In the late 80's, I had a buddy who's hifi would fit the title of this post. His listening room was in the basement which had some acoustical treatment. He had taken the grills off of his Quad ESL's and mounted these speakers into rigid wooden frames made with 2X4's and weighted down in the back with concrete block. So they looked like a pair of copper panels reflecting your image at you when sitting in the center. He had welding cable for speaker cables. He had his Sota tt mounted on a modified Billy Bags turntable stand. He had a highly modified ARC SP-6b pre-amp that was closer to being an SP-8 and he had a Quicksilver Tube amp with the cage removed. Next to all this was a 1 Farad capacitor- a large grey metal can to filter the AC power into his system. From a looks standpoint this room was a 1. But being a couple of engineers I could appreciate how that room looked- extremely technical but not pleasing to the eye. When he turned out the lights and with just a warm glow filling the room from his amp, magic happened. Those Quads put a soundstage in front of me as tangible as the artists standing there in front of me. I can still remember the first few records he played for me. I was so blown away.
Today, many $$ later, I think I am there, but the impact factor is past me now. I never built a system/room that looked that rugged, but I didn't focus too much on looks until the last 10 years or so.
Today, many $$ later, I think I am there, but the impact factor is past me now. I never built a system/room that looked that rugged, but I didn't focus too much on looks until the last 10 years or so.