Most aesthetically pleasing amplifiers

[phoenixdogfan]

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...)

The thing that alway grinds my gears about expensive Steampunk Audio gear is that SP is essentially an imagined aesthetic wherein destitute survivors of a post apocalyptic world cobble together bits and pieces of the detritus of our fallen civilization to create something useful from the junkyard to which they have been consigned. It's meant to illustrate how people create something out of nothing and make it look cool to boot.

Compare that aesthetic with something like this:

Which is a D'Agostino monoblock power amp costing $29,000.

Imagine actually forking out the $58,000 and buying buying a pair and putting them in their listening room to look like a Steampunk kinda guy, Hard for me to see how someone could culturally affect the Steampunk aesthetic that way, and look like anything but a clueless poseur.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well, yeah, but applying logic to any of this stuff is outta bounds.

 

[mhardy6647]

Ok, I'm pleased (HiFi Rose RA180) :

All righty then.
Besides the obvious ripoff of umm, I mean homage to Nagra (leavened with a little Stellavox, perhaps)...

Shades of the Argus C3 "Brick"!

 

[DMill]

Dan’s stuff sure is pretty.

 

[tomchris]

The design aesthetic and form factor of Dan D'Agostino's amplifiers and preamplifiers is so bad on so many levels. It is a waste of materials and potential.

 

[DMill]

The design aesthetic and form factor of Dan D'Agostino's amplifiers and preamplifiers is so bad on so many levels. It is a waste of materials and potential.

Definitely not understated. I’ll give you that. Honestly not sure I’ve ever seen one except in photos. Be curious to hear one.

 

[ripvw]

my roommate's brother owned this pair in the mid 1970's:

 

[tomchris]

Definitely not understated. I’ll give you that. Honestly not sure I’ve ever seen one except in photos. Be curious to hear one.

Unfortunately, Dan D'Agostino is not the only one building huge monoblocks using a mattress/slab form factor.

Take a look at Audio Physic Cerubin Loudspeakers with their amplifier. The amplifier has a larger footprint than both speakers combined!

Generally, amplifiers using this form factor are just so unwieldy and wasteful of space. A pity that large amplifiers are not designed using the "tower" form factor, just like Mark Levinson no.33 and no.53

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Unfortunately, Dan D'Agostino is not the only one building huge monoblocks using a mattress/slab form factor.

Take a look at Audio Physic Cerubin Loudspeakers with their amplifier. The amplifier has a larger footprint than both speakers combined!

Generally, amplifiers using this form factor are just so unwieldy and wasteful of space. A pity that large amplifiers are not designed using the "tower" form factor, just like Mark Levinson no.33 and no.53

And the speaker's look like they're modelled after cemetary headstones. For that matter, the entire room looks like the decor from some alt history rendition of what a Babylonian's swinging bachelor pad would look like if their civilization never fell and they went on to become the discoverers of what in our timeline is Western Science and Technology.

 

[Killingbeans]

Dan’s stuff sure is pretty.

If you live in a steampunk submarine

 

[Sokel]

"Perfection comes when there's nothing more to remove"

 

[Count Arthur]

If you live in a steampunk submarine

Sing along now.

"We all live in a steampunk submarine ... "

"

 

[mhardy6647]

Dan’s stuff sure is pretty.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

To me, it's hideous -- but, then again, for all I know your post was facetious.
Either way, I am in no position to judge your opinion; only to offer my own.

my roommate's brother owned this pair in the mid 1970's:

View attachment 209146View attachment 209147

I've never seen one of those before.

Unfortunately, Dan D'Agostino is not the only one building huge monoblocks using a mattress/slab form factor.

Take a look at Audio Physic Cerubin Loudspeakers with their amplifier. The amplifier has a larger footprint than both speakers combined!

Generally, amplifiers using this form factor are just so unwieldy and wasteful of space. A pity that large amplifiers are not designed using the "tower" form factor, just like Mark Levinson no.33 and no.53

I am guessing that amp won't fit a standard 19 inch rack mount

 

[phoenixdogfan]

The design aesthetic and form factor of Dan D'Agostino's amplifiers and preamplifiers is so bad on so many levels. It is a waste of materials and potential.

Do you suppose all those holes on the side are meant to be unbrella holders? Or maybe for chop sticks?

 

[mhardy6647]

Or maybe for chop sticks?

I mean -- if one were having an (East) Asian-style buffet, it could come in handy, I suppose...

 

[dualazmak]

Although a little bit out of the scope of this thread, let me share this post with you.

In my multi-amplifier project, I use four nice looking (I assume so) integrated amplifiers, ACCUPHASE E-460, YAMAHA A-S3000, SONY TA-A1ES and YAMAHA A-S301, plus L&R subwoofer YAMAHA YST-SW1000 which has dedicated amp in it.

As you well aware, E-460 has nice peak-power meters, and also A-S3000 has beautiful meters which can be switched into PP mode or VU mode. TA-A1ES and A-S301, however, do not have meters.

Consequently, I always have been considering the possibility of having "multiple VU-meter array" in my multichannel multi-amplifier system to monitor multichannel signals (actually 5-way 10-channel plus whole sum source, actually 12 VU-meters needed) by "same" large glass-face nice VU-meters of 2700K high-grade LED illumination.

If you would be interested, please visit my post here on my project thread for the details of my recently completed 12-VU-Meter Array.
- My nostalgia and preference for large glass-face VU meters: DIY of 12-VU-Meter Array in multichannel multi-driver multi-way multi-amplifier stereo audio system: #535 on the project thread.

 

[fabius]

It would be interesting to see if there are regional differences. Do US members prefer the big, beefy amps? (muscle car amps). A few UK posters seem to prefer the simple looking stuff, that seems like it could have been cobbled together in someone's garden shed (NAD, Aura).

It’s interesting - someone else up there said, while praising NAD stuff generally, that they look “cheap”. To me, the more minimal stuff looks like it’s had a lot of thought and effort put into it - it’s hard to make things simple. Whereas all those big amps with dials and loads of switches and knobs and sliders and big logos and fins and lots of shiny bits just look over the top, unrefined, like a nouveau-riche idea of “classy”. Yes I’m in the UK!

I really need to upgrade my unreliable old NAD 3020i that acts as my AV amp, much as I’d miss it. But every time I look for new, nice-looking, good, not too pricey amps I have to go and wash my eyes.

 

[cochlea]

The thing that alway grinds my gears about expensive Steampunk Audio gear is that SP is essentially an imagined aesthetic wherein destitute survivors of a post apocalyptic world cobble together bits and pieces of the detritus of our fallen civilization to create something useful from the junkyard to which they have been consigned. It's meant to illustrate how people create something out of nothing and make it look cool to boot.

Compare that aesthetic with something like this:

Which is a D'Agostino monoblock power amp costing $29,000.

Imagine actually forking out the $58,000 and buying buying a pair and putting them in their listening room to look like a Steampunk kinda guy, Hard for me to see how someone could culturally affect the Steampunk aesthetic that way, and look like anything but a clueless poseur.

Sorry. All I see is a 12 slice toaster.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Not sure if this has been posted, but it's a no-nonsense tube amp from the 70s.

 

[Doodski]

Not sure if this has been posted, but it's a no-nonsense tube amp from the 70s.

View attachment 211328

That looks like a Lambda or Simpson power supply. Lovely piece of gear.