Ugly vs Gogeous speakers

What about the looks of the B@W Matrix 800 speakers? A very different look indeed-But my wife likes the look.

I am not a fan of the aesthetics of most speakers especially as most aesthetics lead to compromises in sound. I don't like designs that try to disguise the speaker (Nautilus, Vivid, Sonus Faber)

However I like the industrial steampunk & Art Deco look - make the speaker look even more like a piece of machinery which is what it is!!!

Aesthetics wise I like
Large JM Labs
Large Horns like Avantgarde
Kef Blade
Evolution
Large Wilson

I think most large B&W speakers look silly - there is no flow in their designs. All angles and circles and cut lines - extremely lacking in aesthetics - no doubt they do this deliberately to stand out.

B&W polarize. I like the 802 looks. I had a pair at one time. I also had a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's. My wife hated the looks. They looked like cinema screens to her, hence she named them East and West.....

When I had 802 D2's there was plenty of negative feedback on looks. Martren speakers are a great combo of looks and performance.

I'm very into the aesthetics of a speaker.  There's nothing more droolworthy, gear-wise, than a beautiful speaker to me.  Of course if I don't love the sound, the looks are meaningless in terms of my buying a speaker. 

I especially love the mating of a beautiful wood finish with a contemporary (not boring box shape) design.   A pair of Thiel 2.7s in ebony I currently own certainly fits that bill.

I often go through the speaker images on Pinterest because there are many beautiful speaker designs on display.  I have to say the sky high prices of some designs may not necessarily get you better sound, but they do get you "audio jewelry" that is hard to match in cheaper speakers.

Also, I'm one of those apparently rare audiophiles who doesn't like seeing every bit of gear when I'm listening to music; a clean aesthetic allows me to more easily just concentrate on the music, vs the typical jumble of wires and amplifiers set up in a "look at me" fashion around the speakers.  I even prefer to not look at the speaker drivers (and therefore use the grills) for the cleaner look, and because when I see speaker drivers I can not help but think of the sound coming out of the drivers.  Once they are out of sight, the speakers disappear more as the transducers, to my mind.