Custom finishes. Very important to the "all about the music" crowd. Maybe a hearty, masculine Pendleton plaid, or camo or something in paisley. Certainly more chrome would improve the sound. Big brass handles might be nice. Leather with studs? A Harley logo? Do you offer an autographed model? Perhaps limited edition?
Isn't this whole thing getting pretty silly? All you need from your amplifier is amplification. Get your ego assistance and self validation from your automotive self-expression in the fine American tradition and just let the amps sit there and invisibly provide music. You don't buy wine for the bottle, do you? |
Macrojack, looks are not that important for me with audio equipment either but it is important for many.
So what's wrong with that? If a good looking piece floats someone's boat, more power to them!
Equipment appeal is mostly a psychological thing anyway. You do have to look at it as well as listen to it after all.
As usual, its different strokes for different folks. |
Hmm...So a guy who's into cars shouldn't care about how his car looks as long as it goes fast? So lets stick a Porche twin turbo engine into a Pinto and call it a Porche. Not many will buy it, right? A component's aesthetic design is an art, and I can appreciate fine art. Performance comes first, but appearance is important to me too. |
Macrojack, FWIW we have long had a tradition of keeping the cosmetic cost down in our gear. I imagine there are plenty out there who will say that it shows too :) but I've never been a fan of the idea that the cosmetics alone are going to double the price of the unit, something that IMO is too common in high end audio.
What we did was to create something that has a lot of vintage cues- sort of like a collectible vintage piece that you previously did not know had existed. To do that we get the indicators, meters, placards and the like from sources who were making those parts the same way 50-70 years ago. This way the price of the products more accurately reflects what is inside; a lot of hand-wiring with custom wire and a lot of custom components.
Although my taste tends towards cool vintage gadgets, that's not true of everyone. Custom finishes can help with a lot of that and does not add a lot to the price, although it can add a bit to the lead time... |
Atmosphere - Point taken. I think your signature appearance is just what it needs to be. I like the retro look too.
After all, tubes are inherently vintage. When you make solid state amps (I'm betting that never happens) you can go modern with them and produce macho trophy amps.
For now, you should continue with your hard earned reputation and well known cosmetics.
People who want a Mercedes that looks like a Cadillac should just buy a Cadillac. |
I'm sure Ralph wouldn't mind adding some bling bling to his amps, like one of those auto-rotating rims you see on those pimped out Cadillac Escalades :) |
Hi Ralph,
Seriously, I would like to see custom automotive paint for the black part of the chassis on the MA-1s and chromed finish for the polished metal part of the amp. How much would this add Ralph? |
Dracule1, off the top of my head I imagine it would be about $1250 (including the set up for the paint), based on the work that the paint guys did with the tank on my Laverda :) |
Thanks. When I audition the Sasons with the MA-1s at RSA next month, I will make a decision on the amps. |
Emaillists, to answer your question regarding the Lansche - that was my favorite room at the RMAF '08. The round was mesmerizing. It's hard to tell what components were working the charm - the amp/rep was WAVAC, which was likely contributing. Anyways, I was with two friends, and both were equally impressed.
The Podium speakers that the original poster metions were also in my top few speakers. The sound was so surprising from these planars - effortless, full and so engaging.
There were so many bad systems I heard at RMAF (including many systems costing several hundred $$k, but the above two systems were stellar. Just one other metion would be the Verity Lohengrin/Artemis Labs/Schroeder analog system - also fantastic, but only on vinyl. Once they moved to Nagra digital, things became quite ordinary. |
Emaillists, to answer your question regarding the Lansche - that was my favorite room at the RMAF '08. The round was mesmerizing. It's hard to tell what components were working the charm - the amp/rep was WAVAC, which was likely contributing. Anyways, I was with two friends, and both were equally impressed.
The Podium speakers that the original poster mentions were also in my top few speakers. The sound was so surprising from these planars - effortless, full and so engaging.
There were so many bad systems I heard at RMAF (including many systems costing several hundred $$k, but the above two systems were stellar. Just one other mention would be the Verity Lohengrin/Artemis Labs/Schroeder analog system - also fantastic, but only on vinyl. Once they moved to Nagra digital, things became quite ordinary. |
My favorite speakers at the RMAF were the Wilson benesch Curves in our room. The odds are they would not have sounded nearly as good without the excellent and modestly priced electronics we used. The new deHavilland prototypes 50A, a remake of the original 1954 Fischer model 50A's.
Comments welcome here but I would prefer them from those who attended the show and spent more then 30 seconds in our room. It is so easy to overlook a simple and understated system and move towards those big brand or big speaker rooms. We are all guilty of that.
Jim Riddell
Sounds Real Audio |
I heard Curve's and they wasn't half bad;) You had very expensive player which added to the experince.
I liked Indra and little white speakers in Kubala-Sosna room. |
I liked the big Vienna Acoustics with Boulder electronics. Whoever earlier said about the total experience is right. They had a prototype CD player by someone who used to work for Meittner. On Sunday as they were winding down, the guy removed his player from the system and half the magic was gone.
I also liked the Wilson Sofias, the Charios and the little black cubes from Norway (I forget the name now) that work by reflecting low frequencies from the floor. I was unimpressed by the Marten Coltrane Supremes that cost at 299,000 as much as a pretty good house. |
Pefstratiou said:
"I liked the big Vienna Acoustics with Boulder electronics. "
Which room was that my friend? Soundings had the new Die Muzik reference speakers by Vienna Acoustics. They were driven by Rowland electronics and a Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player. Perhaps you got Boulder and Rowland confused. (Boulder makes Rowland seem like the bargain of the century, IMHO).
Dave |
Dave, I stand corrected. What did you think about the sound of the Klimt series anyway? |
I've only heard De Muzik from the Klimt series, but I have high hopes for the whole series, mainly because the midrange is so astounding. Apparently the midrange driver covers around 100hz to 18kHz with no crossover. I immediately heard the smoothness of the mids, as soon as De Muzik was taken out of its boxes, a week or two prior to RMAF.
De Muzik has tons of bass energy and the bass drivers need a good bit of break in before they can be properly set up. At RMAF they were just getting into their own. (They'ver since improved further). With improper setup they'll have too much bass energy. Someone with a smaller room will probably want to look further down the Klimt line. I'm anxious to hear the next step or two down, but I'm a very likely buyer of De Muzik.
Soundings plans to carry most of the Klimt series, so I'll give reports as they come in.
Dave |
