Many higher end preamps are dated and ugly, why is this?

Conrad Johnson, BAT, VTL are all very good preamplifiers, they are dated and just ugly. Audio research is a prettier amplifier but it's not very well regarded due to it sounding more like a solid state, ie. Not really a tube preamp despite all those internal lightbulbs.

Cheaper preamps can be more pretty. Schitt makes a pretty preamp for about $1000. People like pretty.

D'Agostino by many is viewed as very attractive but kind of weird.

jumia05-19-2022 3:52pm

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hilde45 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 4,974 posts 05-20-2022 at 10:50pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Alas, this is true of many audiophiles. We must be careful what we ask the mirror.
retiredfarmer Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 342 posts 05-20-2022 at 11:06pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/canary4/903.html Check that one out all high performance design in four chassis true dual mono
tweak1 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 3,644 posts 05-21-2022 at 12:46pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I like the Audio GD, fully balanced, which is ~ $3300 from Underwood HiFi. There's an ad for it today
wspohn Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 597 posts 05-21-2022 at 04:22pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete While I am not a fan of gear that looks like it was created by amateurs from articles in Popular Electronics I think that a lot of vintage gear is nice looking. Some of mine:
kingharold Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 304 posts 05-21-2022 at 06:17pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete To me the epitome of a beautiful preamp is the MBL 6010D.