Good Looking Tube Amps

Autor

Beitrag

sivat
Stammgast

#1 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 12:48

Fellow Audiophiles,

What do you think are the best looking Tube Amps.

We are not just looking for elegance...but also any funky..."out of the box" designs...

Regards
Siva.

[Beitrag von sivat am 29. Nov 2007, 12:52 bearbeitet]

square_wave
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 13:16

Nagra VPA

Pathos acoustics

bhagwan69
Inventar

#3 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:00

Cadence Canasya

Arj
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:02

Ars Sonum- filarmonia

Jadis- all look good altough they may nbt photograph well

Shanling

[Beitrag von Arj am 29. Nov 2007, 15:03 bearbeitet]

Arj
Inventar

#5 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:10

Armonia (Italian Beauty !)

KR audio

Sophia Electric

Others from top of mind are Yamamoto, Sun Audio, Raysonic, Border Patrol and audiopax (Below)

[Beitrag von Arj am 29. Nov 2007, 15:11 bearbeitet]

aks07
Stammgast

#6 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:11

sivat schrieb:

We are not just looking for elegance...but also any funky..."out of the box" designs...

Almost all present day Chinese amps. Funky. Extravagant. Though not necessarily always following logical layout. I have see pics of Chinese amp that have PSU caps surrounded by 4 x KT88's ! Possibly to get an evenly toasted PSU cap

But if you are looking for a well thought out layout combined with clean cut, no nonsense goodness then nothing can beat the some models from Leak, Fisher and Redford. I would almost include the QUAD-II, but for some issues.

Most Japanese tube amps from the 60's would also qualify.

particleman
Stammgast

#7 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:14

Here are

A bad-ass looking tube amp...:

Melody I2A3

...a weird one...:

Manley Stingray

...and a classy one:

VTL Siegfried

Arj
Inventar

#8 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:32

never really liked the manley designs...but VTL and Manley had the same father

ie they are two brothers !

another one..a classic but not mentioned is Audio Research.. but they dont look too hot.

the daddy of amps is the Macintosh. their analogue meters (also by accuphase) make them look really cool..but the tubes are hidden

if you like audio aero, even they have some nice tubes

sivat
Stammgast

#9 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 15:50

I'll go with Bhagwan...I think Cadence looks the best...from the amps listed here so far.

How come no one has listed Unison Research so far....i though they were the coolest. Anyone knows any CNC Wood carving machine in India !!

Regards
Siva.

Arj
Inventar

#10 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 18:21

from a purely looks point and very very IMHO , Canasya reminds me of either of a scaled down version of a military bus carrying missiles or of some robot like R2D2!.

even the Manley "Butch" Designs look better to me

siva i think your DIY amps look better..

[Beitrag von Arj am 29. Nov 2007, 18:22 bearbeitet]

eric_clapton
Hat sich gelöscht

#11 erstellt: 29. Nov 2007, 19:45

The Audion 300B-XLS created by Kees Soetres

Seth 2A3 created by Kudrit Demirli.

Unfortunately not for sale at any price.

bhagwan69
Inventar

#12 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 04:48

I like the look of the Wavac's too.

The Audion 300B-XLS created by Kees Soetres

This I like too.

UN Makes nice looking amplifiers.
They look good in real life & are fabulous sounding too.

Manek
Inventar

#13 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 05:08

love the unision research designs in general.

I think deaf knows someone who works with wood on cnc machines, if memory serves me right.

manek.

abhi.pani
Inventar

#14 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 06:27

Arj schrieb:

from a purely looks point and very very IMHO , Canasya reminds me of either of a scaled down version of a military bus carrying missiles or of some robot like R2D2!.

To me it looks like a fake time bomb...

ani
Stammgast

#15 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 06:52

EAR 509, Radford STA25 and Quad II. Classic designs that keeps function over aesthetics. Unison amps keeps the true Italian design values and are sure head turners.

Our home grown Cadence monoblock always remind me of old soda bottles in the wooden bottle crate!! Any one remember the soda bottles that had a glass marble

Ani

soulforged
Stammgast

#16 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 07:03

Here are a couple that I like to look at -

Art Audio Jota

Einstein the Tube

wish I had the moolah to own them

ALS
Ist häufiger hier

#17 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 08:07

look at the passion for audio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs1aUws0Lrs

aks07
Stammgast

#18 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 13:48

ani schrieb:

EAR 509, Radford STA25 and Quad II. Classic designs that keeps function over aesthetics.

Exactly. This is where DIY amps score. We look for logical placement of components over showbaazi. I am personally very influenced by techniques of Japanese amp builders. I am all for the “industrial look”.

Attaching 2 of my recent DIY amp pics. 1st is an SE amp. The 2nd is the Santa Clause amp as described in the DIY forum. You will note that the components are placed to ensure minimum signal travel, cross inference and even distribution of heat and mass. Both the amp uses overspeced components, yet maintain a very small footprint.

aks07
Stammgast

#19 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 14:05

Some more pics, while we are at it:

Leak TL20. In India almost all AIR stations had a dozen or so of this standard issue amps. Some still have. Sometimes available at auctions.

Those bottles of nail enamel are for touching up the paintwork

Innards of the Leak TL20. You can not have a more cleaner, logical wiring than this. Jensen caps in place of the original TCC caps. Original Carbon comp resistors.

[Beitrag von aks07 am 30. Nov 2007, 14:21 bearbeitet]

aks07
Stammgast

#20 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 14:29

Continuing with the functional theme. 6AS7 triode amp. Lots of Sowtar ironware

Is it worth spending so much for so little power? No wonder WAF is a big deal in such activities.

Arj
Inventar

#21 erstellt: 30. Nov 2007, 15:13

How good would you rate the Leak TL20 in classical Audiophile-speak ?

I once had an option to buy one..but was not too much into tubes so declined. still dont know what i missed !

aks07
Stammgast

#22 erstellt: 01. Dez 2007, 08:02

Actually it should be the Leak TL/12 Plus. But for whatsoever reason AIR designated them as TL20. Their inventory book wont have any entry under TL/12!

Leak, QUAD, Dynaco all have that classic valve sound. Easy on the ear, smooth and rounded. Not very nice if you are looking for a highly refined and clean sound.

I don't think you missed a lot. To adapt that amp to a modern listening environment, would have required lots of mod. The sensivity125mV is very high for today's sources. To reduce that you would have needed to triode strap the EF86 input valve and fiddle with gNFB. Easy if you are upto it actually.

More pic. A Leak monoblocks and QUAD-II.