Bang & Olufsen Beocord 1100 (1973)
The Beocord 1100 is generally regarded as the cassette deck that proved Bang & Olufsen could take on the serious tape machinery of the early Seventies. Introduced in 1973, it was B&O's top-of-the-range deck, and many collectors consider it the first credible rival to the established ReVox and Philips machines of the period. Its headline engineering claim: the first B&O cassette transport to use two separate capstans, a dual-capstan design that was genuinely unusual in a consumer deck at the time. It also carried a third head for off-tape monitoring, letting you hear exactly what had been recorded rather than the incoming source — a feature borrowed from professional practice and rare in cassette decks of this vintage.
The deck used Dolby B noise reduction throughout and offered a four-track, two-channel stereo format at the standard 1⅞ ips tape speed. Published specifications are where the record gets murky, and the few figures that exist disagree with one another. Signal-to-noise ratio is quoted as both 55dB and 60dB depending on the source; frequency response appears variously as 40Hz–12.5kHz, 40Hz–15kHz, and 20Hz–14kHz. Wow and flutter is consistently given as 0.15% across the sources that list it at all. Rather than pick one set of numbers over another, it's more honest to say that the 1100 was a serious, high-fidelity performer for its day, and that its exact measured performance has not survived in a single authoritative document.
The critical reception was warm. Studio Sound (March 1968, p.25) covered the deck during its era of relevance, and later collector commentary on forums like stereo2go has called it "a magnificent piece of engineering." Aviating.com describes it as "a real B&O classic" and a top-of-the-range deck from the Danish company. Owner reports consistently praise the smoothness of the transport and the quality of playback.
What the 1100 is perhaps most famous for now is its mechanical complexity. The dual-capstan transport and its associated solenoid mechanism are beautiful when working and demanding when not. The rubber belts harden and deteriorate with age and are the most commonly needed replacement; the capstan idler wheel can also harden and require resurfacing. Original B&O spare parts are no longer manufactured, but aftermarket belts and idler wheels are available from specialist suppliers. Current market pricing reflects the model's collectible status: listings on hi-fi-classic.net range from roughly €89 to €450 depending on condition, and eBay sales have been noted between $100 and $300.
Production dates are slightly uncertain — sources give both 1972–1976 and 1973–1977 — though 1973 is consistently cited as the introduction year. The 1100 was followed by the Beocord 1700 and later models in B&O's cassette lineup. No original retail price, weight, dimensions, or manual content has survived in the accessible record.
Known specs
- Type: Stereo cassette deck with Dolby B
- Track system: 4-track, 2-channel stereo
- Tape speed: 1⅞ ips
- Transport: Dual capstan (B&O's first), third head for off-tape monitoring
- Wow and flutter: 0.15% (consistent across sources)
- S/N ratio: 55dB or 60dB (sources conflict)
- Frequency response: quoted variously as 40Hz–12.5kHz, 40Hz–15kHz, or 20Hz–14kHz (sources conflict)
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