Can't believe no one has put this out yet.
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Most aesthetically pleasing amplifiers
- Thread starter conqueeftador
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Alan Boothroyd was an industrial design genius. I coveted a full stack of 500 series Meridian components when I first got interested in hifi in the early 90s but at that time it was a bit beyond my means. I loved the playful use of colour with each component having a different coloured power key on the right hand side.I've also always had a soft spot for the style of 1990s Meridian, such as the 551 integrated I owned for a while:
somebodyelse
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Another Boothroyd design featured up thread
D
Deleted member 47224
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Ok, I'm pleased (HiFi Rose RA180) :
Very steampunk!Ok, I'm pleased (HiFi Rose RA180) :
Looks like vaporware, as if it only exists in this CAD rendering.Ok, I'm pleased (HiFi Rose RA180) :
It also looks a little bit "Amstrad" (Form over function)
bloodshoteyed
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way to steampunk for my taste 
i'm starting to like the simpler things as of late
now, if it only wasn't for the blue led's (can i get the the calssic green, or at least orange/red, as in the small nixie tubes in first calc's and digital watches? i'd kill for a modern integrated with a display made of those...)
i'm starting to like the simpler things as of late
now, if it only wasn't for the blue led's (can i get the the calssic green, or at least orange/red, as in the small nixie tubes in first calc's and digital watches? i'd kill for a modern integrated with a display made of those...)
i'm starting to like the simpler things as of late
I like the Parasound look too but I prefer them in silver and the lower-profile look of the A23 or A23+
I remember back in the day the blue LED on Krell amps was about the coolest thing ever. At that point no one had ever even seen a blue LED so it's hard to describe how special it was at the time.
killdozzer
Major Contributor
This is not a dig, but it's so interesting to see how truly different we are. I can't look at Parasound. The way this indentation:way to steampunk for my taste
i'm starting to like the simpler things as of late
now, if it only wasn't for the blue led's (can i get the the calssic green, or at least orange/red, as in the small nixie tubes in first calc's and digital watches? i'd kill for a modern integrated with a display made of those...)
crosses over the line and doesn't perfectly match must be the most irritating detail in a long time. It immediately makes it look like bottom shelf chi-fi in my eyes.
D
Deleted member 47224
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Yeah, it probably won't look has good in hand, with so much details that could mess up the overall design. Still is a nice attempt to make something different and appealing in my opinion. And as a plus, the volume knob really does make the cogs turn !
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bloodshoteyed
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why would it be, neither was my comment
the whole idea behind this topic is difference in tastes, isn't it?
Yup. Having experienced many, many similar "most beautiful xxx" and "ugliest xxx" threads over the years, I find that the selections are often similar. De justibus........why would it be, neither was my comment
the whole idea behind this topic is difference in tastes, isn't it?
mhardy6647
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Whoa.Ok, I'm pleased (HiFi Rose RA180) :
Just -- whoa.
mhardy6647
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For what it's worth, I'd just like to underscore this insight.
It reminds me of my aesthetic beef re: many things Parasound. The brand is responsible for good quality and not inexpensive hifi componentry -- but much of it looks cheap. It's got that 1980s/early '90s "imitation precision" look of the rack stereo systems that became popular in those days, and/or the genre known on some forums as "BPC" (Black Plastic Cr@p). It's not cheap -- but it looks cheap!Also FWIW, the current Marantz aesthetic, with the wavy (or lumpy) front panels, pushes my cheap & tawdry aesthetic button, too.
That said, of course @Kal Rubinson hits the metaphorical nail on its metaphorical head. In matters of taste, there (can be) no dispute.
I mean, people buy used Pontiac Azteks, for cryin' out loud.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
The Sutherland N1 featured Nixie tubes, but it was a preamp, not an integrated amp.i'm starting to like the simpler things as of late
now, if it only wasn't for the blue led's (can i get the the calssic green, or at least orange/red, as in the small nixie tubes in first calc's and digital watches? i'd kill for a modern integrated with a display made of those...)
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mhardy6647
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Nixies, for that warm retro... umm... display aesthetic.
Don't get me wrong -- I like Nixies. Nixies are cool... but... why?!?
PS I am old enough to have used numerous bits of equipment that had Nixies because they were (still) the state of the art in digital readouts. One of the old LKB Instruments fraction collectors* we had and used in the lab into the 1980s fairly leaps to mind.
_____________
* which I used to have to repair on a fairly regular basis...
bloodshoteyed
Major Contributor
because we thankfully live in a time and place when/where we canNixies are cool... but... why?!?
i'm not THAT old, just old enough that my first digital wristwatch looked something like that (tho it was so badly burnt out, you could hardly read the numbers):
sure, those weren't nixies but red led's but i damn well fell in love once i found out about the "real thing"
Marc v E
Major Contributor
Am I one of the few that thinks the best looking amplifier is the one you don't see?
All that it does can be controlled by remote. It fits inside a speaker, so why make an extra device out of that?
As an aside I often wondered why not more home cinema and car stereo speakers can be made active? Leave all the digital processing to 1 device and you're done.
All that it does can be controlled by remote. It fits inside a speaker, so why make an extra device out of that?
As an aside I often wondered why not more home cinema and car stereo speakers can be made active? Leave all the digital processing to 1 device and you're done.
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