BeoGram 7000

Main Features:

Fully automatic and remote controlled via Beolink 7000

Integrated MMC 2 pickup cartridge

Tangential tonearm with OPP (Optimum Pivot Point)

Pendulum suspended sub-chassis

Built-in RIAA amplifier

By the mid-1990s the CD had rapidly become a replacement for the black vinyl record with many new albums released only in the CD format. This is why Bang & Olufsen ceased production of its record decks, with Beogram 7000 being the last in a very long line of high quality turntables. However, even today the vinyl format is alive, as so many treasured record collections were originally based on the vinyl format in its heyday, with many more of the more esoteric albums still awaiting CD reissue. The requirements that have to be met by a record player have become threefold:

“The preservation of precious vinyl records in as perfect a condition as possible

The ability to pick up information from the grooves and reproduce them faithfully

The operation must be made as similar to the other sources in a system as possible.”

Beogram 7000 met and exceeded all these requirements. The MMC2 pick-up cartridge weighed only 1,6g – the lowest own weight of any pick-up cartridge – and had a very high compliance and low effective tip mass. The result was a very good tracking ability with little record wear and in combination with the contact line nude diamond the optimal contact with the groove walls was ensured – to pick up the full music information. The MMC principle – Moving Micro Cross – gave a high channel separation, especially in the bass range, a low distortion and very little channel difference, which are all elements that significantly contribute to the achieved sound quality.

The MMC cartridge was mounted in a tangential tonearm, which eliminated tracking errors. The unique Optimum Pivot Point and the pendulum suspended sub-chassis made the reproduction virtually immune to vibrations from the outside.

The tonearm’s axis for horizontal movement was positioned behind the vertical axis and thus behind the tonearm’s centre of gravity. If the pivot point for horizontal movements vibrated, the rear part of the arm with the counterweight also vibrated, whereas the stylus remained still, because it was in the centre of the vibrations. The MMC was completely integrated with the tonearm and the low weight of the cartridge meant that the tonearm resonance could be optimised to the ideal value of 10 – 15Hz.

The pendulum suspension efficiently insulated the inner chassis with tonearm and platter from the outer cabinet to prevent vibrations to affect playback. The suspension consisted of three pendulums and leafsprings and gave the inner chassis an inherent resonance of 5 – 6 Hz.

Operation of Beogram 7000 was via Beolink 7000. The turntable automatically determined record size and selected playback speed accordingly (33 or 45 rpm.). If no record was registered, playback did not begin. It was only possible to lower the pick-up cartridge if there was a record on the platter. When you operated Beogram 7000 from Beolink 7000 you could not by accident lower the stylus outside of the record surface. By preventing unauthorised operation of Beogram 7000, Bang & Olufsen gave priority to both the preservation of the pick-up cartridge and the vinyl records.

Beogram 7000 could ideally, be used as part of Beosystem 7000