Bang & Olufsen announced the release of a highly-limited collection of only 30 Beosystem 72-22 units, exclusively for the US and Canadian markets. The fully integrated music system includes a recreated version of the Beogram 4000 Series turntable originally designed by Jacob Jensen in 1972, matching Beolab 18 stereo speakers, and a Beoremote Halo remote control.
Each component is connected through a central hub within the solid wood walnut gift box the system arrives in, which can be repurposed for use as a turntable stand, storage cabinet for records, wireless connectivity hub, and Halo remote charging station. The system is elegantly designed with a matching walnut finish and pearl-blasted, Titanium Tone anodized aluminum finish in an execution the world has never seen before.
Launching almost 100 years after Bang & Olufsen was founded, the Beosystem 72-22 is indicative of the innovative path the heritage brand has forged since its inception in 1925, one that prioritizes product longevity and champions avant-garde design. Dubbed “The Beosystem 72-22” in a nod to the turntable’s year of origin — 1972 — and the year of its re-creation — 2022 — the collection demonstrates the timelessness of Bang & Olufsen’s capabilities within sound, design, and craftsmanship by recreating 50-year-old design with contemporary wireless connectivity.
The system allows users to connect the singular sound of vinyl to the brand’s contemporary speakers, all controlled by the system’s Beoremote Halo or any personal smart device. When the turntable isn’t playing records, content can be streamed wirelessly to the Beolab 18 stereo speakers. At the time of this release, nearly every unit ($45,000 USD / $60,000 CAD) has been pre-sold or reserved for influential figures in the music, tech, real estate, design, fashion, and finance industries, further illustrating the collectible nature of audio technology when reconstructed with thoughtful, thorough, and creative precision.
"Bang & Olufsen has always focused its product innovation efforts on creating magical moments through the unique combination of sound performance, design, and craftsmanship. The Beosystem 72-22 is a great example of this and the longevity of our products” notes Rick Costanzo, Vice President of Bang & Olufsen Americas. “The system’s creation is the result of almost a century of active customer engagement that has allowed Bang & Olufsen’s products to be passed down from one generation to the next, as the technology, engineering, and design are simultaneously updated and improved across product categories.”
The Beogram 4000 Series turntables
The original Beogram 4000 Series turntables were created by pioneering Danish designer Jacob Jensen from 1972. The collaboration between Jensen and Bang & Olufsen lasted for nearly three decades and resulted in 234 products for the brand that tested the limits of materials and technology. Thanks in large part to Jensen’s futuristic aesthetics and prescient technological innovations, Bang & Olufsen products shaped audio design as we know it today.
Initially launched in 1972, Jensen’s Beogram 4000 turntable set the standard for all record players that came after and helped define the experience and aesthetics of 1970’s design, landing in museums like MoMA, private collections, and design history books along the way.
As further proof of Bang & Olufsen’s longtime commitment to obsolescence-proof design, Bang & Olufsen’s original engineering team even built space into the product architecture for future technological upgrades that hadn’t been invented yet, space current Bang & Olufsen engineers were able to take advantage of to modernize the system in the same Factory in Struer, Denmark where the system originated.
The Recreated Classics Initiative
While the turntable’s reincarnation comes at a time when vinyl is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, the collection was first conceived as part of Bang & Olufsen’s Recreated Classics Initiative. Launched 95 years after Bang & Olufsen was founded, the initiative was established in 2020 as a way of reversing the increasingly limited product lifespans that characterize the consumer electronics industry and to demonstrate the longevity of Bang & Olufsen design.
The first launch from the Recreated Classics Initiative saw Bang & Olufsen’s engineers in Denmark collect, refurbish, and recreate 95 original Beogram 4000 Series turntables from across the globe, modernizing the original hardware to include a pre-amplifier. Bang & Olufsen service specialists dismantled each turntable, cleaned every component, and replaced parts as needed by hand before testing and fine-tuning it. The resulting collection of Beogram 4000c Recreated Limited Edition sold out in days across Europe.
Going a step further for the US market, Bang & Olufsen has built upon the technology used in the Beogram 4000c Recreated Limited Edition to now include speaker connectivity and streaming capabilities as part of the Beosystem 72-22.
"The Recreated Classics Initiative is part of Bang & Olufsen’s drive to overcome technology obsolescence and increase product longevity through circular design and re-manufacturing,” says Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, Senior Global Product Manager, Product Circularity & Classics Program at Bang & Olufsen. “For example, The Beosystem 72-22 seamlessly connects a 50-year-old design classic to contemporary speakers and technology, keeping our products relevant well past the industry standard and carving out a space for consumer electronics in the world of functional collectible design.”
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