Do you care about the LOOK???

The more the sound matters the less you are willing to compromise on anything , especially aesthetics .

Bigjoe,

A true watch connoisseur would not be caught dead (and I mean it!) wearing a bloody Rolex the same way as an audiophile listening to a set of Bose speakers. The only thing those companies do well is aggressive adverizing. However, both companies have remarkable following: it all proves the point that beauty is in the eye...blah/blah/blah

I care about the look. I've always bought my speakers in an upgraded finish like walnut or rosewood. I once went to a dealer to look at an Oracle turntable and saw a mint Sota Star in the most beautiful rosewood i've ever seen.
Bought the Sota. Never get tired of looking at it. But I will buy for sound alone. A year ago I bought Don Garber's Fi 2a3 monoblocks. I don't think many people would enter them in a beauty contest but I have come to love their looks.

Getting back to the "sub-thread" about watches, or anything else for that matter, I wonder why some people care about what others think. I might be curious from a statistic point but I wouldn't care. I used to, but then I went into the 4th grade. :-). IF 95% of the people polled thought Rolex wasn't elegant, I might be one of the 5% who does and with my money I'll buy what I like. In the end it's much more economical.

In fact, I was trying to get impression about the "LOOK" of audio equipment. I myself don't have much expirience about watches, just used "rolex" as an example.

uhurit@yahoo.com, I would even take a vintage American 23 jeweled Hamilton over Rolex for that matter, and have. I grew up with a father that was a watchmaker and gunsmith. He was always working on pieces of high quality, beautiful hand made things, it was fascinating and he taught me a lot fine craftsmanship. He would work on Rolex but had little respect for it. I'm sorry but, in this case Rolex and Bose is a most apt comparison to draw I'm afraid. Happy listening!