February 2010- Whether your musical tastes run toward the Beach Boys, Billy Joel or Beyonce, when your favorite song comes on, the first response is to crank up the dial and sing along.

To maximize the enjoyment of listening to music, it helps to have a good stereo system. Accordingly, when it comes to these devices, it's critical they have high sound quality. But it doesn't hurt if the stereo system components have at least a certain amount of aesthetic appeal.

Such is the case with the prototype vacuum tube hybrid stereo amplifier designed by Koichi Futatsumata, founder of Case-Real, a design firm based in Fukuoka, Japan.

The amplifier was designed for Elekit, Fukuoka, Japan, an electronics manufacturer with a reputation for making affordable high-end audio equipment available in kit form. With the prototype product, however, the company sought to depart from the norm.

"Futatsumata was commissioned to design an amplifier that would be sold ready-assembled to appeal to a younger generation," according to Dezeen.com.

Not-so heavy metal
The vacuum tube amplifier weighs 2.6 kg. and is made of steel and aluminum. Specifically, steel encases the circuitry and mechanical parts that are exposed--to facilitate cooling--in most amplifiers.

"So that a vacuum tube light stands out, the mechanical structure and parts, which [are] usually exposed outside to radiate heat, are kept inside, and the top aluminum plate functions as a heat sink instead," according to a statement from Case-Real.

Additionally, the amplifier's controls have been integrated into a pair of aluminum dials that are mounted to the front of the device.

"[It] is an embodiment of the concept [that] symbolically gives an accent on vacuum tubes on the top, supported by aluminum dials on the front, integrating all controls thereinto," according to a statement from Case-Real. FFJ