Ugliest Component of the Year 2024!

Anything from Wilson Audio. 

Yes beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I’m in process of trying out some new gear. Looks, size and cost all count in addition to sound quality of course.

At one extreme I was strongly considering an Accuphase integrated amp. Lovely! Also fairly big and pricey.

I ended up choosing a plain Jane Schit pre-amp and a fairly non-descript looking new GanFet Class D amp that delivers a lot for the $$$ and in a very small package! Beautiful. I’d call the gear utilitarian looking perhaps but not ugly. Something to be said for plain and simple. But that Accuphase…..

Tekton:    No thanks.  To each their own 

I have a set of tekton 1812 and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.it is designed after the v 12 engine so for car guys in the man cave it fits in.there are some famous people that own these i won't mention names but are in rock bands and develop audio equipment.i agree they don't look as pretty as my focal utopia or kharma but they sound great.they cost 30 times less.im sure I'll catch some criticism  on this.like a fool and his money ha ha.stay healthy and enjoy the music.i also like my mcintosh 12000 cd bet it was alot more expensive than the one discussed. Alot of companies have low level components for entry level up to high end .focal and oothersmcintosh just released the all in one amp streamer.interesting to see what bose does

@lalitk Good topic...we should call out the bad and ugly as well as the good.

@oldrooney I owned an EHF-200. They are not pretty up close. The whole space/mil build thing is just marketing and the sound is meh and the "transferrable lifetime warranty" is BS. The unit has to go back to Roger to be "re-certified for $500-$750 + 2 way shipping."

It’s just a ploy to make your buyer contact Roger and then he’ll sell one of his "used/demo" units at less than your asking price and way less hassle.

I traded mine in at TMR (bless them for taking it off my hands) and the transformer was barley attached with a bolt that was too short - they fixed it for resale and had to take the unit apart to do so.

@macg19 I don’t know, I kind of like the red powder coat, features, construction, and warranty of the Rogers products; although I will admit that the layout of some of the units is a bit of a head-scratcher. Tubes are open, but the transformers are caged? Must be the way they do it in outer space. Had never heard of the company before.

@otherworld74 I think you’ve definitely got a winner there. You’ve got my vote on the entries thus far. 

Wadax are reported to sound amazing - state of the art. It just doesn’t do it for me.

@otherworld74 I'm not as offended by Wadax - seems like at least there is a method to the madness

@fredapplegate Nice one!

In a McIntosh component system including their speakers, this CD player will fit right in and may not be the ugliest unit in the system even with the lights off.

Is that a Ken doll record player?

when you realize a 'Stylish Wooden Finish' could have been chosen, unforgivable decision making

In Stock NOW

"The MCD85 can play store bought SACDs and CDs as well as music from homemade CD or DVD Data Discs."

Store bought SACDs! The fancy kind. I guess it won't play the ones you buy online. That's a real limitation.

Wadax components get great reviews, cost a fortune, and look like a cheap boom box.  https://wadax.eu/reference/

While McIntosh will always have multiple entries on this list, I believe the true winner of this year's UCOTY Award goes to ML1 Loudspeaker Mk II. Truly it answers questions no one asked while ignoring multiple basic rules of design and acoustical engineering. Uglier than hammered doggy-doo, the ML1 evinces an esthetic not gone too soon, and takes one back, kicking and screaming.

Here is my entry, pick one: https://rogershighfidelity.com/

These are a close 1 and 2 but my vote goes to Tekton.  

 I worked in industrial design. All I can say is yikes.
Bent

@tony1954 ,

You beat me to it!

An oldie but goody.

Why they haven't changed their designs at some point, can only be explained by a company wide lack of any design sense.

https://tektondesign.com/product/full-range-speakers/flagship/1812-model-v12/#color

yeah i've never liked this layout on many of the newer mac gear.