Bang & Olufsen BeoGram 4002 Record Deck

Manufactured: 1974 – 1980
Designer: Jacob Jensen
Colours: Rosewood, Teak, White, Oak

This deck served as the successor for the Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000. It was actually made in several versions, the first of which used the 4000’s AC motor and the latter ones which used a DC motor. It was simpler than the 4000, less expensive to make or purchase, yet still performed remarkably well.

This record player was innovative in its conception, execution, and technical design, well ahead of its time. Logic circuits that resembled computers controlled every operation. All you had to do was press the START button. These circuits were able to measure the record’s size, establish the record’s typical playing speed, and tell the pick-up arm to insert the stylus into the lead-in groove by means of the special detector arm, which was positioned parallel to the pickup arm. With this approach, the skate effect—an inward bias—was completely eradicated, and tracking angle error was essentially nonexistent.

The MMC 20EN (formerly MMC 4000) pickup cartridge’s naked elliptical diamond stylus made sure that Beogram 4002 extracted all of the information from your record grooves while treating them with the utmost care.

In the electro-mechanics category, Bang & Olufsen’s Beogram 4002 turntable took both the ‘Gold Sim 74’ and ‘Top Form 74’ awards.

When combined with other suitable Bang & Olufsen products, Beogram 4004/4002 can be used as a component of the Beosystem 4400 or the quadraphonic Bang & Olufsen Beosystem 6000.

Beogram 4004/4002 was an electronically controlled stereo record player with tangential arm. The unit utilised a belt drive system to control the record deck. Thanks to the incorporation of advanced electronics, several advantages were gained from this new concept in record-players: high specification, supreme automation of all functions and the most gentle treatment of records.

The tangential arm moved the pick-up in a straight line towards the centre of the record, reducing tracking error to a mere 0.04%. The record player was fitted with the MMC 4000 pick-up cartridge (later MMC 20EN) which had a frequency range of 20-25.000 Hz ±1.5 dB. It had an integrated, elliptical naked diamond stylus with a stylus pressure of 1g. Rotation of the turntable was governed by a synchronous motor which was power-driven via a stabilised oscillator which made it independent of mains voltage and frequency fluctuations. Wow and flutter was less than ± 0.05 % and rumble better than 65 dB. DIN B weighted.

A photocell in the record-player’s second arm registered the size of the record and the speed at which it should be played. Advanced electronics governed the actions of the pick-up arm: lifting, lowering, etc. However, the record-player could be operated manually by use of the large “easy-touch” control plate. Operation of the record deck was very easy as all functions were governed by computer logic circuits.

With its tangential detector arm that was parallel to the linear tracking tonearm, the unit could sense the size and speed of the record to be played and lowered the stylus into the lead-in groove. It had cueing controls to raise and lower the tonearm to where you wanted it on the record. If there was no record on the turntable and you pushed START, it would not lower the stylus on the turntable. Manual selectors to determine the speed of the record player were incorporated; however, the turntable was fully automatic so all you had to do was put on the record and press START.

Beogram 4004/4002 was fitted with a hinged dust lid which could be opened to any angle up to about 60 degrees or completely removed by easy sliding action.