Beolit 600 Portable Radio 1964

Manufactured: 1964 – 1970
Designer:
Colours:

“FM, Long Wave, Medium wave and Marine band. Push-button band switching. Built-in AM aerial. Telescopic whip for FM. Flywheel tuning. Separate bass and treble controls. Jacks for external aerial, extension speaker and gramophone. Rugged weather-resistant cabinet of impact-proof polystyrene in four elegant two-colour combinations. Car mounting bracket available. Dimensions: 223 mm high, 320 mm wide, 109 mm deep. ” – taken from the 1967 – 1968 Bang & Olufsen product catalogue (Read more on the BeoWorld Connoisseurs’ Club)

Beolit 600 was a very popular transistorised radio set of the mid-1960s. Unusually for the time, it featured an FM band, made possible by special transistors which had recently become available. These, like the others in the set, were sourced from Siemens, but were similar to those being made by Philips/Mullard. The output level was high for a transistor set, so a lot of power was needed. This came from six “D” size batteries mounted in an internal box. Access was through the bottom of the set, and would have been frequent if high volume settings were regularly used! There was no option of mains power for this model, the Beopower 600 mains adaptor was only suitable for sets made after 1970, which were of a completely different design.

The set was solid and sturdy, the plastic panels on the outside being purely cosmetic. Inside, there was a metal framework holding all the internal parts including the loudspeaker. Damping materials were fitted in places where it was thought resonance may occur. The styling was much admired, particularly by Murphy Radio, who copied it accurately in one of their models.

Beolit 600 included features such as proper treble and bass controls, a dual function battery and tuning meter (this changed function automatically when a broadcast was received), headphone and tape recorder sockets and coverage of the marine band (on the lower frequency short waves).

In 1970 Beolit 600 was replaced by the new Beolit 600 ‘colour radio’ range.