Think inside the box! (First!)

The other day a friendly chap called Bernie brought in his Campion amplifier for an upgrade and a general service. When we took it in we realised his amp was one of the first few sold in the UK and it is about 13 years old. I have to say it is always quite exciting to see such a unit back after so long as we hardly ever see them back being such a reliable product especially the Campion was our first commmercial product and commpletely hand made!

From past work experience I realised that even the most robust circuit designs often fail outside the laboratory caused by so many factors: temperature, moisture, dust, foreign obbjects... they all call really screw things up inside a product. I'll give you an example: Heat generates air current flows which draws in dust and don't forget gravity of course. The dust lands on electrical parts, which has static, will then hang on to the components and over time this layer of dust gets thicker and stickier... which causes more heat to gather... See the cycle? Then of course moisture can get in and start corroding electrically charged parts... All thses nasties accumulate over time and not many products escapes the ultimmate price!

When designing the Campion we wanted this baby to last so we gave it a few tricks to achieve longivity: Quality component choice, correctly temp. rated parts, and protect it with the most stable enviroment possible. For this reason, the Campion and all other Sonneteer products, is inside nearly sealed case. No grills, vents, slots whatsoever. Then to make sure the internal enviroment remains constant, so that the unit performs constantly too, we gave it some low efficiency but oversized heat sinks which also formed part of the entire chassis. What this does is to give it sufficient cooling with excellent temperature stability because a high mass low efficiency heat sink is far more stable to ambient temperature changes than a low mass high efficiency heat sink, so the unuit performs consistantly.

Anyway, enough talking! Just take a look inside Bernie's Campion which has been in use almost every day and has never been serviced for 13 years! The shine is still there as if we built it 10 minutes ago with hardly a spec of dust on it! We have checked its calibration and being in such stable enviroment, the drift recorded hardly warranted a tweak but we are fastidious like that... To be honest the drift was probably because the mains voltage drift from where we first made them!

I'm glad that Bernie wanted to upgraded the Campion with an internal phonostage, otherwise I would feel bad charging for such an easy service!

Blue Ray Blues....

Finally, you can get a BlueRay player for less than £100! and it's a branded one not some Somy Hyachi Fanaponic branded one!!! In fact it's a Philips with nearly all the bells and whistles on it!!! My god! I remember seeing the technology being shown at CES in Las Vegas some 5-6 years ago when it was the size of a microwave and they told me it will be ready in about 3 or 4 years... hmmm was there ever a cash cow period for them? I don't know but in the beginning many opted for the PS3 for its "bargain" BlueRay capability and at the same time the PS3 made some serious losses too...

The past 30 days we sold out our all Byron CD players, something we started making about 10 years ago... for the price of about 11 of those BlueRay players... so would I suggest making a BlueRay player? Nope... streaming is the future for me (well, to me anyway).

Service service service!!!

I think time and time again people are forgetting about servicing a customer PROPERLY!

I went to a McD's the other day with a friend... and to save time we decided to go thru the drive in order to get faster fast food, or fast food faster! First there was this girl with a wireless PDA, a wireless headsets with mic, and other gizmos to take our orders. Then we were moved along to the next window where there was this psychic person with good math ability who knew what we ordered and the exact money we had to pay.... then we were moved along to the next window to collect our order... Erm... but we were told to drive along to a parking spot to wait for our orders to be delivered, becasue they were busy in the restaurant... 15 minutes later the order finally arrived but there were no ketchup or knapkins in the bag... sigh... 5 people to serve fast food 15 minutes late and badly!

This is the thing that bothered me. It's fast food right? It's a set menu right? Their job isn't all that difficult right? I haven't ordered a Kobe beef burger did I? But they had people equipped to the teeth to take my money in a split second and they think they have served me? Not even close... I know it's only a McD's but I am definitely "Lovin' it!"

Sadly, this seems to be happening everywhere else too with all these point and click online stores and you still wonder when will it ever arrive! Yes okay if you are getting a bargain then perhaps, and I don't mind waiting for something that's worth waiting for, as long as I'm being kept informed... but if you are selling on speed with (ahem) quality then you better be damn good at both!

Rant over!

To tell or not to tell...

Hmmm just completed the basic design of my next baby... and as usual I can't comment too much on here since we always unveil the product only when it's ready... kind of common practice in all new product concepts...

...but this time is different, I can't even tell Haider... oppss!

Found an interesting book!

Anyway... yeah... my last entry remined me while on my way to meet those exclusive people... I bought a book cos I had a little over an hour to waste....

The title of the book was "Who Moved My Cheese?" After reading it I can only say: Get it!

(Especially if you are a HiFi dealer!)

Back in action

Haven't managed to type much during most of last week and this week due one's index finger was bandaged most of the time... so while my finger's been taking a break, the good ol' mind hasn't... so whats been going on last week?

Well first of all we are close to completion in the design and testing of the new Sonneteer prototype for CES, remaining to do is to get the casing sorted which hopefully will all be done by the end of this month, in time so we can take a much needed break during Christmas... for once!

Apart from projects, I have been catching up with a few dealers up and down the country to see what can we do for them to prepare for Christmas and the new season coming, and Haider has been doing pretty much the same with some overseas customers. The response we got back from the UK was that the conventional products aren't really moving so some had to discount and some decided to sell the lower end stuff, or the "safe bet" stuff, which of course competes on prices only... (means you don't make much money!). So yep, a lot of moaning...

Now without saying I told you so, we saw this coming 3-4 years back and that vision sparked off the BORO project where the Morpheus is the first to come from it. We wanted to offer something different, stylish and still offers the highest sound quality worthy of the Sonneteer name. Now with the Morpheus we have managed to enter markets and shops we couldn't before, and soon you can catch a glimpse of the Morpheus in more exclusive places... :o)

Time flies...

Wow! it's been 2 weeks since my last post... boy did time fly!

To be honest I can't really remember all that I did last 2 weeks... it went like a blurr... Oh yes we went to the SetSquared event in at the ICE London last week... no! the week before!!! and it was a really good experience... and what a place the Civil Engineers have in London just next to Big Ben! We met lots of very interesting people while exhibiting our business and then listened to 6 finalist's presentation... and then back to more exhibiting... and bigging ourselves up! Okay that was 2 days accounted for... the rest is still a mystery lol...

Morpheus at the SetSquared event in at the ICE London
Photography by André Regini, Kingbridge Photographic - www.kingbridge.co.uk

Oh yes, we have tested our latest prototype for about 4 weeks now, all going well and looks like we have almost finalised its specifications now... What is it? Well, watch this space around CES time cos I ain't telling! Oh yes, that reminded me, I was working on the exterior design and at the same time preparing for a day visiting customers in Birmingham and Dorking the following week...

Meanwhile back at HQ..., we're taking turns in building our orders. Business has been slow in the summer months but as expected, it picked up quite a bit in mid September with an order on almost every product in our range! Interestingly the biggest seller of this lot is the Sedley USB phono stage! Good to see something we designed back in 1998 (USB update added in 2005) is still doing tremendously well :o)

More later...

Less is definitely more.

Been having a quiet weekend apart from the excitement of having a near disaster with a burst water main at 1 a.m. outside my home! Today I am chilling, getting ready for a busy week ahead for Sonneteer where personally I need to get some ideas on paper by hook or by crook...

Part of any project development is to set out a list of goal functions that the new product must have, nice to have and whatever it can also have. However it is far too easy to over do it just for the sake of having it. Think of it this way, I am at home listening to my Morpheus: It's got over 16,000 channels, 10 presets, linked up to my Buffalo network drive with all my album collections in it... but I am just listening to one of my 3 favourite radio stations online.

Unlike other systems out there, to access all these functions is no more difficult than use than a 90's car stereo, designed to be easily controlled while you are doing something more important. In a car that would be driving, with the Morpheus, that would be listening to your favourite tunes. On the Morpheus there are no fancy graphics, no touch screen, or computers required to work with it. In fact the display of the Morpheus can be programmed so that it switches off after 30 seconds and let you enjoy what you bought the unit for- the music (technically that also improves the sound quality).

One thing that I really like is the remote control for the Morpheus. We did not want to rely on a touch screen thing that you need to look at it every time you want to press a button, or having to charge it daily like a mobile phone. So the Morpheus remote have proper buttons so that after a few days usage you will be using it without even looking at it, and it only needs charging up around once every 6-12 months -from any USB port, including the one on the Morpheus. The battery cycle based on normal usage should last you over 150 years...




So all functions and no gimmicks right? "Erm... but the Morpheus remote has a powerful torch built in*, isn't that a gimmick?" Well, think what you like but when I had that burst water mains incident last night... while all my neighbours were scrambling to find a working torch, I knew exactly where mine was... and it wasn't flat either!

______________________________________________________

WARNING: Tech Speak!
*For the internal rechargeable battery to last as long as it does, occasionally the battery needs to be subjected to a higher discharge rate than the remote control function can muster. So this gimmicky torch is actually there to wake up the battery every now and then... giving it some exercise! :o)

WARNING: Geek Speak!
A note for the techno-junkies who wants touch screen network control... I would suggest you to buy an i-Pod touch if you haven't got several already. Then spend $5 on a piece of software called the plugplayer (link: http://www.plugplayer.com/) and you can control your Morpheus, arrange play lists etc from a different room, if that's what you really want to do.

Altaniuminuminuminum..???

Had the pleasure of meeting a certain Mr. Nicholas Shrager last friday at the "W Surrey and NE Hants Innovation & Growth" breakfast seminars learning about how to take your design beyond prototype. There were all sorts of innovators there with their ideas in different stages of development... So what did Mr. Shrager do?

He came up with a new metal call Altanium and if I recalled it correctly, it's stronger and than steel and lighter than Aluminium too. "Wow!" I said. Realising that I was sounding like a geek I then muttered: "Interesting..."... Fortunately Mr. Shrager then started to tell me in detail about this new metal and all its capabilities and yes, it did deserved a "Wow". I guess he's got my attention! Its application is huge and the befefits are real.

From a very young age I have been constantly introduced to new raw materials by my father, an artists of any medium (pic: Stainless Pegasus in Hong Kong by Antonio Casadei), and he kept bringing home new materials to mess about with. He has made stuff from just about any materials you can possible imagine and when he ran out of stuff to try, he created them from scratch! Every time he sees something new, you can hear his mind buzzing away already... It's a bit like the joke about when a Chinese person is watching a wild life documentary, the only thing he or she is thinking about is how to cook them! Well, I'm a bit like that too... and same goes with materials... ;o)

Mr. Shrager then handed me a sample of Altanium - a piece of pipe, grey anodised. My immediate reaction was: "this needs to be Blinged-Up man!"... Even though the heavy industrial application of this metal is huge, I can't help thinking how to make this material look the business, and it wasn't long before I started coming out with all sorts of objects in my mind... a watch, a brake component, a pinion etc... or as Mr Shrager suggested: a tyre stud, but on a key ring, highly polished and with Altanium stamped on it :o)

Wonder if I can use this metal in Sonneteer ;o)

Hopefully I will be catching up with Nick soon and have a beer and see how his creation is coming along...

Back on the shelf...

While thinking about projects, I recall in the past I toyed with a clam shell shaped design, with a grill, milled from solid block for a smaller unit. Most of our stuff have been pretty straight and angular, so perhaps a dabble in the curved world isn't so bad... after all, the planet isn't flat right?

The only problem I have with rounded shapes is that they seem to age rather quickly, and often get the "Retro" tag which can work for or against it. Anyway the concept went on until when I got back from China and Haider shown me the PURE Sensia which pretty much knocked it on the head for me.

Other than that there are still remaining concerns that it may not be small enough and for some maybe a bit too retro. Personally, I just don't want it to look like a retro fan heater!

Okay, make it sho!

So what's new? The next project's brief (project grief?!?!) we have in mind is to create a range of products complimenting the Morpheus. We have several ideas so the difficulty is in deciding which one to start with. So all the lines of thought will be running in parallel until we can pick the one that most sense first. As per usual, I have no idea what it will look like yet... so I am just looking around for some inspiration.

I saw this today on the KLM mag and I'm already sure this could come back to haunt me and destroy me, but in the mean time here's a picture to remind me and I can't say too much about it :o)

I find a lot of Dutch designs rather interesting. It is all too easy just to stay with the pack and love the Danes and the Swedes, who are masters of simplicity and neutral look.... and even though all their sofas looks lovely, I probably won't buy one because they never looked that comfy! Get one from Italy please :)

The Dutch ways seems to make me smile! Their designs always managed to convey a certain sense of humour and they are not afraid to be a bit bold with whatever they are doing. Even at their macho best they can still be rather cute. Best of all the Dutch doesn't seem to give you all the typical b.s. like ..."traditional clean simple lines in tune with nature..." blah blah. Instead, they seem say: "Vee make it lijke sho!". If you are interested in designs in general do have a look at their stuff... very cool indeed.

Oh by the way, it's Dutch Design Week soon (17-25 October), have a look if you want to find out more: http://www.dutchdesignweek.nl/

Back to that pic, since its not a secret that I like reflective surfaces (re: Sonneteer Byron, Orton Bronte system etc), so no wonder that caught my eye. Mirror reflects its surrounding, it adds another dimension and at the same time "bling". I just can't stop looking at it (not into it!!!) cos it changes all the time and from every angle it's different... but very careful not to over do it!

China here I come (or went)

Right, been rather busy preparing my trip to China so haven't been around my blog much, and to be honest I wasn't really in the mood of writing about the older Sonneteer products stuff... I hope I've done enough just to kick off the blog and I'm sure I will come back to write about the earlier Sonneteer designs.

Anyway, right now I am on a plane to Amsterdam and then on to China a bit later.... I have already spent 3 days in Milan and the last time I was here I remember spending 10 days sketching the all new Sonneteer conceptual product, aka the BORO project (aka the now Morpheus). So its quite funny that once again starting from Milan, I'm gathering my thoughts and and inspirations for my next design just like back in 2006.

I'm not saying Milan inspires me, its prolly more to do with me being away from it all that helps me getting my ideas down. I have no internet, no phone calls and food cooked for me :). I don't know where the Morpheus look came from but loosely it was inspired by black coffee or crude oil and that insect that walks on water by not breaking the surface tension (water strider)... then I threw in a Movado watch for good measure!



Now if we had the budget, the slope of the surface towards the ball would be much more organic and the black glass would look fluid. However that would require a cast acrylic and some serious polish process which is prohibitively expensive and making the project impossible to happen for a small company like ours. So the compromise of having a large chamfer seem to work perfectly while maintaining the look and made it just about manufacturable. I said just because we had over 25 samples made with different process refinement to get the look right at the right cost! I just wanted it to look really glossy and almost "wet", with the spheres poking out of it.

Morpheus system:

Morpheus close-up:

Trying to get the gloss surface to work with the chamfer to create that surface tention look.

More about the BORO project coming soon... :o)

Let Jagged pt 2

Like UK, Italy has a tradition for Hi-Fi but that's probably where the similarity ends. For sometime now, their electronics seems to have stuck in the valve age and this suspicion was confirmed after my recent visit to the Milan Hi Fi show. Their speakers are often built like premium Italian furniture (which is nice) and sometimes they even have cows on them (erm, not for me)! They are very traditional warm sounding and a tad romantic in design with their earthy and retro looks. While I'm sure they are still shfiting some units, I personally think they have played that theme to death - just like Jaguar cars did with their "traditional-ness" old hat... until the new XF (below is the prototype).

Jaguar finally realised that all those ivory dials, acres of chrome, polished wood, cow, and with looks dating back to the beautiful Mk2 is just not cutting it anymore with the new breed of luxury car buyers. Jaguar needed to change by getting rid of what they thought people wanted and get some wow factor back on board. Given that they had Rover as a fuddy-duddy barometer, I suppose it wasn't that much of a thumb in the air decision after all.

I think the production XF is a great looking car even though I disagree with their "surprised!" look head lights, which wasn't on their prototype. I got a feeling that was a Ford's touch to remind us who's boss and fair enough, but to me the Ford Ka did a better job as those ones on the Jag reminds me of the Daewoo Matiz 2.... No matter though, this four door Aston looking Jaguar XF would suit me just fine, even with those odd head lights... I'll have mine Black and chrome please!

I think by maintaining the "traditional look and feel" of a brand can wear down a well earned heritage becasue the image of the product is actually standing still and the whole thing just becomes too predictable ("same old, same old...." comes to mind!)... Instead, the focus should perhaps be kept on the very same company ethos that have earned the companay's heritage in the first place.

With Sonneteer our priorities have always been sound quality, innovative design, simplicity and British made... we have had some "same old same old..." issues too, but now our innovative design lives not just under the skin but fronts it aswell.

Let Jagged...

Sorry this blog seems to have stalled while I was touring China the past 2 weeks or so (via Milan)... and back in Milan is where I am now, feeling exhausted and jet lagged.

Good news is (for some), since it took almost 20 hours to fly there and 14 to get back; plus a lot of idle hours in between airports, trips and not understanding Mandarin TV, I have been doing a lot of key bashing on my XPERIA to blog down stuff... so when I get back to the UK and overcome my jet lag, I will update this blog with those special moments in China haha!

By the way, news is that I have extended my stay at Milan to check out the Milan Hi-Fi show, oh joy!

first designs...

We started with an amplifier and soon realised that there is only so much could be done with standard box! To keep things simple, a symmetrical design concept was used to simplify design and future system matching. Instead of spending money to to hide the screws like everyone else was at that time, a simpler way was to turned them it into a design feature (sort of inspired by Cartier watches of that era)! By using contrasting materials natural shines and tones, together with a clever use of colours, this was the first Sonneteer system:

Not bad for a first effort I think. Apart from being not being typical Hi-Fi black, we used a blue LED light for power indicator, and also we used a blue CD display. The amplifier front panel was brushed while the knobs were semi-polished in order to give it the required contrast between the knob and the front panel, otherwise they would have appeared the same since they were made with the same material.

The Byron CD player was a rather more challenging project both technically and aesthetically. I have previously designed a simple single aluminium front panel prototype but that was rejected later because it wasn't we were looking for and did not have enough contrast to match our amplifiers. Also, for the black option, it would simply be too dark (ie dull) if everything was black.

So a mirror polished stainless steel inner panel was used to great effect be it in a Silver or Black system: Anyway, the above systems were developed over 4 years or so and we have enjoyed great success with them internationally. They also formed the basis of the Sonneteer "look" that have carried onto other products in our range, including a couple of amplifiers and a CD Player.

So there you are, a very brief history of Sonneteer in the early years... for now I don't want to elaborate too much as I am sure I will be referring back to some history as this blog moves forward.

Lessons learned:

• Aluminium is a beautiful material.
• Use different finishing processes to get the effect you want from the same material.
• Mirror is NOT silver, it's a chameleon that changes colour with your surroundings.
• Stainless steel don't rust, so use it!
  

Early years...

Let me see... might as well start with a little history-

Sonneteer is a British High-end, Hi-Fi company co-owned by myself and Haider Bahrani (I think he's got a blog somewhere in here too), and since 1995, we have been making a range of traditional high end hi-fi for music lovers.

We started at a time where almost every Hi-Fi products were housed in a case similar to the industrial standard 19" rack mounting system, some even went as far as including 19" rack mounting "wings and handle bars" to make it look like a "pro" machine! Well I guess if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck... that's the theory anyway... you see, serious audio needs to look... erm... serious.


So Hi Fi didn't have to look pretty as long as it sounds fantastic! Hmmm...







Anyway, with Sonneteer is where I first got involved with high-end product design, both inside and outside :o)

right, let's run with it...

Inspiration.

"when it's not there, there's not much you can do about it." - Remo Casadei

Like now... so I will be back later... :o)