Love it, or Hate it ? (wood trim)

So of coarse I landed up with Joule Amps!!!!!

Dislike,for me wood doesn't go with electronic devices. Electronics + wood = fire. The combination makes me feels like bad design, uncomfortable.

Dislike. It can look really good on it's own, but, when you start matching different components and home decor, it can unravel pretty quick. Then there's the added expense, upkeep and space. I'd prefer to do without it.

not a big fan of it, but i do own an Emotive Sira which has wood all around & doesnt match the rest of my system,but then again im all about the sound so its staying cause it sounds pretty damn good.

Love it as long as it's not being mixed with metal-only gear or, even worse, different wood colours.
Good example: Ancient Audio Lektor (red wood finish) + Yamamoto HA2 headphone amp + Audio Technica ATH-W1000 Sovereign headphones
Bad example: Unison Research tube amp + Unison Unico CD
(country: Germany)

also it has a more important impact; the waf (wife acceptance factor).

Really - my wife hates wood on electronics components almost as much as the sexist term WAF.

;)

I like the wood accents on my soundlab m2's and klyne pre amp;also it has a more important impact; the waf (wife acceptance factor).

Dislike

the Netherlands.

Love wood and would love to see MORE used in hi-end gear.

It is also a natural composite, non-magnetic (maybe Ironwood is?) and will help in in resonance / vibration control.
Several plusses to me outweigh the aestetic disadvantage to some.

I like fine wood panels or casing, ex., Unison Research, Dodd Audio (I own the Dodd Mono 50s which have wood face, rear and side panels: curly maple in my pieces).

Check out the new Response Audio Musica Bella series. All wood casings in a variety of fine hardwoods that can be mixed or matched. Quite beautiful. Initial reports indicate excellent sound as well.

No connection with Response Audio.

Give me wood and trim or trim then wood whatever.

Gunbei, only if you have a woody fetish !

Wood trim?

You guys fooling around with mannequins again?

IM on the fence ..But i have a Pioneer Elite A 71 with the faux rosewood side panels and on this one they look quite nice imho. Randy

Dislike it

The new Accuphase reference 2-chasis SACD player has wood trim - looks awful. Cheapens the look of what is probably a world class player.

http://www.accuphase.com/model/dp-800.html

However, as mentioned earlier, Tenor and Pathos do a nice job of integrating wood into their products

Like it!

May be a bit off-topic, but.......

We tried making some wood panels for our expensive amps. Exotic woods did not work. Hard to route out the logo, and it did not stand out they way it did on machined aluminum. However, on "plain Jane" woods, it looked good, and machined nicely. In the end, we scrapped the idea.

Dislike, USA

Neutral But I would say only the Italians can use it with an style(Unison Research for example). Some of the Chinese efforts are hideous(Consonance). I quite like some of the wooden knobs you colonials use though(blue circle).
David Oxfordshire UK

Gunbei, I'm not touching that one...not without latex gloves :-)

"Ever hear an aluminum Strataverius?"

Is that like a sheepskin rubber?

Dislike, simply because I don't like the word "hate". Canada

Ever hear an aluminum Strataverius?

I think I would make up new category-"Depends".
On how it is done that is. Love the two side wood panels on my JOR looks great, but I wouldn't like it as a front panel. Hate the wooden knobs on Art Audio amps. Love the wood work on some of the PATHOS stuff. Otherwise hate it unless finished with black satin finish paint!! IMO.

My components are like King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla. They like lightning!

Gungei, at least you don't have to worry about a static discharge when you touch a wooden knob or plastic for that matter.

Hey, hey, I like my wooden knobs!! :•)

A cheap shot, wood trim went the way of the square wheel, completely outdated! Even worse are wooden knobs.

Hate is my vote as well. My JOR has black wood sideing, an exception. But these pres/small intergrated tube amps with wood trim gives me a impression of cheap/gimick.

Normally I'd say that i'm ambivolent in this....... but I've had my A-08s a couple of months now and it is a thing of beauty. Gotta Love that cherry wood.

Cold the resin be Cyanoacylate? CA is a very,very thin adhesive that is used to hardan and stabilize wood.

jax2 - could be, but the 'resin' may be some kind of glue-like substance used to reduce any resonant vibration tendencies of untreated wood...just a total guess, however.

"Resin-infused Cherry"?!?! Isn't that just a fancy way of saying "plastic wood"?

Mghcanuck - thanks for the link. I saw those Yamamoto amps, and have to say those look so nice that even some of the wood 'haters' maybe inclined to change their minds....

Mghcanuck,

I was interested in those Yamamoto components as well. It's not often you see Japanese cherry used with audio equipment.

You'll have to tell us how they sound.

Have fun!

Take a look at the Yamamoto here: http://www.venushifi.com/products/yamamoto_amplifiers.shtml.

Well, I guess I love it, 'cause I'm awaiting delivery of a Yamamoto amp and preamp that involve a lot of resin-infused cherrywood in their chassis. The support feet on the amp are ebony! I like the aesthetics and hopefully the sonics will measure up just as well.

The Tenor 300 hybrid amps have a beautiful, glossy wood finish covering most of the top and sides of the amp. I used to own the 300s, so perhaps I'm biased, but I still think they're one of the most gorgeous pieces of audio architecture I've ever seen.

Marco, my Dad's KLH speakers from the same era were pathetically constructed. They looked decently elegant when they were brand new sitting on the Scandinavian credenza with multicolor fabric grills [a color scheme similar to Tom Ridge's alerts]. But once the grills came off, it was a bare particle board baffle! Cheap and ugly.

The Magnum Dynalab MD-208 integrated has wood side slabs. Maybe they can issue the Brady Bunch Station Wagon Pre-Spot Road Kill Signature Edition soon.

Ah yes, crank that CCR 8-track!!!

Love it; My Emotive Sira LE. Do hate wood trim on car though.

The green man said:

I liked that it looks like a recently washed ashore piece of driftwood. Funky!

On a general note I DO like the way some components looked in the late '60s to early '70s with the chassis surrounded by a walnut case.

See, now that's a more purist approach to the use of wood in industrial design. Add some of those $500 wooden knobs to that thing and you've got some genuine beach debris that actually sounds good too! Good bonfire kindlin' too! Kooombyabalo, kooombyahh!

FWIW, the stuff from the 60's and 70's mostly used veneered particle board, and not solid wood. I hate stuff that trys to look like something other than what it really is. Even worse, plastic wood! Plastic plastic is bad enough! This whole direction reminds me of the 70's, and some fruitwood inlay on the dash of an Eldorado with the 8-track on a constant loop of some Creedance Clearwater Revival!

Marco

LOVE IT!!!!! My Supratek Syrah is the centerpiece of my stereo, and the centerpiece of my LIFE. MAJOR CHICK MAGNET

Neutral, USA. If it's tastefully done, all take it. I tend to prefer polished chrome and similar finishes.

anyone remember those station wagons with the wood siding? ridiculous.

I would say I dislike in most cases although the wood remote from Unico is pretty cool. I have an open mind though.

Zaikesman - LOL!

Guess I have to say "love" - I've often found that when faced with the prospect of getting some trim, I really just can't help but getting wood.

Ahh, man. My first receiver, a Yamaha CR-820...that was a beauty. Brushed aluminum faceplate, large knobs, soft green lamp light dial, and the feel of wood, a darker-than-amber color; rich and warm to the touch and to the eye. This receiver and the various amps and receivers that followed-a Marantz 1040 integrated, a Kenwood something-or-other, some big ol' honkin' Pioneer receiver that weighed a ton, even a super-styled, sci-fi-hi-fi Bang & Olufsen 1900 with its faux dark cherry laminate- all of these groovy old pieces made me happy to spin record after record every day, lovin' the music and beam with pride as I knew that I had something special 'cause it looked, well, expensive- like furniture but better! On these dreamy old pieces I say- YES! to wood. As for the new stuff, those tube amps comin' out of China and Italy, well, not so much. No.
Cheers from Austin, Texas!

Have had them... not my favorite, but wouldn't keep me from buying gear I liked, so I guess I am a disliker...