most beautiful electronics of all time

[sKiZo]

no wonder I couldn't find one...LOL
It sure is Purdy.

Build yer own! Nothing all that complicated on the wood, and the metal work is by Front Panel Express. I did a build thread here going thru the mods. Got some outstanding help from the board.

https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/custom-latino-st-120-build.524347/

PS ... one of the scarier parts was bending the panel to offset the controls. That's easier now as FPE added an option to thin the back of the metal so you can pretty much bend it by hand.

 

[sKiZo]

Woo audio's offering for people who wish to spend 20k for no reason at all looks cool

Is "edge cleaner" listed as an option? Kinda sorta resembles my robot vacuum, eh ... ;-}

 

[Lavane]

Is "edge cleaner" listed as an option? Kinda sorta resembles my robot vacuum, eh ... ;-}

I dunno, with that shape it could be delivering a cold six pack of beer.

 

[sKiZo]

Maybe both ... deliver the beer AND suck the foam off the top?

 

[DaaDaa]

Atma-sphere

 

[Jay hartman]

HK Citation receiver. One of a kind, great MCM look...a friend reminded me about this one this evening

View attachment 1865682

Is that a 4275 sitting below it?

 

[Jay hartman]

Nice... this stuff really appeals to me... understated, wood clad, just my kind of thing. I even like the look of that super-heavy cast metal rack that it's on and the way that it's photographed in that big empty room of what appears to be some kind of old warehouse space (though one with very nice hardwood floors).

If I were in the business of high end audio, I'd be doing something like this... putting some real energy into the aesthetics and producing gear that's more understated looking, that doesn't call attention to itself and would look great paired with a fine mid century modern decor. I feel like there are a lot of high end components that while they probably sound great seem to be designed by folks who are far more about engineering than into aesthetics/interior design... and that's a real missed opportunity.

How right you are.

 

[Jay hartman]

Motorola SK32W.
Tubes, wood, timeless design.
View attachment 1866916 View attachment 1866917

Timeless beautiful style for sure.

 

[Tedrick]

I always liked the looks of these:

And of course, the modern version looks pretty sexy, too:

 

[OMGCat!]

I always liked the looks of these:

And of course, the modern version looks pretty sexy, too:

Good lord that is a lot of tubes. You'd have to run them with the windows wide open during a lake effect cold front to be able to stay in the same room without cooking.

 

[RunOutGroove]

Good lord that is a lot of tubes. You'd have to run them with the windows wide open during a lake effect cold front to be able to stay in the same room without cooking.

Yeah... I've heard just a bit of tube audio gear and it did sounds really nice to me. Still, for those reasons and the fact that I don't love the idea of having to replace to tubes (and I don't want to worry about leaving the thing on if I'm not using it) makes me less interested in a tube setup. That and the fact that one with some real power to it is going to be mega expensive. I'm OK knowing that I might not quite get to the sound quality of tubes but that I can still do well enough to satisfy myself with solid state and do so far more affordably with less hassle than tubes offer. I guess though that if cost was no object and I had an extra room to dedicate just to a sound system (where I wouldn't be worried about heating up the rest of the house), then I suppose that I would have to own some kind of sweet tube amp based system...

 

[Audiofreak71]

Yeah... I've heard just a bit of tube audio gear and it did sounds really nice to me. Still, for those reasons and the fact that I don't love the idea of having to replace to tubes (and I don't want to worry about leaving the thing on if I'm not using it) makes me less interested in a tube setup. That and the fact that one with some real power to it is going to be mega expensive. I'm OK knowing that I might not quite get to the sound quality of tubes but that I can still do well enough to satisfy myself with solid state and do so far more affordably with less hassle than tubes offer. I guess though that if cost was no object and I had an extra room to dedicate just to a sound system (where I wouldn't be worried about heating up the rest of the house), then I suppose that I would have to own some kind of sweet tube amp based system...

You could always go Hybrid (Tube SS combo) and it also depends on the tubes with how long there life span is . My Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 is a hybrid and uses Nuvistor 6CW4’s (4 of them) and there life span is rated at 100,000 hrs thats a hell of a long time . I have a back up set so I’m 10yrs or so when these might need replacing I’ll have them lol.

P.S. my hybrid amp puts out 305wpc so no wanted for power at all, all the while I’m getting that sweet tube sound from the preamp .

Audiofreak71

 

[sKiZo]

Not to forget, tube watts are bigger than SS watts in that you can push them a lot harder without hard clipping. I went from 200wpc solid state to 70wpc tube, and no real drop in the SPL capabilities.

 

[Soundork]

 

[Greg Nal]

Is that a 4275 sitting below it?

Good eye Jay. It is in fact a McIntosh 4275. Not so Mac-looking but an excellent receiver.

 

[OMGCat!]

Yeah... I've heard just a bit of tube audio gear and it did sounds really nice to me. Still, for those reasons and the fact that I don't love the idea of having to replace to tubes (and I don't want to worry about leaving the thing on if I'm not using it) makes me less interested in a tube setup. That and the fact that one with some real power to it is going to be mega expensive. I'm OK knowing that I might not quite get to the sound quality of tubes but that I can still do well enough to satisfy myself with solid state and do so far more affordably with less hassle than tubes offer. I guess though that if cost was no object and I had an extra room to dedicate just to a sound system (where I wouldn't be worried about heating up the rest of the house), then I suppose that I would have to own some kind of sweet tube amp based system...

There really isn’t a “tube sound” so much as what a particular piece of gear sounds like.
Most modern tube gear I’ve heard sounds closer to SS compared to earlier tube stuff.

I run SS and have no desire to run tubes.

 

[RunOutGroove]

There really isn’t a “tube sound” so much as what a particular piece of gear sounds like.
Most modern tube gear I’ve heard sounds closer to SS compared to earlier tube stuff.

I run SS and have no desire to run tubes.

Yeah, you're probably right. Not likely that I could tell one from the other blindfolded. As I said, acquiring tube gear isn't a priority for me. Some years ago a buddy of mine who is really handy with electronics got into restoring old amps and was on a kick restoring old tube amps did an A/B test with my old Luxman receiver (can't remember the model, but not a really high end one) running one channel and his Dynco mono tube amp running the other. I had naively assumed that tubes were for guitar amps and that they were at best a kind of outdated curiosity for high fi (it was a long time ago, OK). I couldn't have been more wrong though and the Dynaco had a much niceer character to it. Still very clean, but smoother sounding and with a lot more depth. I've had the opportunity to hear other tube gear too with similar qualities. All that being said though, I don't claim to have enough experience with hearing the best solid state A/B'd with tube stuff to say that I hear tubes as uniformly better or even that they have a consistently different character....

 

[gslikker]

Is "edge cleaner" listed as an option? Kinda sorta resembles my robot vacuum, eh ... ;-}

You guys can easily solve the following puzzle: One of the pictures in this topic comprises of a probably marvellous amp, but they tried to disguise it as a Microwave oven....

 

[musichal]

Drat! I missed the images of the push-pull Hampster Amp someone mentioned, if any were posted.

 

[RichPA]

Great thread, though it clearly shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Here is what I think was the most beautiful system I ever owned, ca. 1979. Pictures stolen from the internet.