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My "audiophile" weakness(es)...ie: how the item looks, and you?.

It's all about the sound.....right?  Well, with me mostly and most always.....however I am influenced by the cosmetics of audio gear.

The Maggie 20 are impressive, as are many Martin Logan's, and tubes....the glowing of tubes does have impact beyond the glow and heat.  Still love the "looks" of my original CJ ART preamp. 

As I look at the cosmetics/looks of audio gear I do give myself much slack...I know in sports cars, furniture, art and many other things how something looks does impact my thoughts......perhaps that explains some of the very pretty women I was with that were not actually very good people.....but they did look nice.  As a p.s. the best sports cars I ever drove were not very "pretty" as they were race cars...and the "pretty" street ones were much better looking but not nearly as fast/fun to drive as those race cars. 

Have you been influenced by how audio items look?  If you have, what are some of your favorites in the "looks" department?  Thanks for your thoughts/experiences. 







whatjd
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oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
I'm picky, can't be to ungy... BUT it has to be ugly enough...

Speaker LOOKs are an issue for me lately... The new speaker space ships don't appeal to me... I like a fine furniture, look.. Victorian error

Mcintosh tube gear is a great example. If you only knew how many people asked me what a MC225, 240, 275, was, through the years.
One was a young cable installer, just amazed him... You would think he would have seen one.  5 - 6 years ago...... Duno.... :-)

Regards
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millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Oh, my vintage 1974 Pioneer TX-9100 tuner hasn't been used in decades. But it looks soooo gooooood!
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hilde45
4,819 posts
 
I see nothing wrong with good visual appeal, what I'm curious about is which products are best in both categories. I have to say, there are some Nelson Pass pieces which look very pretty to me...
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tonykay
1,298 posts
 
There are lots of great sounding pieces of equipment available at varying price points. All things being equal (are they ever really equal), I’m buying the one that appeals to me visually. Why would I want the ugly one? I’ll have to look at it even more than I listen to it. I prefer the industrial look, like Wadia, Krell or Line Magnetics. I have owned many turntables, but I always preferred the glamorous ones like Goldmund Studietto, Luxman PD444, Technics SP10, JR Transrotor, and now a J.A. Michell Gyro Dec w/plexiglass case. Again, if it doesn’t look good, I don’t buy it!  One of my CD players is a Consonance 5.0 Droplet. There are probably many that outperform it, but few that look as cool.

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