friends with them when they look at the kit

Beocentral has original UK prices for just about everything, so it is quite easy to find them, but the rest is a bit more difficult, not least because the inflation rate apparently was abysmal in the UK through most of the 1970's. I've used this site to approximate the current purchasing power of the prices and the results are always interesting!

Prices of most consumer electronics were actually quite high in the old times - which also made it worthwhile to service them, which in turn put pressure on manufacturers to make them serviceable. Some kind of a chicken and egg problem I suppose - now the result is devices that last two years and then you buy a new one, but at least they are cheap... I hate this and it is a big reason why I'm so fond of vintage B&O.

Whenever people try to complain about the price of STB's with hard disk capability for example, I like to remind them that it wasn't that long ago when they paid three times more for recorders that stored eight hours at most, made you wind & rewind looking for a free slot, and definitely didn't record from two channels at the same time you were watching a third!

Confess to nicking the prices from Beocentral! I was looking at the new pictures - very nice they are too!

My father always used to compare prices with Mars bars. When I was small, a mars bar cost 4d (old pence for the youngsters amongst us!) Nicely wrapped it was as well though the size was slightly smaller than some later incarnations of the standard bar! They seem to be 89p on line at present - probably more in the shops!

Peter, Mars bars are still less than 50p. 89p must have been for some sort of special one. I always judge prices by Big Mac's. They were 99p when I first remember them, think there about £2.50 now but I wouldnt eat one for all the tea in china.

Back on topic though, I work in the antiques trade and always look to see if the stereo in question was a good investment, ie what antique could I have bought for the price of a BL5000 system in 1967 and how much would that be worth now. Unfortunately B&O stereo's never seem to be the best investment.

the beolab 5000 (1967) is definitly worth to be restored. i've send mine to frede... he has analyzed the amplifier and he has made his suggestions and an offer for restoring/repair. soon i'll get my personal webpage for following the restoring process online. after 3 month i'll get the masterpiece perfectly restored back. ;-)

macjonny: did you know when your beolab is finished?

peter: thanks for your tip to get my beolab restored by frede.

89p did seem a bit pricey - it should be nearer 29p in inflationary terms! Not had a Mars bar for some time though!! I don't think that investing in old hi-fi makes much money! The new equipment clearly makes money for the re-sellers but pre Beolink 1000 is almost worthless. Only the very best items are worth having - 8000, 4400 and Beolab 5000 systems really.

superdario:

the beolab 5000 (1967) is definitly worth to be restored. i've send mine to frede... he has analyzed the amplifier and he has made his suggestions and an offer for restoring/repair. soon i'll get my personal webpage for following the restoring process online. after 3 month i'll get the masterpiece perfectly restored back. ;-)

macjonny: did you know when your beolab is finished?

 

I ordered min at the end of Feb and he is still working on it.  I am ordering the complete BL5000 set minus the Beogram and Beocord.  I didn't have a unit so he is supplying one so that probably takes longer.  In addition I have ordered the speakers as well, in fact have ordered two Beovox 5000s, four Beovox 2500s, and a Beovox 3000 as a center speaker.  The ultimate BL5000 setup!  I'm happy to wait as Frede seems to be a true artist.

Very interesting to see what people paid back then.  You see the £65.2.6 or whatever and without thinking, think of it as 'sixty five quid' in todays money plus a smidge more for inflation.  Little do you realise that you could buy a decent house for £5,000 and a nice new car for about a thousand pounds!

I now see why so much of the older stuff still survives -  i suppose it's a combination of it being made so well and owners being reluctant to throw it in a skip after they paid a kings ransom for it when new!!

Thanks for that Peter

I always find this stuff fascinating too

I tried using the referenced websites to recreate Peter's 900M quotation but the closest I could get was the £80 pounds in 1968 being the following in 2010:

I always thing that a percentage of average earnings makes the best comparator.

And I fondly remember paying 1d (I think, maybe it was thru'pence(? spelling)) for a glass of tizer at the local sweetshop in 1965, acting like I was me dad at his local :-)

In the past I have used Coke, Time magazine, and the Big Mac as a means of determining foreign exchange rates ... gotta love American Imperialism 

My first Mars Bar cost a sixpence in old money (about 2.5 p) and they are currently around 40p.

I think the old B&O survives partly as Lee says because it mas a major investment when it was first bought so tends to find it's way into boxrooms and lofts rather than the skip when it is finished with (unlike most 70's and 80's electronics) and because much of it is the best value audio and video  that you will find anywhere at the prices many items sell for.

Simon

Peter :

The price of a fully specced 5000 system with speakers, Beogram and Beocord reel to reel would be £7909.12. Makes you think!!

Which I think puts the current cost of a fully restored 5000 system from Frede into true perspective and presents it as something of a real bargain, particularly as many aspects of the system will have been improved from the original specs! 

I remember my first B&O purchase in 1971 - a Beogram 1001 - which I think was £39.19.11 in old money.  I was paid £2 a week as an articled pupil (a form of slavery in the professions!), so in real terms about 38% of my annual income!   Things have moved on a bit. thankfully.

Cleve

I have often argued on this forum the price of B&O in the 'Good Ol days' is/was similar to commensurate products today using UK RPI coefficients. Example:-

BeoCentre 9500 in 1993 = £1850, in todays money, £2800

BeoCentre 2 in 2006 = £2850, in todays money, £3060

BeoSys 8000 in 1981 = £1700, in todays money, £5400

BeoSys 5500 in 1986 = £1840, in todays money, £4000

Beovox MS150 in 1982 = £750, in todays money, £2100

BeoLab 5000 in 1991 = £1050, in todays money, £1672

BV AV9000 in 1990 = £6700, in todays money, £11300

BV Avant 32DVD in 2002 = £5250, in todays money, £6400

BV 7-40 in 2006 = £8400, in todays money, £9000

MCL5500 in 1986 = £189, in todays money, £410

Beolink 7000 in 1992 = £615, in todays money, £950

Make of it what you will.

10%

macjonny1:

superdario:

the beolab 5000 (1967) is definitly worth to be restored. i've send mine to frede... he has analyzed the amplifier and he has made his suggestions and an offer for restoring/repair. soon i'll get my personal webpage for following the restoring process online. after 3 month i'll get the masterpiece perfectly restored back. ;-)

macjonny: did you know when your beolab is finished?

 

I ordered min at the end of Feb and he is still working on it.  I am ordering the complete BL5000 set minus the Beogram and Beocord.  I didn't have a unit so he is supplying one so that probably takes longer.  In addition I have ordered the speakers as well, in fact have ordered two Beovox 5000s, four Beovox 2500s, and a Beovox 3000 as a center speaker.  The ultimate BL5000 setup!  I'm happy to wait as Frede seems to be a true artist.

agree, the sound of your future system must be amazing... ;-) 4 cubes? nice!!! your room will be filled with pure sound... but what sources you'll use for your setup? a good turntable will be the best i.m.o. or lossless digital files connected with a good dac.

my current system:

- beolab 5000 (restored by classic audio, coming soon...)

- beogram 4002 (mmc 20 cl retipped by van den hul)

- beovox cubes (restored by myself with tips from frede)

- beovox 2400 (restored by myself with a cap kit from dillen)

- i'm looking for some beovox 3000

- airport express, macbook pro, iphone remote

cheers

Cleviebaby:

Peter :

The price of a fully specced 5000 system with speakers, Beogram and Beocord reel to reel would be £7909.12. Makes you think!!

Which I think puts the current cost of a fully restored 5000 system from Frede into true perspective and presents it as something of a real bargain, particularly as many aspects of the system will have been improved from the original specs! 

agree, for me it's an investment in a true classic hifi icon, comparable with a classic car... ;-)

I recently bought me a Cona and just received it. It is pretty much immaculate, so much that I suppose it would've received a £250ish price tag if any of the companies with AV in their name had gotten it first

Which got me thinking that it isn't actually too far from the original 1990 price (£159) converted to current money (ending up around £300). I'm sure there are many (now) rarities that have actually appreciated in value, but can you think of other "common" products that have held their value particularly well?

I was thinking about the panel Beolabs, but apparently no, at least from list prices. The Cona seems to have been surprisingly affordable when new, though.

The soldiers have appreciated massively Mika!

Peter :

My father always used to compare prices with Mars bars. When I was small, a mars bar cost 4d (old pence for the youngsters amongst us!) Nicely wrapped it was as well though the size was slightly smaller than some later incarnations of the standard bar!

If only past governments had abandoned the gold standard & based our currency on the Mars Bars standard all those years ago.................

Chris.

j0hnbarker:

The soldiers have appreciated massively Mika!

I thought the soldiers were regular Kay Whatshername artefacts instead of anything B&O specific, let alone B&O products?

Medogsfat:

Peter :

My father always used to compare prices with Mars bars. When I was small, a mars bar cost 4d (old pence for the youngsters amongst us!) Nicely wrapped it was as well though the size was slightly smaller than some later incarnations of the standard bar!

If only past governments had abandoned the gold standard & based our currency on the Mars Bars standard all those years ago.................

Chris.

yeah but ... the thought of being paid in half eaten Mars bars would depress me