Best looking / worst looking amps & preamps

Don't know about being the "best" but very fine looking (and sounding) nonetheless:

Preamp/Amp: Graaf 13.5B, Graaf GM-20 OTL (stereo block) -- I own this (italian) preamp/amp combo at the moment.

Also Supratek "Syrah" preamps are something to look at. I have one in order. Also agree with Hovland Pre and Tenor OTL amps.

The prize for "expensive but ugly" goes to LAMM.

Worst: the current Krell stuff is ugly, they lost their way sometime after the first series of heat-sunk amps. The early fan-cooled amps up to '88 or so were cool--even under the hood (ever seen the inside of a KRS2 preamp from that vintage?). Early VTL was ugly, even the interiors showed signs the PCBs were laid out with marking pens! VTL always sounded much better than it looked. Naim comes to mind as well, I initially liked it for it's minimalist sensibilities but when you really study the cosmetics, it's ugly.

Best: ARC (past and present) and Levinson up to the very early '90s(silver knobs and pretty engraving) are so classic in my mind, that they transcend what is thought of as pretty or ugly. Early Krell was even cool looking, as was the natural aluminum look of Cello gear with instrumentation-style knobs--it looked serious. Most of the open chassis tube gear of today is pretty, current stuff like the big Wavac HE-833 which has a chassis milled from solid is especially sexy. Italians have a flair for style, like the Pathos and Unison Research but I'm told they don't sound nearly as good as they look...

Ugly: Pass Labs Aleph

Best Looking: Pass Labs x-250 and up

I think the Audio Research units with the silver face
plates are "True Classics". Of course being a McIntosh
owner; I have to give the last decade or so McIntosh
Amps & Preamps the nod for having timeless good looks.
Those blue meters never seem to go out of style!

The ugliest amps and pre-amps I've ever seen have to be those made by Linear Technology. Baby-poop brown glossy plastic faceplates, cheap-radio-style brown plastic knobs (or somestimes large aluminum knobs), and glossy bright yellow plastic sideplates. They are only slightly outdone by the single ugliest component ever made, the Linear Technology channel divider, which has more knobs. I was dying to find a good picture to add here but find only the following link (which but hints at greatness):

http://www.ny.airnet.ne.jp/nachtmsk/home/home/04matui.html
- 3rd picture down in bottom left shows mono power amps (M-151)
- 7th picture down top of rack shows pre-amp P-101 Mk II