How important is component “aesthetics” to you?


Obviously, performance, sound, etc is what matters most. However, some super fine, high performance products are just plain ugly. Aesthetcs does play an important role for me since we have placed a lot of emphasis on furnishing our home. 

Anyway, my search for a preamp has led me to the conclusion that ugly is more the norm. I love the look of glowing tubes with the Primalunas, mystere, Atma-sphere, Rogers, Decware, mapletree etc. In the solid state world, the macs have those famous blue meters. Even the “fake tube” older Peachtree components looked really nice. 

Just curious how “ looks” play a role when choosing components?
aberyclark
Not at all. I would run a pair of paper plates as speaker drivers connected to a potato as an amplifier if it sounded better than my current gear. Although I admit I haven't yet tried that combination.
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Great, I am happy for you. Not everyone possess the know how or inclination to build their own class A amps. 

However, I do hear that one can easily build a class D amps with available DIY kits (thanks to HYPEX).  Whether they sound as good as Class A is purely subjective (please, let’s not debate class A and D merits here). 
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Well, since I don't believe in differences between amps (given the standard caveats), aesthetics is paramount. That's why I have a collection of vintage gear ... 77-80 silver-face and late 80's Pioneer Elite. When it comes to looks and feel, they don't make 'em like they used to.