Beolit 800

Bang and Olufsen manufactured the Beolit 800 transistor radio from mid to late 1960s as a high-end model. It was effectively the Beolit 700 in a hard wood case to be replaced by the smaller Beolit 400 /600 range designed by Jacob Jensen in 1970, minus the shortwave SW band.

Beolit 800

For this period, prior to introduction of the Beolit 1000 in 1968, I think of the 800 as the best Beolit offering good quality sound from an all germanium transistor design. There are separate bass and treble controls to adjust the tonal range from the large elliptical speaker, a feature of the Beolit transistor radio. Arguably only the British Hacker Sovereign and later Norweigen Tandberg TP41 and German Grundig Concert Boy could compete on sound quality.

Bang and Olufsen’s range of transistor radios were always expensive so the design had to offer value for money. They did this with innovative design features following typically Danish styling using trendy hardwood veneers. A Danish Furniture Marker’s Control label confirmed the quality.

Complex mechanics were used to switch twin dial cords driving the AM and FM bands. This detail enabled fast switching between an FM and AM station as the tuning was separate for each. Although there was no push-button memory for individual stations, a set of black slide indicators could be used to quickly pin-point favourites.

Wavebands included a 49m / 6 MHz shortwave band pulling in long distance signals from a long telescopic antenna with a duplicate for FM transmissions in various polarisations. The RF stages are reasonably sensitive with high gain from the germanium bipolar transistor design. An automatic frequency control (AFC) button was included to keep the VHF FM stations from drifting off tune.  Later Beolits switched to silicon and FETs to improve sensitivity and stability.

Design detail with fine slots cut in the hardwood veneered cabinet together with extending feet controlled by the handle allowed the radio to function horizontally or vertically and keep the rich sound freely flowing from the front mounted speaker. A simple meter dial shows signal strength to aid tuning and battery voltage.

Beolit 800 base showing retractable feet

Sound was reasonably loud for a battery only design which used expensive audio transformer coupling echoing the valve amplifier designs popular in the fifties. The only drawback to all this luxury is the radio’s weight – for a portable radio it is too heavy to carry far.

Restoration

After fifty five years you expect a few faults and this radio had several. Electronically the radio was fine with good sound on FM and MW bands. Tuning through the FM bands worked well, the dial cord and drive both intact – the dial cord is often broken. AM bands were not so great. The pointer only moved a little then stoped both ways.

Inside I could see the AM dial cord had been replaced with a solid fishing line type rather than the platted cord Bang and Olufsen used originally, so maybe this was causing the cord to slip. A closer look at the clutch mechanism on the tuning spindle showed the problem — the changeover sprocket was not fully engaging when switching to AM bands as shown in the photo.

Beolit 800 Tuning Clutch Stuck

Beolit 800 Tuning Clutch Grub Screws

There are three grub screws that hold the clutch in place and I could see the bottom one nearest the flywheel was loose (not visible in the photo). Pulling on the tuning control lifted it above the dial indicating the lower bearing was loose. I tried moving the lower bearing towards the dial and tightened. Changing between FM and AM bands still failed to engage the clutch fully.

The service sheet included inside the radio shows the mechanism and comparing this with the photo I noticed the central section was not aligned. By pushing on the middle pulley to engage FM the centre grub screw becomes visible. This pulley was loose and by carefully sliding it into position and tightening the grub screw the switch over from AM to FM worked properly again. So over the years the grub screws had worked loose and simply needed realignment and tightening to repair clutch and restore tuning on the AM wavebands.

I’ve scanned the service sheet in case your is missing in your faulty Beolit 800.

Beolit 800 Service Sheet (pdf) Beolit-800

Cabinet and control dial

The rosewood and teak cabinet had several ingrained dark areas that I cleaned with a mild detergent and damp cloth. A light wax polish was then applied to restore some colour and improve surface scratches.  The perspex dial was in fairly good condition with few surface scratches but no visible cracks that are often present. Time has not been so kind to the row of white plastic push buttons that had all developed a cream patina apart from the on / off switch that was a shade whiter and may have been replaced. A soak in detergent and mild bleach failed to restore the push button’s colour. I prefer the solid metal push buttons used on the ironically cheaper Beolit 700 that do not suffer from the discolouration.

The telescopic aerials are not brightly chromed as on more modern radios, they appear to be nickel plated and one a rather dull finish that may improve with a gentle metal polish.

Beolit 800 top view

Rear view showing battery compartment with car aerial, loudspeaker and DIN audio sockets

Beolit 800 view of base

Beolit 800 side view with Danish Control label