Audio Equipment Aesthetics - What do you like?

Rapt · « **Reply #20 on:** 10 Jul 2010, 05:54 pm »

Had this audio innovation amp awhile back and loved the look and the sound

Frisco · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Jul 2010, 05:55 pm »

Let's go vintage....

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #22 on:** 10 Jul 2010, 07:37 pm »

Those old Marantz receivers look even better in person. You cant see it in most pics, but the chassis is a faux woodgrain aluminum. Very cool. And they sound great too. My father still has a 2220B. The volume pot needs to be cleaned, but it's never needed anything else.

I've been trying to swipe it from him for years.

1ZIP · « **Reply #23 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 04:53 am »

Quote from: Stu Pitt on 10 Jul 2010, 07:37 pm

Those old Marantz receivers look even better in person. You cant see it in most pics, but the chassis is a faux woodgrain aluminum. Very cool. And they sound great too. My father still has a 2220B. The volume pot needs to be cleaned, but it's never needed anything else.

I've been trying to swipe it from him for years.

I agree, I have a 2270 that I had refurbished last Fall. It has the original wood case. Looks and sounds great.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #24 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 07:38 am »

The hand made, -in Switzerland- Dartzeel amp looks good to me(except the 18K dollars price) note the thick PCB circuit, seems very necessary to any Amp aspiring to Hi-End status.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #25 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 07:42 am »

I suppose this Dartzeel amp promise better sound than any FM Acoustics amp to my eyes, and cost less too.
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/dartzeel/108.html

vegasdave · « **Reply #26 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 09:19 am »

Oh yeah, FM Acoustics amps are astronomically priced. I used to own FM Acoustics, I bought it in the early 90s, and let me tell ya, I don't feel cheated by owning Bryston. I do sometimes miss the FM. But, FM is just too tough with that price these days. They say it's because they manufacture everything in-house, throw away thousands of transistors that don't meet their specs, and blah blah blah, but so does Bryston.

Bryston is very fairly priced compared to other high end manufacturers.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #27 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 10:14 am »

Quote from: vegasdave on 11 Jul 2010, 09:19 am

Oh yeah, FM Acoustics amps are astronomically priced. I used to own FM Acoustics, I bought it in the early 90s, and let me tell ya, I don't feel cheated by owning Bryston. I do sometimes miss the FM. But, FM is just too tough with that price these days. They say it's because they manufacture everything in-house, throw away thousands of transistors that don't meet their specs, and blah blah blah, but so does Bryston.

Bryston is very fairly priced compared to other high end manufacturers.

Thanks for informing. One thing call my attention on FM Acoustics brand, is many amps have a fan to coolling the heat sink.

Construct · « **Reply #28 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 10:38 am »

My desires are simple. With speakers- it's a nice woodgrain and a symmetrical appearance. I do not appreciate all-black, nor do I want the speakers to completely hide. They may be large, imposing, narrow format speakers:

Or elegantly designed bookshelves.

Components: Simplicity is nice. I like sleek, modern CNC milled chassis and a look that isn't overly busy. SIMPLE/SLEEK looking

Or modern industrial design, using form and lighting

I don't like overly busy designs. It should say "Solid, yet elegant."

James Tanner · « **Reply #29 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 11:06 am »

Quote from: FULLRANGEMAN on 11 Jul 2010, 10:14 am

Thanks for informing. One thing call my attention on FM Acoustics brand, is many amps have a fan to coolling the heat sink.

Yes cooling fans are an issue. In our very early days because we were in recording studios we designed our amps to be fanless because the recording engineers did not want the noise in the control room. Fans are noisy but another issue is they also draw air over all the other components in the amplifier and over time it can really 'gum' up the internal circuits due to the polutants in the air.

In Bryston's case we have spent a lot of time on the actual shape, color and size of the heatsinks. For example Black is more efficient than other colours at dissipating heat. In our current heatsink designs they are computer modeled and we found that even the distance between each heatsink fin was important. If you utilize the proper distance the 'space or gap' (not to big not to small) between the fins behave more like a 'chimney' rather than a 'radiator' and you get about 15% more efficiency dissipating the heat from the amplifier due to the convection cooling affect not being restricted.

james

vegasdave · « **Reply #30 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 02:18 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 11 Jul 2010, 11:06 am

Yes cooling fans are an issue. In our very early days because we were in recording studios we designed our amps to be fanless because the recording engineers did not want the noise in the control room. Fans are noisy but another issue is they also draw air over all the other components in the amplifier and over time it can really 'gum' up the internal circuits due to the polutants in the air.

In Bryston's case we have spent a lot of time on the actual shape, color and size of the heatsinks. For example Black is more efficient than other colours at dissipating heat. In our current heatsink designs they are computer modeled and we found that even the distance between each heatsink fin was important. If you utilize the proper distance the 'space or gap' (not to big not to small) between the fins acts more like a 'chimney' rather than a 'radiator' and you get about 15% more efficiency dissipating the heat from the amplifier due to the convection cooling affect not being restricted.

james

Nice info! I guess if the amp gets too hot, it's either the installation or the bias needs to be reset, true?

srb · « **Reply #31 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 02:23 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 11 Jul 2010, 11:06 am

If you utilize the proper distance the 'space or gap' (not to big not to small) between the fins acts more like a 'chimney' rather than a 'radiator' and you get about 15% more efficiency dissipating the heat from the amplifier due to the convection cooling affect not being restricted.

Which is why I never quite understood why some manufacturers would choose horizontally finned heat sinks for their amplifiers.

Steve

vegasdave · « **Reply #32 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 02:27 pm »

Quote from: FULLRANGEMAN on 11 Jul 2010, 10:14 am

Thanks for informing. One thing call my attention on FM Acoustics brand, is many amps have a fan to coolling the heat sink.

No problem. FM is very good, and I don't want to sound like it isn't, but in my opinion, Bryston gives you 90-some percent of the "exotic" brands' sound and build quality at a price more audiophiles can afford. Especially with the new (or newer) products. They are more expensive than previous Bryston amps and preamps, but high-quality is very rarely cheap.

Even if I could afford it, I'm not so sure that paying $50,000-$100,000 for an amp is worth getting that last 5 percent of sounds. Some of these products can be a nightmare in the real world.

I am impressed to see that some members here are driving very expensive speakers with just a 4B with no complaints of sound quality.

But, I bet most of you know this, and I'm guessing these are some of the reasons why you chose Bryston.

vegasdave · « **Reply #33 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 04:17 pm »

Quote from: Napalm on 11 Jul 2010, 03:46 am

Mhhh vegasdave look at these glass horns:

http://www.waterfallaudiousa.com/Niagara.html

Crystal clear sound!!!!!

Nap.

The page won't load.

srb · « **Reply #34 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 04:27 pm »

Quote from: vegasdave on 11 Jul 2010, 04:17 pm

The page won't load.

Works for me with IE8, Firefox 3.6.3, Google Chrome 5.0 and Safari 5.0.

Steve

JRace · « **Reply #35 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 04:41 pm »

Quote from: vegasdave on 11 Jul 2010, 04:17 pm

The page won't load.

srb · « **Reply #36 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 04:52 pm »

Crystal Cable has the Arabesque speaker. I'm guessing the material was more chosen because of the "Crystal" company name than for it's acoustic properties. But good luck finding out anything about it on their website.

Steve

vegasdave · « **Reply #37 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 05:43 pm »

Oh great, just what I need...glass speakers. Can you say crash?

srb · « **Reply #38 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 05:47 pm »

Quote from: vegasdave on 11 Jul 2010, 05:43 pm

Oh great, just what I need...glass speakers. Can you say crash?

Not sure about the Waterfall Niagra, but the Crystal Cable Arabesque will give you a $65,000 pile of broken glass!

I think they're both interesting, but not close to beautiful.

Steve

eclein · « **Reply #39 on:** 11 Jul 2010, 06:04 pm »

Everytime I see an ad for these I go "yeahh!!"