Could you help me with my uni project? please!

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Kevin 90

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Hi and i was wondering any one could tell me what they lookout for when they consider buying a new sound system (Ipod docks, speakers, sterio, any thing really).

What it is, i am currently studing product design in uni and for my project i have to design a new sterio/sound system. As i am doing a design course i need to know mainly about the aesthetics (looks) which you would like and consider when thinking of a high-end sound system. For example would you say a high end product is very curvy or prehaps square, any materials like dark woods with glass, are there any barnds in paticuler you like or favour over others and why. Really any thing even somthing as basic as colour would help me.
Thanks

(If you cant find the words maby you could send me a link of an example and maby coment on that what you like and also what you dont linke)
 
Good design should be dictated by function, not aesthetics. I doubt many people here will admit to buying a product for the sole reason that it looks good. High-end audio is about the best possible sound, not about having the best looking equipment. With that said, some people are prone to listening with their eyes as well as their ears !!!!

Good luck with the research mate, and good on you for using the initative and coming asking the people who use the equipment.
 
Hi
If you look round the market place you will find between companies they have one style that goes through their range. Look at say Naim or Linn. Company identity through design is very high on their adgenda.
Colours tend to be but not always limited to Black and Silver except there is more finishes on offer in the speaker ranges. Take a look at a naim Uniti which combines virtually all that you would require in a one box system, just add speakers. The company Im sure design to hit various parts of the market place so if you design a system you will need to look at what type of customer your aiming at.
For example if its the youth end of the market, it for me would be bright computer controlled mp3 based item and portable ie Ipod.
So in my opinion your projected market controls your basic design.
 
Speak to a chap called Hoopsontoast over on Hifiwigwam. I think he completed the same course as you at Coventry last year.
Personally looks are important to me but not the last word in what I look for. You will see great consistency in brands who market a particular footprint , small boxes like Cyrus, Quad or Naim. Going into that small but able niche might be productive.
 
Start with a historical survey of style

http://www.vintage-radio.com/manufacturers-and-sets/index.html

Remember Dansette cornered the cheap domestic UK market for years

http://www.dansettes.co.uk/

Grundig's style is worth tracing

http://www.grundig.de

as is Quad's

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/

B and O have always placed great emphasis on style

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/

For a firm that built "good solid stuff" but still won a design council award for its A48 II Amp and Tuner see

http://www.sugdenaudio.com/


The Gramophone Magazine has an extensive on-line archive and that will include reviews and pictures of products over the years.

Google image searches can turn up some interesting stuff.

Will that do for starters?

Good luck, but do watch your spelling and grammar!
 
Personally, I like the look of Cyrus stuff most. It's close to the under-stated black box but it has a few angles and curves in key areas that make all the difference. I like the curves around the heatsinks, the carved in name on top and the buttons being angled up for easy access. Quality materials are another thing, like the mainly one piece cast enclosure.


CD+PSXBK.JPG

4425879358_817e15ea43.jpg
 
Kevin, you can consider the market to be split into two camps. The consumer level stuff, that you can buy anywhere, B&W Zepplins, Ipod docks from Bose, all that sort of stuff that is bought to sound ok and work in the home.

Then there is 'us lot' who typically buy based on sounds, or at least much more heavily towards sound than looks. I'm not saying we like to buy ugly HIFI, but the practical considerations strongly outweigh the visual.

As with any product- set your target buyer, set your target price and then fill in features, functionailty and fascia.

Simon (BaHons Industrial design, Sheffield Hallam- marketing director of U.S. sporting goods manufacturer).
 
Sound over form - take horn speakers with compression drivers - sound great but they take a lot of room and looks can be questionable...
I recently learned that I would rather have pretty much any front end on a system with a decent amp driving front loaded horns for treble and mid and a bass backloaded horn (for sensible compactness) than a really hi end front end and radiating speakers! Of course I am not forced to choose so like high end both ends!
 
The WAF factor is very important - this normally very discrete & unobtrusive hence I think the very small units you now see especially for the small european homes - number of ways for design - best is to rethink everything & ask consumer questions to back up your project - your tutors want to see your ideas not a rehash of the marketed products - nothing has to be housed in a box especially speakers.. these are simply the easiest thing to make.

Controls should be easy to use & readable.
 
Sorry I missed this.

Looks and quality are very important. Before anybody listens to a HIFI product they form an opinion when they see it in a magazine based on its looks. If a product looks really cheap and nasty would you expect it to be sound good?

I am sure this amp I found on google may sound ok but based on its looks nobody would buy it. Not that it would be legal to sell anyway!

3230605279_5f1276e4be_o.jpg


Functional and clean design is often built into high end products. Less is more in the HIFI world. On lower end products aimed at the youth market is all about flashing lights and gizmos to impress their mates.

I actually have a book on HIFI design but I can't remember what it was called. It is a few years out of date now and stops at the first generation of Ipods.

From my point of fiew I like them to be as little buttons as possible but I want the build quality to be solid, that in my mind rightly or wrongly gives me the impression that the components are also good quality.
 
I look for the best sound quality for the lowest price.

For example this means that I'm attracted to big ugly low-WAF vintage speakers. They sound good and are very affordable as most people don't want that type of speaker in their listening rooms. Their loss is my gain.
 
amazingtrade said:
Sorry I missed this.

Looks and quality are very important. Before anybody listens to a HIFI product they form an opinion when they see it in a magazine based on its looks. If a product looks really cheap and nasty would you expect it to be sound good?

I am sure this amp I found on google may sound ok but based on its looks nobody would buy it. Not that it would be legal to sell anyway!

3230605279_5f1276e4be_o.jpg
Click to expand...
Very few people are intersted in what is inside, and if they were direct wiring and symetrical layout would convince a few people that a fair bit of thought had gone into that design. Put it in a nice shiny box and it would sell if it sounded good. Truth is that is how many designs begin life, a simple PCB and a nice case would be all that was required to move a bread board design to a production unit (for illustration purposes, obviously other things need to be done...)
 
Kits and part units are sold all the time, especially in the grey markets encouraged by Ebay where the normal processes you go through to get CE accreditation and other functional and safety certification are effectively bypassed. The unit pictured could be sold that way and the seller would only need to include a comment like 'add your own case' and they will be unchallenged.
 
I was meaning if the amp in that photo was a completed product. I remember once being impressed by the build quality of a Tangent amp. I needed a cheap replacement one so I bought it.

After about five minutes of using it I realised it was actually awful and took it back and exchanged to the Cambridge I have now which is currrently faulty.
 

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