Bang & Olufsen – B&O – Beolit 400 Portable Radio

DESCRIPTION

Manufactured: 1970 – 1973
Designer: Jacob Jensen
Colours: Red

A new range of transportable radios – the Beolit – was launched in 1970. The sound reproduction was unusually good – so good that many of the Beolits are still in use. In principle, the units were battery-powered, but the 600 version could also be connected to the mains. An amusing detail was the indication, of the selected station. This was shown by a small metal ball which moved behind a glass cover in parallel with a magnet on the exterior control slide and was thus encased and protected. Despite its sophisticated exterior, the Beolit was extremely robust.

Beolit 400 was a basic FM-only portable radio, in much the same way as its replacement, Beolit 505. The case was partly aluminium, partly coloured plastic, which formed the front and rear panels. Bright colours such as red, yellow, green and purple were offered, along with black. As the panels were only clipped on and did not form part of the chassis, they could be replaced with different coloured ones at a later date.

The design allowed the set to be used vertically or horizontally, supported by its handle. Even though there was only one loudspeaker, there were grilles on both sides of the radio, so that sound was distributed evenly from both directions. The sliding dial on the top of the radio was similar to that offered on Beomaster 901. A transparent plastic pointer, like that of a slide rule, was slid across the top in order to adjust the tuning, little wheels fitted to the side could be used for accurate setting. Little markers could be set, whose projecting tops slightly blocked the pointer on its way past, providing a reference to frequently-used stations.