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Why is black so popular for components?

A current post about the looks of gear got me thinking. How did black become the most popular color for audiophile gear? I can see it being popular for home theater where the gear might be at the front of a room where you want it as dark as possible but black was the color of choice well before home theater. Maybe it is as simple as people just like it but if that were the case I would think it would also be the most popular in other consumer items such as motor vehicles.  I remember when I wasn’t always fortunate to have a dedicated stereo room and my wife would ask me why I purchased black equipment because she thought it was ugly and I agreed with her but usually, I had no choice.  For manufacturers offering additional colors may be costlier but I am willing to pay for it. Fortunately , some companies that I like offer silver usually in the face plates which works for me. Odyssey Audio has numerous color options available for their faceplates for a nominal fee but as far as I know they are an exception.  A lot of speaker manufacturers offer different colors which is great, especially if you have to place them in a communal space like a living room.  So in summary why did black become the color for stereo gear ? How many of you would prefer color options?

128x128lwin
mikey99
20 posts
 
Indeed I recall it was associate with "pro" equipment. Black, rack-mounted equipment was big in the 80's, and black became almost universal in the 90's. This ruined it for me, it became associated with cheap, mass market stuff in my mind. I know that is just a perception, but I can't shake the association.
bluebottle20
3 posts
 
Yep, Motown and mikey99 are correct. When first introduced for retail , most manufacturers had the option of silver or black, but eventually , that went away. 
I used to prefer silver, now I prefer black. Small blemishes are not as noticeable.

hshifi
572 posts
 
Hello,
To start is was due to cost, heat, and what was available due to technology . Ayre components are silver because they are brushed aluminum. If you wanted a black anodized finish it was a $400 option but the remote is still going to be silver if the remote is aluminum. My Denon Receiver and SACD player were silver by choice. I have a mix of black and silver. A lot of companies are now mixing the two like Rotel, NAD, and  Mark Levenson. The only thing I prefer is blue lights on everything or give me a choice for the led color. I prefer silver or grey vehicles. Even my Ferrari was anthracite or metallic grey with deep red interior very nice. I had a black car and it is impossible to keep clean. 
mwinkc
345 posts
 
Black for me, BECAUSE I can see the dust more easily... therefore I keep it cleaner.

Also, Black is more uniform. As someone in the printing business, I know that blacks are much more easily matched and stable in color. Whites are the most difficult to match, followed by colors... all of which can change with time and exposure to light.

Having several components that are intended to be the same colors results in a mishmash of non-matching colors...like you failed or couldn’t see the difference...like the poor fellow driving a car that has had body work done and the fender doesn’t quite match the front door and neither of them match the quarter panel.

Silver is pretty, but there are a lot of different ways to obtain that color...natural, polished or natural, machined, anodized, lacquered, even painted😱. All of which look different.

I once had a Rotel power amp that had Black "heat sinks" on either side of a silver anodized front panel. Pretty clever...like blue jeans, it went with everything.

Maybe it’s just the audiophile’s equivalent of a woman’s need to have all parts of an outfit match or compliment each other?

All said.... the sound comes first!
hickamore
536 posts
 
Remember when, in the 1980s, silver audio components suddenly became unobtainable? You'd have thought Henry "any color so long as it's black" had been put in charge. Well, I HATE any product, audio or otherwise, that is both black and (theoretically) functional. BECAUSE THE BUTTONS ARE FUCKING INVISIBLE -- BLACK ON BLACK! I literally need a flashlight to find the controls. Never have I understood how consumers manage to tolerate the Great Audio Blackwash. These days I'm down to only two black components: a stereo tuner and a cassette player. The cassette is rarely used, and the tuner is set permanently to NPR. These are black for the simply reason that SILVER IS NOT AVAILABLE in tuners (the NAD is the last one on the market -- comes in black only, of course), and cassette players haven't been made since I turned 30. So hooray for Schiit, Cambridge, Parasound, Rogue, PrimaLuna, Aurender & others that offer silver components with classic styling. The Yggy even has rounded corners, like the old Peachtree Grand Pre. But I repeat: it's not JUST looks; it's function, baby. If I can't see it, it doesn't exist.
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