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Has technology design become too slick and stylish? The work of Apple designer Sir Jonathan Ive has dramatically changed the look of electronic devices. Computers, television sets, stereo systems and even watches have become stylish glass and metal slabs. Some feel that the contemporary look is a bit too slick and stylish, and are looking for alternatives.
PHOTO: APPLE
ONE CAN HARDLY OVERESTIMATE, the influence that Sir Jonathan Ive has had on design in the 21st century. Until the beginning of our millenium, electronic devices proudly displayed their technical nature. They came equipped with colorful status lamps, switches, dials, slide controls, knobs – the more, the better. With the Mac PCs, Ive did away with all that, reducing the computer to a smooth, elegant structure. He later applied the same design principles to mp3 players, cell phones, watches and more. Soon enough, other companies followed. Today we are used to electronic devices being thin slabs of glass and metal, that blend almost invisibly into our living rooms. But don’t we wish sometimes that our electronic home equipment would display its technical nature in a more self-confident way?
animal. Its design proudly shows all the advanced technology that it contains. Its preamplifier section is powered by two pairs of
High tech audio systems
blue output meters, control knobs, an illuminated logo, and a black glass front panel with LED backlighting. www.mcintoshlabs.com
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12AX7A and 12AT7 vacuum tubes. The output stage is a direct coupled solid state amplifier. As one can guess by the prominent heat sinks on the sides, it delivers serious power. Up to 320 Watts per channel should be enough to properly drive virtually any set of loudspeakers. If that is still not enough, a stereo preamplifier output is available for connecting even higher-powered amplifiers, e. g. a pair of McIntosh’s MC1.25KW 1,200 Watt single channel models. The stainless steel chassis with mirror-like finish is complemented by
in d u s t r ial et h er ne t b o o k
PHOTO: BOWERS & WILKINS
Home stereo systems are a good example. A premium music streaming platform like the Naim Mu-so delivers crystal clear sound out of a very compact package. At first glance, one wouldn’t even recognize the small, brushed aluminum box as an all-in-one audio system. What HiFi? magazine was impressed that the Mu-so “drives all songs with a sure-footed sense of rhythm, rich detail and lashings of deep, rumbling bass”. By comparison, the McIntosh MA352 Integrated Amplifier is quite a different
PHOTO: MCINTOSH
PHOTO: NAIM AUDIO
The McIntosh amplifier would go very well with a pair of speakers that are the exact
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