Design icons in the hi-fi and audio sector

[sergeauckland]

I remember it at £79.95 with cartridge and as I set up, demmed and sold a good few, so feel i can speak first hand here. Cheap tat it certainly wasn't, even if the more expensive Dual 505 series had a more solid feel. I grant you it's not a solid Technics-style product The later tubular tonearm didn't seem as interesting, however and prices were rising by this time.

P.S. - By the mid 80s, bottom line CD players comfortably outperformed cheaper decks like this and even the 'deluxe-plinth Dual 505s, so interest was moving away - apologies for the digression...

I too sold a fair few NAD 5120s and lots of Dual 505-2s. However, NAD fairly quickly replaced the flat PCB arm with something more conventional, and the 5120 was less attractive to those who wanted something 'funky'.

As to design Icons though, Quad and Meridian were for me the leaders, although the Mission 776 and 777 pre and power amp was something else...

 

[Mart68]

I remember it at £79.95 with cartridge and as I set up, demmed and sold a good few, so feel i can speak first hand here. Cheap tat it certainly wasn't, even if the more expensive Dual 505 series had a more solid feel. I grant you it's not a solid Technics-style product

Happily I have hi-fi mags that go back that far

Feb 1990 list price is £89.99 but some dealers have it as 'P.O.A' and Hi-Fi Markets show it as £89.96

Maybe I am misremembering £129.99 but that would be back in '88 when it first came out so I don't know. Probably I'm mistaken.

By comparison to those prices a Technics SL1200 at the time was £280. Three times the price but 40 years on you'd still be using the Techy when the NAD was either in landfill or languishing with the multitudes of them for sale on ebay. And the SL1200 is an undisputed design icon as well.

 

[Moti]

Finnish Gradient 1.4 loudspeaker

Outstanding Gradient 1.4 loudspeaker from Finland

gradient.fi

 

[Hiten]

Barney Oliver Amplifier

 

[DSJR]

Happily I have hi-fi mags that go back that far

Feb 1990 list price is £89.99 but some dealers have it as 'P.O.A' and Hi-Fi Markets show it as £89.96

Maybe I am misremembering £129.99 but that would be back in '88 when it first came out so I don't know. Probably I'm mistaken.

By comparison to those prices a Technics SL1200 at the time was £280. Three times the price but 40 years on you'd still be using the Techy when the NAD was either in landfill or languishing with the multitudes of them for sale on ebay. And the SL1200 is an undisputed design icon as well.

I can only find the 5120 in one 'Choice book in the later 80s and it got a Best Buy, this with tubular arm and Om10 factory fitted... Duals were around £120 I remember with a bit more for the posher plinth options, these with a Dual version of what looked to be an OM10 tracking at 1.5g.

The issue dealers like us had with many far eastern audio concerns, is that we were compelled to stock it all. Sony, Toshiba, I think Yamaha later on and definitely technics before they all but pulled out, had some great items in an otherwise mediocre range of products which changed every year. We stocked Panasonic TVs and videos for a while, as a cheaper option to B&O and we had some selected Yamaha and Sony too, but had to give them up as pressure mounted to become a brown-goods dealership, rather than a so-called 'specialist' dealer selling to UK audio peeps. Apologies for the digression here, but things appear to have been a bit more 'fluid' in the US and EYU markets maybe? There's also high end far eastern gear that was sold in Germany but almost never came to these shores...


@sergeauckland yep, that Mission pair was seemingly very good internally (Stan Curtis design I believe), but that fancy cast casework cost an absolute fortune I was told and Mission never made much if anything out of them.

 

[DanielT]

Rauna concrete speakers:

A decent DIY challenge to repair, replace woffer/drivers in them if the vintage old speakers should fail. But if you are willing to work with concrete then of course it will work, ...probably....maybe:

Chaconne, swedish Speaker, I will buy tomorrow for 200€.

and whaoo, are they heavy !!!

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[BeeKay]

Lindemann amp4.99

 

[DSJR]

I think this is also iconic to UK audio people. The brand, revered and reviled in equal measure now, that in the mid 70s looked so different with a story to sell, and all but brought about the dark ages in UK audiophilia, its characterful way of doing things both ergonomically and technically. So much seriously decent gear was denied our market due to the then growing mindset amongst the youthful exponents of this thinking - Thing is, the snappy-toned Naim 160 power amp was really good for dynamically lazy BBC-inspired speakers such as the Spendor BC1s I then owned, but out of its depth into the larger models we had, sales of which were declining anyway in favour of smaller enclosures.

KEF 104ab speakers, not really iconic as such, loved being driven by the real long-lasting UK amplifier icon below, which has been re-imagined rather successfully for today (still not sure they got the preamp quite right however), I love the originals now and deeply respect the designs as being the best they could do at the time (mid 60s). Since the music now takes precedence, I've developed a huge respect for the Quad 33/303, which still does the business if the speaker loads aren't too demanding -

 

[Power Pop 23]

No brand logo needed for this speaker grille:

 

[DSJR]

View attachment 512889

Finnish Gradient 1.4 loudspeaker

Outstanding Gradient 1.4 loudspeaker from Finland

gradient.fi

Mixed feelings about this - a good pal of mine sent me links earlier as part of another email discussion on modern day speaker tech. I think it's rather better here than B&O's latter day pencil types, which seem overdressed and tarty now compared to their 90s ancestors...

Gradient also do supremely elegant slim tower types (at least one with a 'racetrack/KEF B139-style bass unit behind set near the floor as per Allison's ideas I think) and these look superb to me and not silly money either for a three way (coax main driver?) - I'd say these are Scandinavian-iconic

Gradient 6.2

Gradient 6.2 floor- standing loudspeaker

gradient.fi

 

[Mart68]

 

[EERecordist]

Marantz is now part of Samsung Harman International.

They are differentiating their brand based on industrial design, including packaging.

Their Instagram is where they have their professionally photographed products and their new industrial designer is Begüm Tomruk who I follow on Instagram.

You can just click past the Meta login to at least see the first page without logging in.

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

www.instagram.com

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

www.instagram.com

Marantz Horizon: The Industrial Design Story With Begüm Tomruk

Marantz Industrial Design Director Begüm Tomruk takes us behind the scenes of the design process for the Marantz Horizon and Marantz Grand Horizon.

www.marantz.com

An Interview With Marantz Creative Director Begüm Tomruk

Marantz is behind some of the most iconic audio gear ever. But what's next for Marantz design? We spoke with Creative Director Begüm Tomruk.

design-milk.com

I think it has been mentioned, Teenage Engineering has a unique style and limited product runs that become instant collector items. They are not cheap.

products

teenage engineering creates high quality, well designed, electronic products for all people who love sound and music.

teenage.engineering

Three Questions With Teenage Engineering Founder Jesper Kouthoofd

Founder, CEO, and Head of Design at Teenage Engineering, Jesper Kouthoofd answers Three Questions.

www.synthhistory.com

There is some design innovation in the modular synth space, and Teenage Engineering had their project in 2019.

Teenage Engineering releases a "poor man's" modular synthesiser system

Stockholm-based studio Teenage Engineering has created a portable modular system that aims to offer a cheaper alternative to a regular analogue synth.

www.dezeen.com

 

[ivayvr]

NAD D3020 definitely deserves a mention:

I don't any longer have a photo of my own.

 

[DanielT]

NAD D3020 definitely deserves a mention:

View attachment 512918

I don't any longer have a photo of my own.

If we're going to talk about an icon, remove the D and we get the world's best-selling amplifier of all time:

I don't think the NAD 3020 had a beautiful appearance, but on the other hand, tastes can differ.

 

[GroeneLeeuw]

NAD is ugly as it can be. Russian tanks have more visual appeal.
Only the Master series escape the blindness and lack of taste of the people designing

 

[ivayvr]

I enjoyed the original 3020 as much as D3020 (or the other way around).
Both were exceptional and great value!

 

[ivayvr]

NAD is ugly as it can be. Russian tanks have more visual appeal.
Only the Master series escape the blindness and lack of taste of the people designing

If you are in pursuit of real ugly, Chord is the place to start!

 

[JeffS7444]

I don't know about the 3020, but there's a Braun -> NAD connection: Reinhold Weiss. I see Braun-esque elements in some NAD products starting in the 1980s, with muted green power buttons, and the way the controls are sculpted. Come to think of it, I think the buyer for my NAD 7220PE receiver was an art gallery.

 

[Matt_Holland]

Who then went on to:

Meridian DSP8000.
The back curve of which was inspired by the shape of the WWII fighter, Spitfire.

 

[tineared]