Bang & Olufsen Makes a $55,000 Argument to Collect CDs Again. I’m Sold

A seminal piece of hi-fi gear from the late ’90s returns nearly two decades after its original release but not without a few thoughtful tweaks.

By Jack Seemer

Published April 24, 2024

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Updated April 24, 2024

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The Beosound 9000 is back. A seminal piece of audio equipment, Bang & Olufsen’s sleek free-standing CD player is the latest revival to join the company’s Recreated Classics Programme that saw the rerelease of the Beogram 4000 turntable in 2022.

The renamed Beosystem 9000c carries all the elegance of the original Beosound 9000 with its signature glass panel and six-disc display, but the new version also boasts updated functionality and performance for the modern audio enthusiast.

Bang & Olufsen Beosystem 9000c

Bang & Olufsen Beosystem 9000c

$55,000 at Bang & Olufsen

As was the case with the Beogram 4000c, the Beosystem 9000c isn’t actually a recreation with new parts — at least not entirerly. Bang & Olufsen hunted down as many original Beosound 9000s it could find and meticulously restored them at the company’s factory in Struer, Denmark.

Bang & Olufsen hunted down as many original Beosound 9000s it could find and meticulously restored them at the company’s factory in Struer, Denmark.

Incredibly, many of the same technicians that worked on the Beosound 9000 in the 1990s played a role here, as well. They painstakingly cleaned and repaired every component, including the CD transports, before testing and tuning the refurbished CD players to spec.

technician restoring a Bang & Olufsen CD player — Many of the same technicians that worked on the original Beosystem 9000 in the 1990s assisted in the restoration process.

When it comes to aesthetics, B&O inverted the colors of the original Beosound 9000 for more contrast, adding a “Cosmic Black” finish to the back plate and remachining the aluminum lamellas (which open like curtains when the machine turns on).

The Beosystem 9000c isn’t stuck in the ’90s, either. It connects to the B&O app over Bluetooth 5.0, allowing users to select not only which CD they’d like to play but the exact track, too.

Bang & Olufsen app — The Beosystem 9000c connects to the B&O app over Bluetooth, allowing listeners to select an exact track from any of the six CDs.

History of the Beosound 9000

One day, in 1995, the industrial designer David Lewis was strolling down a London street. He passed a record shop, where six CDs were proudly laid out in a row behind the glass window.

“It’s the only audio system that provides visual excitement without video.”

“What if there was a CD player that displayed your music, instead of stashing them away?” he thought. The next year, he helped launch the Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000, one of the most important pieces of hi-fi equipment in the last 20 years.

designer david lewis with an original beosystem 9000 — British designer David Lewis with an original Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000

At a time when virtually every CD player looked like a little black box, the Beosound 9000 certainly stood apart. At the time of its launch, it retailed for $4,000, and beyond the attractive glass panel, its calling card was the speed of the CD-changing mechanism that went from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.

“For the … cost of this system you could purchase a sonically more impressive, but physically boring system,” a Chicago Tribune article wrote in 1996. “It’s the only audio system that provides visual excitement without video.” The player was retired in 2016.

Availability and Pricing of the Beosystem 9000c

The Beosystem 9000c being a refurbished piece of audio equipment means that there are only so many to go around. B&O says only 200 examples will be sold globally, with limited availability in Europe, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

In case you were wondering, they’ll run you back more than the original $4,000 asking price. The Beosystem 9000c costs $55,000 but also comes with a pair of Beolab 28 speakers and six “carefully selected CDs.”