Beoworld at the Struer Museum

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Date: Thursday July 9th 2009

Following a most successful trip, we had one last treat to enjoy. In the company of Frede Kristensen, to paraphrase a well known advertising slogan, probably the best guide in the world, we entered the splendid new Struer museum. There has been a small museum here for a while, celebrating local art and writers as well as the products of B&O and the local kayak builder. It has however been extensively enlarged and now has the most important public collection of B&O that is on show anywhere in the world.

I confess the Kayaks and art collection were quickly forgotten as we descended the stairs and entered the B&O pyramid, a two floor structure redolent in soft ambient light. The entrance via the museum takes you to the upper floor which houses the collection from the mid sixties to the present time. A BeoVision 7-40 and BeoLab 5s greet the traveller and one is then taken on a trip showing the cream of the products and some surprises. Unlike a British museum, the products are simply laid out with small information cards and are cleverly set up so that they activate in some cases when a visitor approaches them. Touching seems actively encouraged, and this allows one to fully examine the pieces.

Highlights of this floor include a Beolab 5000 system, though it has to be said that this is a relatively scruffy sample compared to the one residing in the Beoworld car parked outside, a Beocord 6000 reel to reel tape recorder – which turned out to be a stylists mock up but still very beautiful, as well as the usual highlights of the range including a Beosystem 8000, Beosystem 7700, 1900 and almost all of the range from the late 80s onward. I would say that care had been taken to present items with interesting finishes though many pieces were not completely unmarked. This however meant that one felt able to touch without guilt! I was pleased to see that highly patterned rosewood seemed to be the favourite finish. This extended even to the sides of the Beogram 5000, though not the other models in the stack.

The display area is surrounded by BeoVision 4 screens showing a variety of informative short presentations though for English visitors it should be noted that these were in Danish, albeit with an English accent in the case of David Lewis!

Security was nowhere to be seen – something that caused us a little concern as in the case of the Beogram 8000, a spare MMC20CL was found under the metal lid covering the arm!

A central staircase takes one down to the lower level which has rather more subdued lighting which is in keeping with the range of equipment on display. The first piece to be seen was the music system made for the Danish royal family, a wonderful example of cabinet making combined with electronics clearly derived from the professional Bofors range. A Mk1 Thorens TD124 was present in this piece, highlighting its position in the Hi-Fi world as the pre eminent turntable. Further on was the modular furniture seen in the late 50s and early sixties along with a beautiful dealer demo model in miniature.

Turning right led to an avenue of impressive radios, our passage proving to be a time tunnel taking us back in time. From small portable transistor radios, we passed through table top sets including the Beolit Jet 505K and Beolit 39 before finding ourselves surrounded by huge valve sets with inlaid wood and massive dials promising the allure of many foreign lands to the listener.

The prize of the ground floor must be the new Hyperbo 5 Steel which has been restored to as new condition. Ronny Mortensen had told us to look out for this model as he had researched it fully. This model is unique as it has the proper chromed brass controls rather than the replacement Bakelite knobs seen in all other known existing examples. The lid is also as originally specified and in common with all the products in this fantastic museum, there are no cases or ropes preventing easy access.

An interactive computer display showing many of the other products available to the museum completed the B&O section and we gazed longingly at the design study for the Beomaster 6000.

We meandered happily around both floors, finding ourselves completely alone for most of the trip. The gentle sound of music and soothing Danish voices were at times broken only by appreciative murmurs and excited discussion.

Sated eventually, we had a quick trip , probably too quick, around the other exhibits. For me the highlights were the wonderful Struer Kayaks, built to the highest quality.

We repaired to the coffee shop and enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea and some extremely alcoholic cake! A quick trip to the gift shop - lots of copies of the Jarman's book! - and a mention that we will be returning in force next year and we came to the end of a thoroughly splendid morning. A trip back to Blighty lay in front of us as we waved Good Bye to Struer and the inestimable Frede.

My BeoWorld



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