Developing the MA100 amplifier

[Radford Revival]

Here is a pictured pulled out the CAD and is dimensionally accurate. What you can't see is that there are two cages split down the middle of the amp (the split is from left to right, not down the middle). The front one can be removed to have the valves on display, which are centred. As you can see it is very traditionally Radford looking!

The graphics on the front panel are just rough and not the final version.

[Barry]

Remove any Chinese ideograms from the outside (and any Chinese sourced components inside) and you will have a winner.

I would have thought the enclosure of the valves was an H&S requirement, but now that we have left the EU, perhaps we don't need CE approval.

[Radford Revival]

Remove any Chinese ideograms from the outside (and any Chinese sourced components inside) and you will have a winner.

I would have thought the enclosure of the valves was an H&S requirement, but now that we have left the EU, perhaps we don't need CE approval.

The symbols are Japanese as it happens, I've just been toying around with things. They are symbols for the concept of "kaizen" or "continuous improvement"

The cage will be affixed with screws so one will need a tool to remove it but it's up to the owner if they want to do that. The amps will be supplied with the cage intact.

[Edward]

Looking great Will. Love the aesthetic. Glad to see the clean front layout.

What's with the Japanese writing? Have you got preorders already from the Japanese audiophile community?

[Radford Revival]

Looking great Will. Love the aesthetic. Glad to see the clean front layout.

What's with the Japanese writing? Have you got preorders already from the Japanese audiophile community?

Basically I thought it looked quite cool as a flourish but it's not set in stone. It embodies the concept of the amp quite nicely. If it freaks people out too much I can remove it

The Japanese word kaizen means "change for better", inherent meaning of either "continuous" or "philosophy" in Japanese dictionaries and in everyday use. The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same sense as the English word "improvement".[5] However, given the common practice in Japan of labeling industrial or business improvement techniques with the word "kaizen", particularly the practices spearheaded by Toyota, the word "kaizen" in English is typically applied to measures for implementing continuous improvement, especially those with a "Japanese philosophy". The discussion below focuses on such interpretations of the word, as frequently used in the context of modern management discussions. Two kaizen approaches have been distinguished:[6]

[Barry]

I used to like the "R" logo which looked like the symbol for a transistor - but maybe that's inappropriate for a valve amplifier.

[Edward]

Basically I thought it looked quite cool as a flourish but it's not set in stone. It embodies the concept of the amp quite nicely. If it freaks people out too much I can remove it

Cool idea of incorporating something offbeat like kaizen.

Thinking more about the look Will - I do think it would be good to incorporate the word Radford (with or without the trad Radford logo) - it will add to recognition and I dare say 'pride of ownership'. You know what sad people like me are like. The look and recognition are *almost* nearly as important as the sound quality.

[Radford Revival]

I agree - it was by no means a final version. The final was definitely going to incorporate Radford / Radford revival on there somewhere. I have updated it with something more mundane for now so people don't get put off. The CAD package doesn't have a decent Japanese font anyway!

Cool idea of incorporating something offbeat like kaizen.

Thinking more about the look Will - I do think it would be good to incorporate the word Radford (with or without the trad Radford logo) - it will add to recognition and I dare say 'pride of ownership'. You know what sad people like me are like. The look and recognition are *almost* nearly as important as the sound quality.

[Leeken]

Basically I thought it looked quite cool as a flourish but it's not set in stone. It embodies the concept of the amp quite nicely. If it freaks people out too much I can remove it

Kaizen is commonly known in British car factories as continuous improvement,or CIP for short,which actually just seems to then translate to Cuts In Personal!
Certainly never seen any improvement from it yet in the last 25 years of having to live with it��

[Barry]

I agree - it was by no means a final version. The final was definitely going to incorporate Radford / Radford revival on there somewhere. I have updated it with something more mundane for now so people don't get put off. The CAD package doesn't have a decent Japanese font anyway!

The Radford name is strong enough and well respected enough not to require any superfluous addition, apart of course from legitimately adding "Revival" which is a part of the name of your company.