Ugly vs Gogeous speakers


I know speakers should be all about sound but I can't help responding to the look as well and this presents me with a dilemma.

I have owned B&W Nautilus 803's for many years and love the sound and value (excellent sound for reasonable cost). I would love to upgrade but I (and wife) think that the retro Star Wars R2D2 looking speaker (802) is nothing we would have in our living space.

What do others think the best looking / sounding speaker is? Do looks matter to you?

128x128jyprez
My list of good looking speakers that I had at one time or another...

-Monitor Audio Gold GX50’s in Bubinga Rosewood, book matched
-Paradigm studio 60 V5 in rosewood
-Paradigm Signature S2 V.3 in piano black
-Kef LS50’s in Piano Black / Rosegold
-Kef LS50’s in Piano Black / Blue
-Kef Qx5’s in Graphite 
-Kef Qx5’s in Piano Black
-Dynaudio Xeo 6 in matte white
-Jamo Concert 11
and quite a few others that Im sure I’m forgetting!

I love the look of mbl systems, triangle art, focal, b&w, kef, magico and a ton of other high end manufactures.  

I like the exotic woods, shiny metallic paint, gloss white / black, matte colors. I like attention to detail and high build quality and sometimes you can’t really appreciate that sort of thing except for up close and in person!  Big horn systems are pretty damn impressive looking as well.
My Quad ESL57s without grilles look awful. Fortunately, they sound most excellent. See Virtual Sys.
Life is too short for ugly speakers.


Very true. Even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t have Wilson speakers no matter how they sounded. Sonus Faber, maybe. Rockport Avior, definitely. Tannoy Kensington GR, why not!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0177/0142/files/Kensington-GR-2C6BF934-Grille-Off-Walnut-Fisheye_l...
I wonder if anybody has ever hired a decorator to help blend in fabulous sounding butt ugly speakers to a room?
I don't care what speakers look like, I just want to love how they sound. Having a dedicated room allows for that. When I listen it's with eyes closed, always. Focused, critical listening. Just me, sometimes also a friend. Saturday mornings for a couple of hours.
The living room and master bedroom systems have speakers that my wife likes the looks of and we both agree sound just fine. Those are for movies or background music.
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