This HiFi Rose RA180 Integrated Amplifier looks absolutely gorgeous and according to reports sounds good too.
But in 23 do you want all these knobs with potentially noisy potentiometer in the future
In a word, no. Input selection, volume and balance only !
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Steam punk.
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Being a Luxman user, I’ve got no problem with knobs. But execution and layout is key. The Rose has always looked, to me, to be a blatant rip off of Nagra aesthetic yet a massive fail to quite rip it off successfully.
Each to their own.
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Looks hideous to me - I prefer discreet looks and have never liked silver colour fronts bristling with knobs or other controls and meters etc., like all too many Japanese products from the 1970s. As for rotary controls, do they necessarily have greater adverse effect on sound quality than alternatives such as volume adjusted in the digital realm? Slider potentiometers I think are more questionable, not least because it is harder to isolate the track from the environment (though still widely used on recording studio mixing desks).
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I would certainly prefer a knob on my Nova …
Definitely not for me, but I do admire HR’s attempt to challenge the usual audio box aesthetic. Curious as to how it sounds though (would like to hear one at some point). Just wonder how much of the twirly knob design budget could have gone in to optimising the internal components for sound quality.
That HR looks like an utter dog’s dinner IMO. I haven’t used the knob on my Nova since I bought it so I am very much not fussed about having a knob
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I personally prefer mechanical interfaces and having a dedicated button for everything. Effect on sound is another matter.
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It’s fascinating that you think it looks gorgeous. To me it looks like a piece of cheap crap, totally dreadful, a complete dog’s breakfast. I wouldn’t have it if you paid me.
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Come on now, tell us what you really think?
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This confuses me, as it has one. I like the knob on mine; it’s good to be able to turn it down without the need to find the remote or pick up the phone and open the app.
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I would, but the forum software doesn’t allow it.
I would prefer the knob on the front , the remote usually sits atop the Nova and the Nova is in the rack.
I like the Cambridge Audio design, but after 30 plus years of Naim ownership , the Nova may be the end product
The Nova, of course, is not designed to go in a rack. Maybe you need a 222!
The top position makes sense perhaps on a floorstanding monolith like the Statement, and maybe ok on a device that may be moved around, but otherwise I think controls on the front are better than on top, allowing greater flexibility in placement - doesn’t matter then if on a sideboard, on a top shelf, slotted onto a shelf with another close above, or in a cupboard.
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Personally, I don’t like the look. I also think Naim has got it right in that you have a few basic controls on the fascia, with most of them being controlled by an app. Though this can be frustrating when your wi-fi router dies and you lose most functionality, fortunately in my case I have a TT and could turn to that input and listen to vinyl rather than ripped CDs. I did also dig out my Marantz CD10 and play CDs the quaint old-fashioned way 
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That looks like a very high quality reel-to-reel tape deck made by a (Swiss?) manufacturer about 20 or 30 years ago. I can’t remember the manufacturer - something is saying Uher to me, but I don’t think that’s the one.
It was quite small, compact even.
Welcome back to the forum! 
It seems to be trying to ape a sort of faux-Nagra style but unfortunately, for me, it fails to pull it off. With Nagra you feel that form follows function, whereas here it just appears to be a mish-mash - like the knobs and button were just thrown at the box and put wherever they landed.
Still, it’s interesting to see someone trying to do something different, even if they’re unsuccessfully trying to copy the very individual style of another brand.
What do all the cogs by what I can only assume is the volume control do?
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