Poll: Big Boy DHT Tube Amp Looks

Could we please have an amp with the tubes on the INSIDE, where they belong?

Or at least put them in a cage. Bare, unprotected tubes look amateur.

 

I disagree. I don't really like the 'huge plain box with meters' look myself. I also don't think I've ever seen anyone with a caged amp actually using the cages.

As far as 'Bare, unprotected tubes look amateur', well, your opinion but I've never thought that.

 

Give me big glowing phalli or give me solid state!

 

Between the 3 nominated... none. Sorry Donald + (former) EC team. None of the shapes or layouts really do it for me.

Looks only - no sonic considerations:
Overall: WA7 in a dark room - something about the way the acrylic disperses the tube glow of the small tubes inside. Otherwise, WA5 or WA22.

Finish only: DNA wins... it's "just" paint, but the paint on these looks better than most other painted metal things, including a lot of cars or other nice painted things. If I were to go back and do a custom request on my Stellaris, it'd be a clear coat over the blue coat for a little extra richness to the color if Donald would allow it. 2nd place would be the EC vintage / semi-hammered finish - only b/c I inexplicably really like hammered finishes on metal.

Vintage: I think a lot of the vintage / old Nagra stuff looks pretty cool - like fine functional tools (think vintage Rolex). Better than most vintage tube powered whatever (tv/radio/amps/etc) that I've seen. I will agree that most of their modern stuff, while still cool, does look a little garish.

Color scheme - Modern McIntosh with the extra green here and there = really nice in some situations / cases, really ehh/underwhelming in others. With that being said, they do have a few amps that look really good (one had a big row of tubes, I don't remember the model number). Edit: Donald beat me to it with the picture below.

 

Some of my favorites:
LA Audio (Denmark) P-3 Gold from the early 90s

Original McIntosh MC275

Audio Note Japan Neiro parallel 2A3 from the 90s

 

Donald’s blue is wonderful and instantly recognizable. Stellaris loses points for weird asymmetrical placement of front plate, tubes, and transformers. Logo is too big. When you have that blue, you can afford to make the logo smaller.

I love the design of the Studio B. Looks good in person also. Loses points for typeface selection. The design of the silkscreened case markings and the logo could be better matched.

This Woo amp is better in black than silver, but doesn't do it for me. If the slabs were thinner and more horizontal maybe...

 

Like some car designs, DNA (I have the Starlett) looks better in person than in photos IMO. The paint, font choice, and everything else just comes together.

 

Aside: how many in this thread are either practicing Industrial Designers or have an ID background or education?

this is an offshoot from the ASR thread: every time that dude does a review and comments on the "industrial design" of something I want to kill myself because it's obvious he has no idea what he's talking about and I get the sense his lack of expertise may bleed into other fields, too.

 

HNNGGGG. Idk who the mfg of this thing is, but if they made one with a hammered bronze finish on top...... Also, if I actually had said amp, I'd actually take the black covers off (I assume aluminum) and once I got better at engraving, would engrave the transfo covers so that it'd be black/silver contrasting.

 

All this talk of tube amp aesthetics and no one has mentioned Frank Cooter? For shame my dudes...

 

Frank Cooter and our very own @dBel84 make the most beautiful amps I’ve ever seen by a wide margin. The 3 mentioned in the poll aren’t in the same league despite the Eddie Current amps looking quite nice. I’d post pictures of some of dbel84’s builds but he’d have me castrated for it. Too bad my pictures of Frank’s biggest baddest most uber amp aren’t accessible to me right now.

heres a few pictures of Frank’s amps. But the baddest one I can’t find on google. Note that he makes one amp only and never makes a second copy and refuses all commercial opportunities (which he’s surely had plenty people go nuts over his amps at meets). Then he takes them apart and builds a new amp. A true artist.



Custom made only one ever constructed electrostatic amp



and another

 

Here’s a favorite of mine I can post a picture of.

TTVJ 307A before they went with the Cascade branding and boring as f**k cases. Sad. I love the mad industrial design of the 307A. Sounded great too!




of the ones listed in the poll it’s Eddie Current by far for me. Hate the blue (sorry) the Woo is boring it’s too well polished reminds me of a Ray Samuels amp.

 

I don't know what it would look like, but I guarantee it would have a great camera.

Voted DNA here.

Black is done everywhere, and while the EC chassis is not ordinary, it's also not elegant. More... practical and functional.

It's always seemed to me Woo has always prioritized appearance over sound, ymmv.

 

Voted DNA despite really disliking the output transformer placement on the Stellaris. However what I really like is the Auris Nirvana:

• Tubes and transformers placed symmetrically
• Wood
• VU meters

Also comes in black or red instead of white. Never heard it though.

 

Althought its said that humans like symmetry, I prefer oddity! DNA ftw!

 

Here are pictures of some of @dBel84 ’s builds, like I said I love how these amps look. I guess I appreciate artistry in design of all kinds. Look how different each amp looks and is built. He says he just uses whatever he has around. I’m sure he sees things and collects them thinking they would be great to use for an amp chassis.

First my personal favorite, an EHHA that looks like a set piece from a Star Wars movie. Post apocalyptic amp design anyone?



stacker













I don’t know what amp this is but it’s super bad ass.



And then there’s this beast which Don made me post for his permission to post the others. I think it still looks awesome! I’d love to own this thing

 

The amps I've heard in this thread all sound fantastic, and I'm sure the ones I haven't do too, but tbh, purely in terms of looks, none of this is making me regret my purchase of a DSHA-3F, lol. Cheers to all of you with big listening spaces and very open-minded wives (I have neither).

 

Going beyond tubed headphone amps, but have to add a couple of my faves from an aesthetic standpoint:

All of Thomas Mayer's amps look great, but I particularly like the ones he makes in this vertical chassis (amp on left, power supply on right):



These from EM/IA are just pure simplistic beauty: