Looks? Self indulgent? Oh dear.
How does it SOUND?!! I am a OLD engineer. Senile. Decrepit. Sobering. Forgetting my own name. Blithering in my dotage. But, I am still a university educated E.E. And a HAM for 50 years
You lads need to do some hard core learning. Gear like this won't look the same after you obtain some science knowledge.
I presently still have my all valve Hi-Fi gear, —much of it my own design and build, but I recognise that the latest class D circuits and components make my valves SOUND silly —except as a filter to compensate my old standard groove discs ( I have a LOT of pre-tape discs).
20 years ago, I designed & built my main valve power amp. A standard class A/B & A design, with a few modern tricks, modern components, over-sized power x-former (made in Chicago!), 4 uf proximity caps at the plates, about 400 uf of electrolytics (after the initial filter stage). EF86s for the pre, and 12AU7 to split the phase (I can pop in any octal power valve, from a 6L6 beam tetrode to the largest kinkless tetrode you can find. I have never had to fix a thing. I figured that I would not need a better amp...ever. Nope. I was wrong. New Class D technology is rewriting the book.
Even my beloved (1963, last production run) McIntosh C20 is in question. And I completely rebuilt it with an independent back plane, new caps. 1% metal film resistors, more phono compensation settings for lacquers, and better S/N, distortion specs than any valve preamp McIntosh would make until about 15 years ago. If I used some of the new digital switching and reed switches, I could match the current McIntosh valve preamp. —mine still has some bleed, but who listens to two sources at one time? I'd like to build a better Pultec. That would be more useful.
As for those pointed feet, they are resonance waiting to happen.
In a power amp it should not matter. But, on a turntable it might. In the end, pointed feet are just another resonance point that does NOT need to be there. If you want to close isolate your speakers or turntable, try a plumbing supply store. See the foam rubber seals used for the main seal on a loo. They are not expensive and work better than anything else I have used. —but, they only last for about 7 -8 years. They begin to crumble. Oh well, another 20 bucks shot to hell.
Aesthetics? I think the 1950s RCA/Western Electric board built for the Ampex 301 is the most beautiful audio gear I have seen. From the I/O transformers to the sealed heavy duty pots, and a tied off harness that reminds of Michelangelo's David. Either that or WEWs millon watt medium wave x-mitter with the marble chassis plates. No linear for RF in those days. The water-cooled modulator valve is the same power as the RF final They made some beautiful statues and fountains to cool them.
Plenty of other threads on here that discuss the technical aspects of amps. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm not a fan of the look of the new Woo, but others might.
