You reach out your hand, and two glass doors glide silently aside. Behind them a control panel lights up and the CD begins to spin. Anyone who has made that gesture at a Beosound Ouverture or a Beosound 3000 knows that a music system can be more than a device.
Many of these systems still play, and anyone who owns one sooner or later wonders what has taken its place. At Brussee, an official Bang & Olufsen dealer since 1995, we know these models at close hand. In this guide we walk through the best known of them and show what fills the same place in the home today.
Contents
- First this: music has changed carrier
- Every system at a glance
- The glass doors: Beocenter 2300, Beosound Ouverture, Beosound 3000 and 3200
- Beosound Century: music on the wall
- Beosound 1: the system with the handle
- Beosound 4 and Beocenter 2: the last discs
- Beosound 5, Beosound 8 and Beosound Moment: the digital years
- Beosound Core: forerunner of the Beoconnect Core
- Beocenter 9000 and Beosound 9000: the icons
- Keep using your existing system
- Frequently asked questions
- Personal advice in our showrooms
First this: music has changed carrier
An honest comparison starts with an observation. The classic Beosound and Beocenter systems revolved around a carrier: CD, cassette, later a hard disk or a memory card. The current Bang & Olufsen range revolves around streaming. A successor in the strict sense, with the same CD tray and the same keys, therefore does not exist.
What does exist is a current product that fills the same place in the home: the system on the wall, the system you carry with you, the centrepiece of the room. That is how to read the table below.
Every system at a glance
| Classic system | Period | What it was | What takes that place today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beocenter 9000 | 1986 to 1990 | Music centre with touch control on glass | Beosound A9 |
| Beocenter 2300 | 1991 to 2000 | CD and radio behind glass doors | Beosound A9 or Beosound Balance |
| Beosound Ouverture | 1994 to 2003 | CD, cassette and radio behind glass doors | Beosound A9 or Beosound Balance |
| Beosound Century | 1993 to 2004 | All in one, just 11 cm deep, also wall-mounted | Beosound Level or Beosound Shape |
| Beosound 9000 | from 1996 | Six CDs side by side behind glass | Beosystem 9000c |
| Beosound 3000 | 2000 to 2006 | CD and radio behind glass doors | Beosound A9 or Beosound Balance |
| Beosound 1 | from 2001 | Portable system with CD and radio | Beosound A5 |
| Beosound 3200 | from 2003 | Like the 3000, with storage for 396 CDs | Beosound A9 |
| Beocenter 2 | from 2004 | DVD, CD and radio | Beosound Theatre |
| Beosound 4 | 2006 to 2010 | CD, radio and memory card | Beosound Emerge or Beosound Level |
| Beosound 5 | 2008 to 2012 | Digital music player with hard disk | Beoconnect Core with Beoremote Halo |
| Beosound 8 | 2010 to 2014 | Speaker dock for iPod and iPhone | Beosound Level |
| Beosound Moment | 2015 to 2018 | Wireless system for streaming | Beoconnect Core with Beoremote Halo |
| Beosound Core | more recent | Streaming hub for Beolab speakers | Beoconnect Core |
The right-hand column shows which current product fills the same place in the home, not a technical successor with the same functions.
The glass doors: Beocenter 2300, Beosound Ouverture, Beosound 3000 and 3200
This is the family that for many became the face of Bang & Olufsen. It began in 1991 with the Beocenter 2300 and its sibling with a cassette deck, the Beocenter 2500: a centre console with the speakers on either side, and two clear glass doors that glided aside as soon as you held your hand in front of them. David Lewis drew the design.
The Beosound Ouverture took over that form and added the MasterLink connection, which let the system link to speakers elsewhere in the house without additional equipment. In 2000 came the Beosound 3000, in which everything stands upright and in view, so you can see what happens when you press a key. And in 2003 the Beosound 3200 appeared: the same functions, plus a hard disk that held up to 396 CDs, in four groups of 99.
What takes that place today is a speaker that itself forms the centrepiece of the room. The Beosound A9 does that with seven drivers, 1,500 watts of amplification and a round form that hangs on the wall or stands on legs, from EUR 3,700. The Beosound Balance is the more compact choice for a sideboard, with 850 watts and the ability to steer the sound in one direction, from EUR 3,000.
Beosound Century: music on the wall
The Beosound Century of 1993 brought CD, cassette and FM radio together in a housing just 11 centimetres deep. It could stand on its own or hang on the wall, had built-in active speakers and was operated with keys that lit up to guide you. In 1994 David Lewis’s design received the IP Prize of the Danish Design Centre. It remained in production until 2004.
The idea of a flat system on the wall lives on in the Beosound Level: 5.6 centimetres deep, with a battery that lasts up to 16 hours and an optional wall bracket. From EUR 1,500. Anyone who wants to turn the wall itself into a speaker arrives at the modular Beosound Shape, from EUR 5,500.
Beosound 1: the system with the handle
The Beosound 1 of 2001 was made to be carried: a robust housing with an integrated handle, CD and radio, and behind the aluminium front a three-way system that gave more sound than its size suggested. From the living room to the office, and on holiday.
Today the Beosound A5 keeps that same promise. A portable speaker with 280 watts of amplification, up to 12 hours of playing time and wireless charging for your phone on the top. From EUR 1,400.
Beosound 4 and Beocenter 2: the last discs
The Beosound 4 combined a CD player with FM and DAB radio and something new: a reader and writer for SD memory cards, which took over the role of the cassette tape. You copied a CD straight to the card, without a computer.
The Beocenter 2 of 2004 added DVD. The electronics and all connections sat in a separate socket unit, so that where you saw the system there stood only the slim master unit, with a single thin cable between the two.
For anyone looking for a compact music system today, the Beosound Emerge is the starting point: 6.7 centimetres wide, shaped like a book, EUR 970. And anyone wanting to bring picture and sound together as the Beocenter 2 did will find that in the Beosound Theatre beneath the television, from EUR 10,400.
Beosound 5, Beosound 8 and Beosound Moment: the digital years
With the Beosound 5, Bang & Olufsen made the move to digital music in 2008. The system worked together with the Beomaster 5, a 500 GB hard disk, and had a function that automatically continued a playlist with music that matched it. Anders Hermansen drew the design.
The Beosound 8 of 2010 was the answer to the iPod: a dock with active speakers, for the table or the wall. And the Beosound Moment, from 2015 to 2018, brought your own music and streaming services together in one wireless system, with a MoodWheel that let you choose music by mood.
All three solved the same thing in their own way: how do I reach my music without fuss. Today the Bang & Olufsen app does that, and for anyone wanting a fixed control point in the home there is the Beoremote Halo: a touch screen for the table or the wall, so you switch on music as easily as the lights. From EUR 750.
Beosound Core: forerunner of the Beoconnect Core
The Beosound Core was a connectivity hub that turned Beolab speakers into a wireless system, with streaming via Google Cast, AirPlay and Bluetooth, and multiroom for anyone with several speakers in the house.
That idea has been taken further in the Beoconnect Core. It connects your Beolab speakers via Powerlink, adds Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Google Cast, TIDAL Connect and Bluetooth 5.3, and has an HDMI eARC connection for your television plus an input for a turntable. Price EUR 1,150. How to give a classic pair of Beolab speakers new life with it is covered in our guide to classic Beolab speakers and their successors.
Beocenter 9000 and Beosound 9000: the icons
The Beocenter 9000, from 1986 to 1990, was the work of Jacob Jensen: an almost flat, floating surface from which nothing protruded. The controls consisted of two black glass panels that responded to a light touch, and the lids of the CD player and cassette deck slid silently aside without rising above the surface. The design won the Japanese Good Design Award in 1987.
The Beosound 9000 of 1996, by David Lewis, is perhaps the best-known system Bang & Olufsen ever made: six CDs side by side behind glass, with a reading arm that travels across them. It is the only system in this guide whose original you can buy today. Bang & Olufsen has restored a limited number and releases them as the Beosystem 9000c, in a Cosmic Black finish for EUR 50,000. The edition is limited; please contact us about current availability.
For lovers of vinyl the same exists: the restored Beogram 4000c for EUR 20,000, and a restoration service for your own Beogram from the 4000 or 6000 series through the Beogram Classics Upgrade, from EUR 5,000.
Keep using your existing system
A classic system does not have to go simply because you also want to stream. The Beoconnect Core has a line-in and an optical input, and you connect your Beolab speakers via Powerlink. That way the CD player you are fond of remains part of the whole, alongside everything streaming has to offer.
Exactly which connections your system has, and which cabling goes with them, differs per model and year of manufacture. Our specialists work that out for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the successor to the Beosound 3000?
A direct successor with a CD player and glass doors does not exist, because the current Bang & Olufsen range revolves around streaming. The Beosound 3000’s place as the centrepiece of the room is filled today by the Beosound A9, from EUR 3,700, or the more compact Beosound Balance, from EUR 3,000.
What is the difference between the Beosound 3000 and the Beosound 3200?
The Beosound 3200 appeared in 2003 and has the same main functions as the Beosound 3000: CD and radio behind glass doors. The difference is the built-in hard disk, which could store up to 396 CDs in four groups of 99, each with its own colour on the control panel.
Can I combine my Beosound or Beocenter with streaming?
Yes. The Beoconnect Core has a line-in and an optical input for an existing source, and connects Beolab speakers via Powerlink. With it you add Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Google Cast, TIDAL Connect and Bluetooth without replacing your system. The Beoconnect Core costs EUR 1,150.
Is the Beosound 9000 still for sale?
Yes, in restored form. Bang & Olufsen has restored a limited number and releases them as the Beosystem 9000c, in Cosmic Black for EUR 50,000. Because the edition is limited, we advise contacting us about current availability.
What replaces the Beosound Core?
The Beoconnect Core. Both connect Beolab speakers to streaming services and multiroom. The Beoconnect Core adds, among other things, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Bluetooth 5.3, an HDMI eARC connection for the television and an input for a turntable.
Personal advice in our showrooms
Whichever system you have at home: bring a photograph, or the type number. Then we will look together at what it can still do for you and what could stand beside it or in its place today.
- Brussee Haarlem, Grote Houtstraat 7
- Brussee Amsterdam, P.C. Hooftstraat 73
- Brussee Katwijk, Voorstraat 35
Browse the full Beosound collection, or request a quote without obligation.
