Danish audio purveyor Bang & Olufsen pays homage to enduring design with the reintroduction of the meticulously reimagined Beosystem 9000c. This reconstituted music system pairs the fully restored Beosound 9000 CD player, originally released in 1996 at the zenith of the format’s popularity, with the company’s contemporary Beolab 28 loudspeakers.

Bang & Olufsen sourced 200 units of the vintage Beosound 9000 and returned them to its factory in Struer, Denmark—the same place where they were first assembled. Skilled technicians, including many who built the original players, disassembled and scrupulously refurbished each component, exalting every CD player to the company’s unwavering standards. This fastidious recreation echoes Bang & Olufsen’s ethos of elegant evolution, of producing timeless products that eschew planned obsolescence.

While paying homage to David Lewis’ iconic autovisual design, which proudly displayed CDs in an era when players concealed their workings, Bang & Olufsen’s designers subtly reimagined the Beosound 9000 for contemporary aesthetics. Inverting the original’s color scheme, they cloaked the back panel in cosmic black, contrasting beautifully with the natural aluminum controls. This graphic interplay spotlights the discs themselves as artistic elements—fulfilling Lewis’ intention of emphasizing the visual artistry of music.

Beyond admiring this fusion of form and function, Beosystem 9000c owners can enjoy the mechanical magic within. Swift servos whisk discs into place, clamping swiftly yet silently. The motorized glass lid glides up and down fluidly, with optical sensors ensuring uniform motion whether on shelf or wall. Such delights epitomize Bang & Olufsen’s passion for imbuing technology with wonder and vitality.

With the Beosystem 9000c, Bang & Olufsen celebrates the resurgent allure of physical media and the primal power of design in an ephemeral age. The reborn icon carries a price tag of $55,000.