Retro chic – Bang and Olufsen BeoSound 9000 (1996)
B&O is about to "terminate" the Beosound 9000 meaning Sade CDs everywhere will have to find a new home
What’s the story?
B&O is the master of creating weird looking ways to control and play your music – just look at the BeoSound 5 Encore – and back in 1996 the BeoSound 9000 was unleashed on the unsuspecting Hi-Fi industry, causing havoc. B&O called it “autovisuality” – we call it looking at your CD choices. Either way it’s not often that the entire system is contained in a clamper that moves along a row of six visible CDs, playing over seven hours of uninterrupted music.
Why should we want one?
Hook the BeoSound 9000 up to a pair of B&O speakers and – bar ridiculously expensive and ancient turntables – you won’t be beaten for a retro music system that sounds good whilst proudly showing off its inner workings. The jukebox-like setup beats making a Spotify playlist hands down and boring silver and black boxes will cower in fear as your BeoSound 9000 changes its guise every time you choose a bunch of new CDs.
What to look for
The BeoSound 9000 can go a bit Texas Chainsaw Massacre on your beloved CDs as some clampers have been known to hit them instead of passing above to get to the one you want to play. So if you’re buying off eBay, it might be worth trying before you buy. It can also be tricky to work out how to change the CDs so spend some time on small talk.
Also
More Retro chic gadgets from Stuff.tv
Retro chic – Canon Pellix (1965)
Retro chic – Omega Seamaster 600m Professional (1970)
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
