I agree the Gershman Avant Garde have a nice contemporary shape, though I always disliked the out-of-place-looking yellow driver. Looks like the "Grand" Avant Garde has some more interesting grill covers though.
But their top of the line "Posh" speaker....egads! Saw it at a show and it was one of the most off-putting, industrial "shop prototype" looking speakers I’ve seen. The cobbled-together aesthetic is a real eye-sore IMO.
cd13,
I love the look of the timeless classic box designs (as long as they’re no darker than maple/cherry to rosewood - no zebra sriped ugliness please). .....
The Harbeth SLH5s stand out for me. Their grille and particularly their geometry just looks damn near perfect to my eyes.
I feel the same way about a well-proportioned old-school speaker. And the Harbeths are particularly nice for their wood finish and the way they are designed with the grills in mind, so the grills sit neatly and deliberately inset in to the front, where many speaker grills break the aesthetic flow by looking like something you just add on afterward.
But it’s also the case, at least for me, that a speaker has to look comfortable in a room. I bought the Harbeth SuperHL5plus to downsize from big Thiel 3.7 speakers. Since I liked the aesthetics of the Harbeths, and they were so much smaller, and I was dealing with a somewhat small listening room, I figured the Harbeths would win the aesthetics battle. But it turned out not to be the case. My room has a contemporary look, and speakers have to be pulled out pretty far in to the room. The Harbeths just looked "wrong" in there, out of place, jarring. Even though the Thiels were far larger, they had a more sleek, modern look, though with a comfy nice wood grain. Both my wife and I and others felt the big Thiels looked more "right" in the room. Even more so for my current Thiel 2.7s.
As for "zebra striped ugliness" if you mean for instance the ebony finish on the Harbeths (or other speakers) there we depart. I love a good rich ebony and I deliberately sought out that finish in my Thiel 2.7s which make them match the room beautifully (the rest of the room is in deep brown, black, and cream colors).
Maple is usually dull to me and, aside from the obvious atrocities of oak or black ash finish, cherry is my least favorite finish. I remember when cherry-wood was the rage in the 90’s and everyone did cherry. To me it’s simultaneously a boring wood and brings to mind the time of "Shabby chic" furniture and neon windbreakers of the 90’s.
But...hey...that’s just one audiophile’s grumbly opinions ;-)
