I like the looks of Accuphase gear and their solid state stuff is decent as far as solid state goes. For tube gear, VAC is nice looking and the no-nonsense look of Engstrom Sound sort of appeals to me.
But, I must admit I care very little about the look. An Audio Note dealer once had be listen to the top of the line AN-E speaker he had in the shop. It sounded really good, so I inquired about the amps that were running the speakers. He looked at me like I was an idiot because the amps were the Audio Note Kageki; I own a pair of Kageki. I did not recognize the amp because the first thing I did when I put it in my system was to install it backwards (ass forward) because the power switch is hard to reach at the back of the amp. I had only seen the backside of that amp for years.
When Vitus Audio first came on the market, a friend and I saw their room at CES. There was a very young man who was manning the room. After we had listened for a bit, he came over and asked what we thought of the gear. My friend responded: "It sounds like crap, but it looks really nice." The young man was thrilled with that response; it turns out he designed the casework and had nothing to do with the circuitry.
