General Forum

Re: Beosystem 4401

vikinger — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:57:34 GMT

Peter,

Very impressive! And do I see that you have your Avatar original overseeing everything too?

Graham

Re: Beosystem 4401

Dillen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:25:31 GMT

A very nice system indeed - and one to envy for sure.

It's true that I have a palisander Beocord 5000 of the 80's stacking version and it has
a red serial-number label. I actually have two but the other one have no label at all.
I also know of a Beomaster 8000 with a red label, not that I can spot any special things about it though.

The black Beogram 4001 (or should it more correctly be a 4401), I believe was made up by Peter himself.
I never saw one exactly like this but I have been close and this one wasn't painted black :

That Beomaster 4401 is a rare piece, I never saw one myself.
Prototypes are always rare to find and of course a collectors dream.
I couldn't think of a more appropriate owner. Congratulations Peter !

Martin

Re: Beosystem 4401

henrik — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:56:14 GMT

I agree, the old 2000 is another example that looks better withoud wooden parts.

Speaking of wooden panels and whether or not they always are the best option, I just replaced my beloved ls4500 (the one in the photo in the Beoworld products section, btw) with an lx6000 in rosewood and I like it! That said, I actually think the grey panels of the LS model looks almost as nice as the veneer! Ok, when looking close you see that the plastic panels look cheaper, but from a distance I really like the balance between the black plastic, the brushed aluminium strip and the grey metallic panels. Much better than the LXs glossy black finish, imo! ...but the rosewood is even better! :-)

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:49:46 GMT

I agree - I like dark wood - though the 70s Beomaster 2000 in white and silver is quite something.

Re: Beosystem 4401

henrik — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:47:45 GMT

Peter :
The Struer museum has a wooden sided Beogram 5000. I think it looks a bit odd!

I believe you. I never really liked the wooden 5000 that Martin showed, somehow the 5000 design looks better without wood. Some other systems, like the 80's bm6000, looks better with wood though (imho).

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:47:37 GMT

The red label signifies a pre-production run - I believe most models were subject to this but red label products were not sold - I imagine most were tested to destruction.

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:42:46 GMT

The Struer museum has a wooden sided Beogram 5000. I think it looks a bit odd!

Re: Beosystem 4401

henrik — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:16:23 GMT

Ah, interesting! Congratulations, what a nice system!

Are there more "unknown" models that made it into small-scale (like the 30 prototypes you mentioned) production runs? What about that wooden Beosystem 5000 that martin has photos of, for example?

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:06:11 GMT

Not sure my patience runs to the 5001! The 4401 is the real McCoy though - red label signifying a prototype with probably 30 being made we think. There are conflicting stories though. Ronny Mortensen thinks he saw some on a production line whereas other B&O insiders reckon the run was abandoned after the prototypes. It is interesting that the only two we know about are red label models.

The stylus is excellent - I have it tracking at about 1g and it is fine - my stylus balance is in Norway at present (I think!) so I am doing it by ear. The M100s need to be slightly better placed for best performance - they sounded better in my sitting room with the 8000 system but I am convinced that is because they had more room. About to stick the stands back on my MS150s and compare them.

Busy commissioning a lid for the Beogram 3000 - the old lid was broken and would not fit anyway, partly because of the arm board and also because the ST/P are is a bit taller.

Re: Beosystem 4401

Teddy_fr — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:49:43 GMT

Marvellous, Peter! You reached the Holy Grail that all the true Beocollectors even cannot imagine to found!
Does the Shibata profile of the stylus bring a perceptible reduction of the surface noise and better trackability?
And in term of cassette recorder, what do you think of a black Beocord 5001 (4715 type)?
Please some photos again!

Marc (very impressed!)

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:39:23 GMT

Mainly for the photo though they are 6+ foot from centre to centre. Tim is looking out for a decent 2200 for me!

Re: Beosystem 4401

Cleviebaby — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:54:49 GMT

Peter,

As a direct beneficiary of your desire for a BM 4401, I have to say the whole system looks very good. How about a Beocord 2200 in Rosewood to really complete the aesthetic match!

A query about the positioning of M100s. Are they set a little close together for a decent stereo stage or was it purely for the photo?

Cleve

Re: Beosystem 4401

BenSA — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:22:50 GMT

Lovely set up Peter. Sigh...4401

Re: Beosystem 4401

Peter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:19:39 GMT

You probably didn't notice that it is the half speed mastered version. Better picture of the system as a whole. The 4001 has been mine for about a year.

Re: Beosystem 4401

nmartin771 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:06:10 GMT

perfect !