View Full Version : Hi-Fi Design Awards - Cheesiest Design Feature Section
The Grand Wazoo
07-06-2011, 06:47
And the nominations for the nastiest, cheesy design feature in all of hi-fi are:
The Musical Fidelity 'Feet of Fire'
http://pic5.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1301778468.jpg
Beechwoods
07-06-2011, 06:51
I wonder if they pulse in time to the music, that would be really good!
I dislike the look (and sound) of Musical Fidelity gear - full stop!
The other thing I hate is the current fad for manufacturers to slip a bog-standard wooden sleeve over, say, a modern CD player, in order to make it look 'retro' - or even worse, fit a valve into the front display panel, which sonically does sweet FA, just to make it 'look nice' :doh:
Muppetry of the highest order!! :mental:
Marco.
Spectral Morn
07-06-2011, 07:09
And the nominations for the nastiest, cheesy design feature in all of hi-fi are:
The Musical Fidelity 'Feet of Fire'
http://pic5.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1301778468.jpg
I like the blue feet but only on MF Tri-Vista gear which was the last MF kit imho worth owning. I have a Tri-vista 21 DAC and its very nice. More modern MF gear sacrifices musicality for neutrality though this current range is not as bad as the previous few series of products in that regard.
Regards D S D L
Lol - it just shows how our tastes vary... I think the blue feet are utterly hideous. They give a similar 'bling effect' as when those idiots fit blue lights to the underneath of their cars to achieve, well, your guess is as good as mine!! :rolleyes: :mental:
The only things that should ever glow on hi-fi gear are valves and VU meters - end of!
Marco.
Oh dear. This comparison springs to mind...
http://file028a.bebo.com/8/large/2007/04/16/22/20699415a4128649765b721253009l.jpg
For some bizarre reasonthe creators of the excellent sounding Anedio D1 DAC did the same thing...
http://www.stereomojo.com/UPCOMING%20REVIEWS/images/d1_front_1024.jpg
Bleh :¬)
I had a Trivista integrated amp a couple of years ago and I thought the lit up feet a bit tasteless to be honest. I was fed the myth that the colour change occurred when the amp had reached it's optimum working temperature, so one would assume there was some thermal sensing going on inside the amp, but nothing of the sort, it was a simple 555 timer circuit incorporated in there because it went through the entire colour change rigmarole if you switched the amp on and off when it was fully warmed up.
Oh dear. This comparison springs to mind...
http://file028a.bebo.com/8/large/2007/04/16/22/20699415a4128649765b721253009l.jpg
Indeed - that's exactly what I was referring to! WTF is that shite all about? :lol:
The glowy blue feet on the MF are every bit as tacky, not to mention, totally pointless!! :rolleyes:
I wonder what else we can strap some glowy lights onto, in order to make it look 'cool'?
Marco.
prestonchipfryer
07-06-2011, 09:33
How about this, headache inducing? or what!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3sOLGm9sU
I don't like the current vogue for 'steampunk' styling that makes electronics look like set dressing from Frankenstein's lab.
Dan D'agostino's momentum monoblock is a particularly tasteless example.
http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Momentum-amp.jpg
hifi_dave
07-06-2011, 18:47
You obviously haven't read the review in HFN, because if you had, you'd realise how beautiful it is. Like some fine wine, a wristwatch, a pen a Bugati etc, etc...:rolleyes:
Don't tell me, KK was set loose on this product :D
hifi_dave
07-06-2011, 22:24
OK, I won't tell you..:eyebrows:
Stratmangler
07-06-2011, 22:30
I don't like the current vogue for 'steampunk' styling that makes electronics look like set dressing from Frankenstein's lab.
Dan D'agostino's momentum monoblock is a particularly tasteless example.
http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Momentum-amp.jpg
Cor, that looks like it should sound good ........ :D
Stratmangler
07-06-2011, 22:32
Don't tell me, KK was set loose on this product :D
One good reason not to read the rags ;)
The purpose of "journalism" is only to sell copy for the publishers after all :eyebrows:
bogle111
08-06-2011, 23:33
Looks like a cheap Ladies Make-up bag or one of those metal filofaxes from the '80's or a telephone book that used to spring up from the front - spring was so strong it used to flip itself over!
We used to refer to KK as KKK - no, not Klan meanings - the first K stood for Kitsch...now probably stands for something else if a manufacturer
Bleugh!
http://www.jordanacoustics.co.uk/php/resources/images/shanling%20A500.jpg
Looks like it could a saltire design on the top. Maybe a lion rampant was too intricate to mahcine lol
Reid Malenfant
09-06-2011, 20:02
:lolsign: Oh dear :rolleyes:
hifi_dave
09-06-2011, 20:14
Bleugh!
http://www.jordanacoustics.co.uk/php/resources/images/shanling%20A500.jpg
Looks like it could a saltire design on the top. Maybe a lion rampant was too intricate to mahcine lol
Is that a George Foreman 'lean mean grilling machine' ?
Is that a George Foreman 'lean mean grilling machine' ?
:lol:
Reminds me of "Orac" from Blakes 7 for some reason.
The Grand Wazoo
09-06-2011, 20:43
My wife reckons it looks like something from an old episode of Flash Gordon - she called it 'Bling the Merciless'
it's a chess playing, lip-reading monolith; attracting future astronauts to their doom.
Construction material is a combination of dark matter and blue LEDs
Using it for hifi was declared a war-crime by NATO
Bleugh!
http://www.jordanacoustics.co.uk/php/resources/images/shanling%20A500.jpg
Reminds me of a camping stove I used to own. Would make a lovely manhole cover :D
Spectral Morn
11-06-2011, 22:58
I don't like the current vogue for 'steampunk' styling that makes electronics look like set dressing from Frankenstein's lab.
Dan D'agostino's momentum monoblock is a particularly tasteless example.
http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Momentum-amp.jpg
Saw it in the flesh at last Septembers Whittlebury show and it was to my eyes lovely. I like Steam Punk :)
Regards D S D L
Saw it in the flesh at last Septembers Whittlebury show and it was to my eyes lovely.
Aye, and so is the price! Did you get a chance to listen to the 'Danny-boys', and if so, did you reckon that they were worth such an exorbitant price?
Marco.
Thing Fish
12-06-2011, 07:51
You sure have to love wood!!!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PUrshbJXybM/TfRvBlSIg7I/AAAAAAAABRg/R3tbulMHIac/s288/wood.jpg
Hi fi on the move...:lol:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_UpecyHsQb0/TfRvBv3_vfI/AAAAAAAABRk/vlzmiHMr1Zw/s288/mi5.jpg
On the subject of bling I couldn't resist finishing off with this one of some young lads on their scooters...:stalks:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ePRNViKNIgs/TfRvB6E6auI/AAAAAAAABRo/J7DN5e-zpls/s288/customized-bikes.jpg
Don't want to tread on anyone's toes but this has to be one of the ugliest TTs ever
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/rega.jpg
Which 12 year old thought that a cheap looking moulding wrapped around the plinth would improve the looks of a simple TT :mental:
Thing Fish
12-06-2011, 12:56
I agree a box plinth would have looked nicer.
Take the arm off it would make a nice wall clock.
I agree. A (highly modded) P5 was the last turntable I owned before I got involved with the Techy. It looks much better in black, and then the cheapo 'picture frame' surround isn't as obvious.
It's a good sounding turntable, though (with the optional Rega T/T PSU) and RB700 arm. Mine was tweaked to buggery, and it sounded fab :)
Marco.
Spectral Morn
12-06-2011, 14:24
Aye, and so is the price! Did you get a chance to listen to the 'Danny-boys', and if so, did you reckon that they were worth such an exorbitant price?
Marco.
No. Only on static display :(
Regards D S D L
The Grand Wazoo
17-06-2011, 20:02
I was thinking a bit more today about this hi-fi aesthetics business and I can't decide whether cheesey design is a good thing or not!
I'd agree with the opinion that the examples quoted are pretty horrific, but some people do like these things. So for them, it's a good thing of course.
But it also shows that aesthetic design is being thought about more than perhaps it has been in the past in serious hi-fi gear. For every design we don't like, there's surely another that we do......or isn't there?
Of course, some will say that the only thing that matters is how it sounds. But if something sounds good & looks good, then maybe that's good too, eh? Who can honestly say that they've never lusted after a piece purely because of how it looks - I know I have. You can change your mind after hearing it, but it's the look that pulls you in and stimulates your interest.
Now just suppose that the look of something is the thing that swings a hi-fi virgin's decision to buy high quality gear instead of tat?
Well that's got to be good too, hasn't it?
icehockeyboy
19-06-2011, 09:33
Don't want to tread on anyone's toes but this has to be one of the ugliest TTs ever
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/rega.jpg
Which 12 year old thought that a cheap looking moulding wrapped around the plinth would improve the looks of a simple TT :mental:
Looks like they took it to a picture framers for the plinth! :lolsign:
And a bad one at that!!
Marco.
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