[HT cOz]

I like'm clear and natural or I want black and bad?  Which kind of amp chassis do you like?

Thanks,
Robert

[thunderbrick]

Whaddya mean, "clear"?   

[Wayner]

The correct term for clear is "natural" anodized aluminum. No big deal, but that is the industry term for it. I knew what he meant. It will be the true color of that particular alloy of aluminum. As an example, 6061-T6 will have a slightly different "natural" color as a 6063-T6 or 5052-H32 will. The alloy differences produce different shades of a "natural" aluminum anodize.

Wayner

BTW, it depends on the product, so I couldn't pick one.

[Berndt]

Anodizing finish qualities also is regional. California being hard hit by regulation. I've been prototyping for 30 years and getting consistent anodic treatments is a real pain. Clear can be clear or creamy/milky color in my experience.

[Pez]

Do we have to pick silver or black? Isn't that what every damn piece of equipment ever made is? BOOOOORRRING!!!!

[kgturner]

if it ain't black it's going back.

kevin t

[avahifi]

A couple of points for those interested.

When anodizing aluminum, we need to make sure that the alloy is US made material.  Foreign made aluminum may have the same technical specs, but our metal finisher says that foreign made aluminum material tends to have non-uniform outcomes when anodizing.  The finish can come out mottled or blotchly looking and the finish shades will vary all over the place.

Second, black or clear, boring maybe, but for a small company such as ours, just try and find off the shelf knobs, pushbuttons, or other faceplate bits in some other color than black or clear.  If you want a non-standard color, you also then are faced with the very high cost of custom made accessory parts and you have to buy them in huge quantities and pay stiff tooling costs too.

Finally if you really want black, AVA can furnish most all of our equipment in black with gold graphics and text.  No need to send it back because it is not black.   

Best regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[timind]

Much prefer the natural finish although I call it silver.

[Elizabeth]

I have 'natural' anodized Canton CD300 speakers (tall enclosures are solid extruded Aluminum)  for my 5.1 setup.
The natural anodized is nice, however it needs to be kept clean, or it may start to get tarnish. (fingerprints, oil from hands is a problem)
Black anodized never has that problem.

All my electronics are black front. Some anodized, some painted, one plastic.

[JohnR]

Oddly enough, if it's one component, I prefer black, but if there's a stack of them, I prefer silver. However I'm not at all all convinced that is natural. Natural aluminium has scratches on it.

[catastrofe]

Natural of course. . .it sounds better.  Something to do with the reflectivity coefficient of silver vs. black.   

[Wayner]

Oddly enough, if it's one component, I prefer black, but if there's a stack of them, I prefer silver. However I'm not at all all convinced that is natural. Natural aluminium has scratches on it.

Linear sanding is the usual surface preparation, prior to anodizing by most companies. Some face plates have been sand blasted prior to amodizing to give the surface a more "plastic/metallic" appearance. All by preference.

If the aluminum is not surface prepped, it will look horrible as all the minute surface imperfections and scratches will show up. The term "natural" aluminum, infers a color, rather then a selected process.

Wayner

[Noseyears]

I like silver, although my other components are black. 

[Netdewt]

I like black. My amp is silver... I'd like to paint it or something.

[lanchile]

 Another vote for anodized aluminum. just look my avatar...That is my diy integrated amplifier.