Poll: Big Boy DHT Tube Amp Looks

DNA if it were matte or gloss black (and the transformer covers were on). Can't get over that smurf blue though.

For looks, I vote:

#1: Woo
#2: EC
#3: DNA

 

I am not sure if I am in the minority or majority, but I actually think the Stratus looks better than the Stellaris. I find the 2 big silver boxes on the right side of the amp to detract from the looks.

Also I might be biased, but find the smurf blue of the DNA amps fun and playful. I personally am not a fan of amps that have 2 enclosures personally, but the EC amps are always stunning.

 

DNA for me, I still dream of the sound that came out of Starlett when I had the loaner amp. The blue would not be my first choice. Black would be, however that color really grew on me and I will have it one day. Aside from ZDT jr (does it really count ?) which I like I've never heard an EC or WOOOO

 

That's like car money for a shit like me even Starlett is car money for me LMAO so worth it though. Plus that blue sets the mind at ease with calming effect.

 

I'm so sick of black on electronics, it reminds me of 80s BPC (Black Plastic Crap).

 

If we're talking about big boy...Nagra nails the look IMO

 

-1 for EC reusing the old BA chassis. The BA is a nice looking amp but Donald North knows how to make amps that both look and sound great!

 

Really can't decide between DNA and EC. Elegance or industrial elegance. Porsche 911 vs Shelby GT500, I just want them both.

 

Of these options, I like the understated hand-assembled 'could be DIY' workhorse look, so I voted for EC. It's brute. Can't deny the cool factor of DNA blue though. I'd just be worried about scuffing it up and like low-maintenance stuff. EC looks and feels like it was made of scrapped parts from a tank.

WA33 looks like a mass produced product, more 'industrial' than the others. It looks nice, but doesn't have much personality.

Then there's the older wood-enclosed Moths which really take the cake for me (image taken from a changstar thread)

 

Not sure if I'm blind or it's my steampunk tendencies again but where's the Decware?

More seriously: the EC wins for me, and while I respect hating that it's a recycled chassis I still think it looks amazing. The WA comes in second for looking like a monolith towering over mere mortals while the DNA is last, not because I dislike the blue (my fave colours are in the blue/green/cyan/turquoise range) but because I think the arrangement on top looks a bit chaotic. Mind, I think all three look grand and the DNA being third of three doesn't mean much.

Of course this is pending having seen any of these in person. Dislike away )

 

I will take an amp designed by an electrical engineer over and industrial designers. Voted for EC because I've seen it in peoples collections and being able to move the power supply lower in the rack seems like a feature I want.
If I would have to give my preference it would have to be a Shindo amp(might be the mythos), Moth, or the EC energizer.

 

Apple drama aside, I'd be curious to see what Jony Ive would come up with if he were to design a tube amp.

 

I'm always torn when it comes to aesthetics. Part of me wants everything I own to be made out of wood, leather, brass and rivets, the other part of me wants to live on a sleek space station with minimalist metal everywhere. EC with its kind of Art Deco/ maybe a touch steampunk and Schiit with its minimalist silver are the two opposites that appeal to me. I do admire the smurf blue of DNA, but as @Lyander pointed out, it doesn't look as planned. No real problems with the Woo, just doesn't grab me as much.

 

Just on tactile quality - there is something reassuringly satisfying about the on / off switches on the Eddie Current amps - they don't so much click as almost clunk on and off in a quite industrial way, and on power-up the red light slowly materialises, and the thing is awake.

Edit: ^ might only be true of BW2.

 

Speaker placement on Stellaris is a bit ungainly, I had to design my rack with the side-outs in mind. But among these three choices I have to stick with it.



I've also had a growing affection for the WA5 lately.