AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Owner's Circles => Niteshade Audio => Topic started by: Niteshade on 7 Jan 2009, 03:02 pm
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I take pride in my work and skills and have nothing to hide. Some ask me for interior photos if they are not present. Here's my question: Is it good to always show interior photos? I have a feeling they make some people nervous and/or may simply not want to see them. I don't want to deter people who don't want to see wires, circuits, etc...
What are your opinions? Who among us doesn't like to see wiring? Who likes to?
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Maybe you should make this a poll. I also think you will get different answers depending where you post it (i.e. the LAB forum would probably all be "yes")
I am a Yes
Bob
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Depends! If it looks like a rat's nest, I doubt it. If it is neat and orderly, and shows the years of thought and experience that an assembler or designer has, then yes, show it off. Makes a great sales tool in the case of the latter.
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Depends! If it looks like a rat's nest, I doubt it. If it is neat and orderly, and shows the years of thought and experience that an assembler or designer has, then yes, show it off. Makes a great sales tool in the case of the latter.
I agree, but I also balk at seeing a small (inexpensive?) circuit board on a mega-dollar product. Makes me feel like I am paying too much. Make sure the photos are of excellent quality and not only of the whole interior but some nice close-up details.
Bad photos are worse than no photos.
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IMHO interior photos of hand-wired tube amps are a great selling tool.
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Yes, yes, yes. Especially if its well executed like yours.
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Yes, definitely.
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IMHO interior photos of hand-wired tube amps are a great selling tool.
Yeah, but be sure to get that nice erotic glow in the shots. The vacuum tubes, I mean. :drool:
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Well- I didn't see one person who wouldn't like to see interior photos. Thank you for the compliment too! I like the tube glow idea as well. That's difficult to capture w/ a digital camera. Maybe it's time to experiment with time lapse photography.
There are multiple ways to handle point to point wiring.
1. Wire bundling & looming
2. The right angle approach
3. Shortest route, orderly
4. Shortest route, not orderly
5. Birds nest
Of the 5, methods 1 through 3 work the best and #4 is second best. The last one (5) is generally amateur work.
My personal favorite is #3 and that is the one I always use.
Reasons:
1. Best noise elimination
2. Easy to trace the circuit
3. Uses less wire
4. Repairs and mods are invisible
5. Has been used in commercial amplifiers for decades
Method #4 is decent, but yields more noise because oftentimes wires cross the should not (i.e. filament wires getting close to high impedance circuits). It's also not as easy to trace a circuit.
Method #1 reportedly works well, but I really dislike it. To me it's a bundled birds nest. It's difficult to trace anything and if a mod/repair has to be made the looming might have to be removed and THEN you have a birds nest! It never looks the same when trying to stuff everything back together. Not only that, but the amount of wire used skyrockets...and for what reason? Looks? One other thing- if a wire overheats & melts, it ruins the surrounding wires. Sorry, not for me.
Method #2 is like #3 but much more labor intense. I can't see using this method because it would result in price increases that are inaudible. Besides labor, more wire has to be used. I would rather place the customer's money into something that will make an audible difference.
Method #5 is mostly amateur work. It usually follows through with glued down parts, solder blobs and other atrocities. I have not seen anything like this on AC. For those who don't know what it looks like- think of a steel wool scouring pad. The components generally are not that visible and there's no logic to wire paths. It looks like a fast, slick job. You may also see 'in air' component connections- where one end of a resistor or something else goes directly to the wire. Amateur practices can be dangerous.
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If you were nearby I'd offer to do the shots for you. I love the challenge of integrating tube glow with studio lighting.
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Maybe Blair could send the amp to you for a "Photography session". aa 8)
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Maybe Blair could send the amp to you for a "Photography session". aa 8)
DAMN! You discovered my evil plan! :lol:
Only trouble is my listening room is all torn out, and the completion date is 3-4 months away.
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Sorry about exposing your plan Bob. :duh:
But you notice I didn't mention how long it can take to properly photograph a tube amp.
It can take MONTHS to get it right. :wink:
Bob
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Yeah, you have to send the film out for processing, and study and scan the negs, find a good printer, etc.
MONTHS at least.
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Blair, definitely take shots.
And for the glow, put the camera on a tripod and run a long exposure.
Here is a shot of my 6t9 amp with a 20 sec exposure:
(http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8563/dsc09189tvk5.jpg)
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I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.
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I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.
Couldn't agree more, and get the area around the tubes in very sharp focus.
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That does look impressive- I'll have to try it...
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I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.
Good advice. Set the white balance to flash or daylight and let the tube glow run warm. The on-camera flash may result in harsh shadows and reflections though, or worse; if there are reflective surface on the component you'll get the flash blaring right back at you. If you can soften up the flash by bouncing off a wall or ceiling, and or try to get it off off-axis of the lens (you'd have to remove it from the camera entirely, of course and either trigger with a slave or with a cord or radio remote), that would also serve you well.
Good luck!
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I like to see the workmanship that goes into electrical/mechanical gear.
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Blair,
I don’t own a single piece of audio equipment that I haven’t had the top off of at least once and it is usually one of the first things I do after I’ve heard it for a while is crack the lid and see what’s in side. I’m not big on making tweaks to the gear, but I want to know what I bought! I’ve been upset on more then one occasion to learn I spend good money on bad stuff. Sometimes it even sounded good, only to deteriorate after 1-2 years. If the product is well designed then the inside should look almost as good as the outside, if it is a rats, or a cheap as you can populate it printed circuit board, people should know that before they buy too.
Your pictures so far have been tastefully done with and all work you should be proud to show off! Keep up the good work Blair!
Jeff
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Blair,
You've got nothing to worry about or shy from. Just show the interiors, you will increase sales. And get more products with that Ferrari red paint job, or even a cobalt blue paint job. Short of that, you'll have to do what I do with my work, see gallery below. Of course my photography sucks, so if *I* was really in the business of selling amps/preamps I would hire a photographer.
Working on a differential EL34 design as I write, now, back to work...
Anand.
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Thank you for your comments Anand! :D
I was just speaking with someone on the phone who said they wouldn't purchase anything without seeing what the wiring was like.