What's the ugliest equipment you ever saw?

tom3 said:
My brother has one of these, I thought it was pretty ugly when I first saw it years ago. Saw one on eBay recently and thought about this topic here. What say you?


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I didn`t/don`t think so myself..
I think in the late fifties Mac was mostly concerned about performance/flexibility/control of the various source`s with their preamp offering, and that equipment was often concealed in it`s home installation.
They did, as we`ve seen, start making/offering much better looking gear a few years later ..

My first tube stereo, separates, first Mac anything, was when I purchased used, post a Mac amplifier clinic, in the fall of 1974, the C8/C8S preamps, and 2 MC 30,s for little money, so needless to say, I`m probably biased a lttle bit..

Carry on folks, OKB
 
Man, looks like some of those Samsung units could fire missiles and laser guided bombs.Some real shit these designers are throwing out there.I wouldn't bring that thing in the house.
Give me the vintage stuff,so more pleasent to look at.
 
the_nines said:
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Hmm, would look right at place in Captian Nemo's room on the Nautilus(Disney)
 
thoraudio said:
Samsung's 'giga' systems are traaaaasssshhhhh.
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~


How exactly do they hit those rated numbers? I get a little suspicious seeing any number bigger than ~1800 next to "watts", as that implies you're blowing breakers on a regular basis in a typical American building.

Being extremely optimistic, those 1600-2000-4000 watt numbers are attained, but as transient peak outputs, made after giving it 30 minutes to pre-charge some capacitors and another 30 minutes to re-charge before trying again. But that seems like exactly the sort of thing they introduced regulations about in the 1970s.

I assume it's either

1) The old FTC regulations are no longer enforced. I doubt it, as it seems like there wouldn't be a concerted effort to revoke such a regulation. (And besides, if the rules were gone, you'd expect every brand to slowly creep up their product ratings for marketing edge)

2) They categorize them as something other than a stereo reciever for legal purposes. Maybe a disco ball that intermittently emits sound?
 
OutlawSun said:
Honestly the Sansui G-2000 and a lot of that series is ugly to me. The knobs, the grooved square buttons, and the color choices just don't do much for me. I tend to think a lot of the styling they did with their separates should have been used on the receivers. I wonder why there was such a distinction between those lines. Pioneer, Marantz, and Kenwood on the other hand seemed to share a lot of design cues between their separates and receivers.

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One thing about this brand is that every new series that they designed and released looks totally different from the one before it. Can't say much for the other brands.

I agree that the lower G series don't look that flash but every brands low end models are in the same league. If you get a chance to see models G8000 through to the G30000, they are a work of art. I find the Pioneer SX series the same to what you think about the G series.
pioneer-sx-4501.jpg
 
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Tedrick said:
Never cared much for these:

And these are just hideous:
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They look as if The Blob was attempting to get into hi-fi. Or will they trick you into getting comfortable on your listening furniture before devouring you while in your sweet spot? I'd actually be wary of turning off the lights with those anywhere in my house. Who'd risk going to the bathroom in the middle of the night knowing they may not make it back to bed? Midnight snack? They'd beat you to raiding the fridge... All jokes aside, I get the feeling that the dispersal pattern would envelop the listener in a truly astounding field of sound, especially if they were toed in at the "right" angle. They may be ugly as all get out, but probably sound above average at the least.
 
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When i was in mexico city 5 years ago, those Samsung stereo systems were all the rage. Every Walmart sold them there in different styles. I have to admit i did like the LED's in the speakers. The quality was crap but even in a Mexican Walmart those systems were $500-$1000. Crazy
thoraudio said:
Samsung's 'giga' systems are traaaaasssshhhhh.

MX-JS5000-ZA_a0.jpg

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MX-HS7000_Wattage_1_MX-HS7000_ZA
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KDAC said:
They look as if The Blob was attempting to get into hi-fi. Or will they trick you into getting comfortable on your listening furniture before devouring you while in your sweet spot? I'd actually be wary of turning off the lights with those anywhere in my house. Who'd risk going to the bathroom in the middle of the night knowing they may not make it back to bed? Midnight snack? They'd beat you to raiding the fridge... All jokes aside, I get the feeling that the dispersal pattern would develop the listener in a truly astounding field of sound, especially if they were toed in at the "right" angle. They may be ugly as all get out, but probably sound above average at the least.
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Giant mutant frogs
 
Te-Te: Lovely - both that Akai Midi System 5 and that Sansui Z-9000. Personaly I really like quite a few of those "techy" early to mid (sometimes up to late) 80s designs.

rmunson: *lol* Looks like the head of a battlemech or transformer - just the right thing to play "Mr. Roboto", I guess... ;)

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
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