Roxy54 I am gettin quite used to it and I find that it is actually ok. Of course it helps that replacing my other pre with the superphon is quite an improvement. With that in mind it is easy to deal with and this little pre is amazing. Not much to look at but who cares, sound is what matters. I am not out to "show" a beautiful stack what I look for is amazing sound. What a little gem this old pre is and it's going to get better with a few mods. I often hear "out with the old and in with the new" while that can be correct sometimes I find that embrace the old and don't waste so much money with the new works as well. Some of the best built stuff was awhile ago. Not to say that there are not good pieces being made. What I'm trying to say is you can have great quality stuff, built well, that taken care of will last all of you listening years. It may be "ugly" to some but you are missing out if you base your opinions on looks, age, and trends.