Who, do you think, designs the best looking tube-based devices?


The reason I chose specifically devices with tubes is because, in my opinion, it's much harder to design something good -not to mention gorgeous- looking with tubes and transformers sticking out.

From the ones that I know, which is not a lot, Airtight and Allnic designs stand out in my eyes. Shindo and Atma Sphere, on the other hand, do not look appealing at all. KT-Audio looks beautiful internally, whereas externally it's nothing special...yet?

I'm only asking about design, I don't care about sound :-)
audioinfidel
Just discovered another one, which looks plainly, but still very pretty somehow:
Triode Lab (and its sister company Finale)
Some Line Magnetic units also look decent
@davespencer, although L-7000 does look very pretty, I prefer L-9000's design. However, the difference is minute. I'd say if L-9000 is a 100, L-7000 would be 97/100 :-)
I disagree, one of the enticing things about tube gear, besides it sounding better, IMHO, is the nice glow of tubes, and the cool retro way it looks. Why would I want to hide the most appealing qualities of a tube amp? We are all entitled to our opinions and the OP doesn’t like the looks of tubes sticking out, that’s fine, just not my cup of tea. I also dislike interconnects or speaker wire in the front of the amp too, even if it’s adventacious because it’s a shorter signal path. Keep them on the back out of the way.


As the late Roger Modjeski (RIP) of Music Reference once wrote on designing tube amps was to leave the transformers in the back and the tubes up front for aesthetics and better air flow. All of his tube amp designs have been known for very long tube life as well. I think his RM9 and RM10 are both extremely attractive looking. I much prefer that look to the ARC, cj and other tube amps where the tubes are completely hidden.