Audiophile

Minimalist Design in the Lampion Vacuum Amp For Your iPad.

Danish audio maker Låmpion has released a new tube amplifier designed by Stefan Radev. The minimalist tube amplifier is one stylish piece of hardware with a clean aesthetic blending aluminum, wood, and glass to create a clean, simple, functional design. The amp is compatible with both Apple and Android devices and can be used with stand alone audio equipment as well.

There is something timeless about the look of this object, and it feels like the design team really took into account how the amp will look when paired with an iPhone or an iPad. The rounded edges and materials mirror what is going on with the Apple products so well, and the look of the build quality screams premium audio. The design team applied a well balanced choice of proportions, materials, and accents to create the clean look of this amplifier without introducing to much technological clutter.

Beyond the look, this amp is solid on specs as well featuring two twenty watt custom tube driven amps, with a frequency response of 5Hz to 50Khz, multiple inputs ranging from RCA output, micro USB input, WiFi audio, an Apple Lighting dock connector, 1/4 inch headphone jack as well as mini jacks.

No word on pricing and availability, but I suspect this will be Europe only and carry a hefty price tag when it’s all said and done.

Bartholomäus Traubeck, “Years” A Turntable That Plays Trees.

I dream of getting my hands on a working vintage Braun Stereo designed by Dieter Rams. There is something about the idea of playing vinyl records on an old analog turntable that warms my heart. Something about Rams design for Braun makes my heart skip a beat.

Artist Bartholomäus Traubeck also has a thing for vintage analog stereo gear, but he has taken it a step further by creating a turntable that plays slices of a tree trunk to create sound. The turntable analyses the tree trunks year rings for their strength, thickness and rate of growth as the input source for a generative algorithm. That algorithm outputs piano music.

What a totally cool work of art.

Barky Goes All the Way To 11.

I love music, but I am by no means the true definition of an Audiophile. By that I mean I am not the guy with a 40 thousand dollar stereo, that sits in an acoustically perfect room. My hearing isn’t that good anymore. To many live concerts, too much loud headphone time, and to many years on the ears. Now, I may not be an audiophile, but I do love awesome looking stereo gear, and the “Barky” turntable makes me say “Please Santa, I want this for Christmas.” Frankly I’d take pretty much anything that Joe Scilly has on the Audiowood website, but Barky makes me want to bust out the vinyl and crank it up to 11.