How important is aesthetics to you in purchasing

If good music is a work of art, then should not good music reproduction equipment also be a work of art? To my mind good design is a reflection of the passion, dedication and thought put into a product. Ideally, aesthetics and performance should go hand and hand.

I love to have good looks along with my good sound, but I have some good looking stuff, and some not-so-good looking stuff. Sound is the first priority, but good looks never hurts, if nothing sonically is sacrificed to get it.

I prefer the looks of open architecture tube amps and would not purchase a "boxed in" amp or one where the transformers sit in front of the tubes hiding them from view. I also would not purchase an over-styled garish product such as the current Musical Fidelity products or an ugly horn type speaker so yeah I think aesthetics are very important.

Good sound is my first priority; I'm willing to buy most components unless they are truly ugly (WAF), like the old bulbous Perreax stuff (sorry, just my taste).

The look of a product is important to me. Symmetry, simple layouts of controls, thick & shiny aluminum fascia, they all get my vote. The more wild a component looks, the more suspect it is. Swooping curves, spaceship looks, gimmicky mood lighting, wood accents and flourescent displays, all spell junk to me. It could be the best sounding, state of the art unit out there but if it screams "look at me, i'm modern looking" i'm not gonna have it in my home, even for free. Gimme understated elegance and classic lines everytime.