I have to agree with women on this - 99% of audiophile equipment looks awful. But i'm not surprised - just look in the pages of Stereophile and others to see the designers, then you can understand why they look so awful. On the whole, artists and furniture designers don't make audiophile products, but perhaps they should have more input. Why not want something that looks beautiful as well as sounds beautiful?
I disagree - and of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think that an amp that is solidly built with clean 'industrial design' IS beautiful. She may not.
At the risk of being hung by a band of wives.....
There are two places in the house that are the way that I want them, the workshop and the audio rack. For the rest of the place, I don't care, do as you want.... make everything look like a swan if you please. I am speaking for myself (and probably a couple others I think).
I honestly don't understand why it's such a large issue. It's got more to do with compromise IMHO.
First off, good luck.
My wive (an interior designer) prefers no amps to stylish amps. So hiding it as others have suggested is a good suggestion.
If that doesn't work the anything that makes it stand-out from the rest of the decor is probably a bad idea.
It should be impossibly small. Figure out the smallest possible volume it could be and then cut that volume in half. That is how small it should be.
The next criteria is it should NOT look like it came from outer space; so no large exposed heat sinks or landing feet.
Additionally, real (preferably exotic) wood is a good suggestion or perhaps making it "feel" stylistically like an apple product or jewelry depending on the wife of course
From my experience it also helps (somewhat) to involve the wife on the aesthetic design and arrangement of the final product. At least this way she can understand why certain restraints of physics require certain design choices.
My wive (an interior designer) prefers no amps to stylish amps. So hiding it as others have suggested is a good suggestion.
If that doesn't work the anything that makes it stand-out from the rest of the decor is probably a bad idea.
It should be impossibly small. Figure out the smallest possible volume it could be and then cut that volume in half. That is how small it should be.
The next criteria is it should NOT look like it came from outer space; so no large exposed heat sinks or landing feet.
Additionally, real (preferably exotic) wood is a good suggestion or perhaps making it "feel" stylistically like an apple product or jewelry depending on the wife of course
From my experience it also helps (somewhat) to involve the wife on the aesthetic design and arrangement of the final product. At least this way she can understand why certain restraints of physics require certain design choices.
Hmmm... I see this thread is up to the usual sexist standard of diyaudio.
I'm not sure I really count as a wife, because I've built hifi gear. But here's what I reckon anyway.
What I like:
That said, I recognise that in order to sound really good, stuff has to be of some size and weight. Our speakers are fairly big, for example. But we've only got two of them, because CDs are stereo.
I'm not sure I really count as a wife, because I've built hifi gear. But here's what I reckon anyway.
What I like:
- Stuff that blends in well. Equipment that matches the bit above it and below it in the stack. I made my amplifier look not dissimilar to our NAD DVD player, so that it wouldn't clash.
- Stuff that's finished (though I must confess I don't always finish stuff off).
- Stuff that's accurately and professionally made.
- Simplicity. I like having gear that's easy to use.
- Excess. A 1KW amp with heatsinks three feet long doesn't excite me. Doubly so if it's inefficient, still has crap distortion specs, and hums.
- Bits tacked on. A crappy amp is still a crappy amp if you stick a bit of wood on the front.
- Poor workmanship.
That said, I recognise that in order to sound really good, stuff has to be of some size and weight. Our speakers are fairly big, for example. But we've only got two of them, because CDs are stereo.
When they start to clone precious people alike you.
Please, let me know..... i think not only me, many folks here have the need of wife replacement. (awfull!... women as spare parts)
Ahahahha... very machist...macho conversation....ahahahah awfull... very old way of thinking.
Well....i am old..... and "half" kidding too.... exageration, of course.
Here she is, the picture...oh!...she is so sweet as a salt mountain!
I do love here, but for sure i am crazy...she is complaining about the sugar quantity into the cake i have made for her...lovely salted Spanish beauty.
regards,
Carlos
Please, let me know..... i think not only me, many folks here have the need of wife replacement. (awfull!... women as spare parts)
Ahahahha... very machist...macho conversation....ahahahah awfull... very old way of thinking.
Well....i am old..... and "half" kidding too.... exageration, of course.
Here she is, the picture...oh!...she is so sweet as a salt mountain!
I do love here, but for sure i am crazy...she is complaining about the sugar quantity into the cake i have made for her...lovely salted Spanish beauty.
regards,
Carlos
Attachments
Yes...go to may mail and i can arrange this for you
A custom amplifier... arranged in accordance your transformer and need.... a pleasure to me...i love Aussies.
panzertoo@yahoo.com
regards,
Carlos
A custom amplifier... arranged in accordance your transformer and need.... a pleasure to me...i love Aussies.
panzertoo@yahoo.com
regards,
Carlos
Don't feel bad, Nordic can't even afford to build a full 2 channel PI... and I'm surrounded by PCBs...
DX HRII is powerfull, just less than 50W into 8 ohms, but it sounds much bigger...
DX original can be built for a dollar or two less, but I think its bass is too uncontrolled for my likeing in the long run.. I bet it is perfect for some people... that is the nature of life.
DX HRII is powerfull, just less than 50W into 8 ohms, but it sounds much bigger...
DX original can be built for a dollar or two less, but I think its bass is too uncontrolled for my likeing in the long run.. I bet it is perfect for some people... that is the nature of life.
Suzyj,
I hope you didn't think I was sounding sexist. I apologize if I came off that way. I'm merely trying to point out that men and women have different perspectives in regard to the aethestic qualties they look for in a product. I don't think acknowledging that they exist is sexist.
To my wife the most of the amps are completely superfluous because I have either preamps for volume control or volume control through AirTunes. To her they are just black boxes with wires coming out of them. And so I try and accomadate her by hiding them or placing them inconspicuously.
I definitely agree with the simplicity aspect. Making the system as easy to use as possible is a good idea for all users. My main system has 2 audio/video sources. A PVR and a mediaPC. My Harmony 550 remote turns on and sets the TV and PreAmp to the appropriate source with 1 button press. All the music is on the mediaPC (most of it in Apple lossless) and itunes lets one stream it to different locations through a using a simple graphical interface. The mediaPC also serves as a high quality upscaling DVD player.
Roger
I hope you didn't think I was sounding sexist. I apologize if I came off that way. I'm merely trying to point out that men and women have different perspectives in regard to the aethestic qualties they look for in a product. I don't think acknowledging that they exist is sexist.
To my wife the most of the amps are completely superfluous because I have either preamps for volume control or volume control through AirTunes. To her they are just black boxes with wires coming out of them. And so I try and accomadate her by hiding them or placing them inconspicuously.
I definitely agree with the simplicity aspect. Making the system as easy to use as possible is a good idea for all users. My main system has 2 audio/video sources. A PVR and a mediaPC. My Harmony 550 remote turns on and sets the TV and PreAmp to the appropriate source with 1 button press. All the music is on the mediaPC (most of it in Apple lossless) and itunes lets one stream it to different locations through a using a simple graphical interface. The mediaPC also serves as a high quality upscaling DVD player.
Roger
I'm a little sensitive to these sort of threads, often being an exception to the rule.
In my household it's "husband acceptance factor". He doesn't cope well with change. If I make it so that he has to press different buttons to watch telly, as I did recently when I built a HTPC, then he gets all silly. I had to leave the old set-top box plugged in so he could still watch telly the old way.
In some ways, he's a bit like our fish. If I change stuff in their tank, they go hide behind the wood for a couple of days. He does much the same thing, though he whinges more.
In my household it's "husband acceptance factor". He doesn't cope well with change. If I make it so that he has to press different buttons to watch telly, as I did recently when I built a HTPC, then he gets all silly. I had to leave the old set-top box plugged in so he could still watch telly the old way.
In some ways, he's a bit like our fish. If I change stuff in their tank, they go hide behind the wood for a couple of days. He does much the same thing, though he whinges more.
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