Is it possible to obtain or guestimate the year of manufacture from the serial number of any B&O product.

I have a beosound 4000 and would like to find out the date of manufacture.

Below is the information I see on on back of the system

Type No: 2638 SW 2.1

Serial No: 13768527

I was hoping there is a system by which one could decipher the date of manufacture in general for all BO products

Shamelessly copied from another thread, but it'd probably take me a week to find it and link you to it, so I might as well.  The beginning of the serial will tell you the age:

09 - 1994

10 - 1995

11 - 1996

12 - 1997

13 - 1998/99

14 - 2000

15 - 2001

16 - 2002

17 - 2003/04

18 - 2004/05

19 - 2006/07

and so on

Thanks

I have a seller  with beolab penta mk3 with serial number G6113 225B.

How old are these, anyone?

I newly acquired a Beocenter 9500 and asked myself this question the other day. The serial nr starts with 0832XXXX. S/W 1,4 is also written next to type nr 2506. Is that the software version the Beocenter got from the factory?

Here's a bit longer and perhaps more accurate version of the list:

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/p/38821/322215.aspx#322215

Hubbe:

Is that the software version the Beocenter got from the factory?

Yes.

@sveifors, that doesn't look like the serial number to me. During this era, they should be eight digits with no letters.

Unless the first letter is a misread '0' instead of 'G', which would rather mean they are Mk.I... or at least the amps are. The displays and/or the entire speaker columns might have been replaced, but this is all getting rather far fetched speculation.

tournedos:

Hubbe:

Is that the software version the Beocenter got from the factory?

Yes.

Thanks, is there any reason to let B&O download a newer software or is it even possible?

Now I know that my Beosystem 7000 is from 1994/95, my AV9000 from 1997 and Beocenter 9500 from 1991 . Where can you find the serial nr on Beolink 7000 and what software it has? Is it possible do get a newer software on such and old product? Maybe better to just leave it alone.

The serial and software numbers of the Beolink 7000 are in a sticker that is situated "under" the hinge. 

Hubbe:

Thanks, is there any reason to let B&O download a newer software or is it even possible?

Generally, products back then were "ready" when they came out (boy, does that sound like an odd concept these days!). There's seldom any reason to upgrade unless you know you have a problem or are missing some feature which may have been added later. These might be just fixes regarding some odd link system configurations or some such.

If there is any update available for the 9500, it will be a ROM chip that needs to be replaced, so it won't be particularly easy nor cheap.

For the Beolink 7000, I believe the latest is sw 3.1 with RDS functions. It will be hard to update, and I don't think B&O wants to hear about it at all!

tournedos:

Hubbe:

Thanks, is there any reason to let B&O download a newer software or is it even possible?

Generally, products back then were "ready" when they came out (boy, does that sound like an odd concept these days!). There's seldom any reason to upgrade unless you know you have a problem or are missing some feature which may have been added later. These might be just fixes regarding some odd link system configurations or some such.

If there is any update available for the 9500, it will be a ROM chip that needs to be replaced, so it won't be particularly easy nor cheap.

For the Beolink 7000, I believe the latest is sw 3.1 with RDS functions. It will be hard to update, and I don't think B&O wants to hear about it at all!

I figured that was the case. I took a look at my Beolink 7000. It´s from 1992/93 and has 2,1 software version installed. I haven´t noticed anything wrong. Like you said in those days they did not let products leave the factory before they was well proven. Anyone know what updates that where made in later versions of Beolink 7000? If later updates were made, is it possible to see that without leaving it to a B&O workshop?