BeoCord 8000

With Beocord 5000 on the market, consumers at that time thought that cassette technology - or cassette deck styling - couldn’t get any better. But then along came Beocord 8000 and if ever a baby had style, this was it!  Never mind the ‘X-factor,’ the ‘Drool factor’ was very much in evidence with this fine example from the stables of Jacob Jensen, Denmark’s very own styling guru and of whom that country should be enthusiastically proud.

Almost every aspect of this machine was new, the computer-controlled technology, the front-sloping design, the large LED display. And only the best-possible components were selected for its production.

The first thing that struck you was the fact that no longer were meaningless digits used in calibrating tape length (every manufacturer used a different system and even with B&O up to the time of Beocord 8000 the company used a three-digit system which varied widely for almost every type of cassette deck that you used).  Instead, minutes and seconds of playback were displayed. It was all quite complicated, involving the computer time to calibrate the thickness (and therefore the length) of the tape, but the whole system worked wonderfully well, despite it being audibly a little ‘clunky in use.

The same advanced microprocessor that was used for tape calibration was also used for the two onboard timers.  Dolby ‘B’ NR circuitry was fitted to Beocord 8000 as well as Datalink, to link Beolab 8000 System and 6000 components together. The first version of MCL for around-the-house music was available with Beocord 8000 through the rest of the Beosystem 8000.

BeoCord 8000 technical specifications

Types: 
4824 (1980 - July 1982) 
127V 4823 (1980 - April 1980) 
AUS 4826 (1980 - Nov 1980) 
GB 4825 (1980 - Aug 1981) 
J 4827 (1980 - June 1981) 
USA 4822 (1980 - Aug 1981) 

Compact cassette: C46-C60-C90-C120 
Tape head: Sendust 
Noise reduction: Dolby NR 
Tape switch: Auto. ferro/chrome, man. metal 

Wow and flutter DIN: <+/- 0.1% 
Speed deviation: <+/-1% 
Fast forward and rewind: C60 70 sec. 

Frequency range chrome/metal/ferro 
30 - 16,000 Hz +/- 3 dB (with MPX filter) 

Signal-to-noise ratio metal Dolby: >68 dB 
Signal-to-noise ratio chrome: Dolby >65 dB 
Signal-to-noise ratio ferro: Dolby >63 dB 

Power consumption: Max. 45 W 
Dimensions W x H x D: 53 x 13 x 30cm 
Weight: 7.5 kg 

Connections: microphone input: 0.1 mV/2.2 kohms 
AUX input: 120mV/1.2 kohms 
Headphones: max. 9 V/56 ohms