Who, do you think, designs the best looking tube-based devices?


The reason I chose specifically devices with tubes is because, in my opinion, it's much harder to design something good -not to mention gorgeous- looking with tubes and transformers sticking out.

From the ones that I know, which is not a lot, Airtight and Allnic designs stand out in my eyes. Shindo and Atma Sphere, on the other hand, do not look appealing at all. KT-Audio looks beautiful internally, whereas externally it's nothing special...yet?

I'm only asking about design, I don't care about sound :-)
audioinfidel
It is an interesting question.   I’ve been having an ongoing discussion with the manager of my local store with respect to a couple of distribution opportunities they may have.   They carry some pretty high-end stuff, so clientele tends to look not only for performance, but also aesthetics (true “statement pieces”, if you will).  
If I name my 3 best looking designs, he would say they were the 3 least appealing to his eyes (and vice versa).  He’s more of a “bling” guy (think Jadis, CJ, etc), whereas I tend to like the simple but somewhat unusual (OMA, NAT (especially the Magma), Allnic and VAC).  We have the same ongoing debate about TTs (he loves the stuff that looks like a spaceship; whereas my tastes tend towards the VPI Classic, Thorens, Garrard).

Unfortunately for me, I have two 150+ pound slobbering, shedding mutts who don’t allow me to have pretty and/or fragile things on or near the floor.  So, I have to do with big ugly boxes, the heat generated from which keeps them at least 6 feet away.  


Dennis Had...I had to say it...heh heh. But for me it's true, and I do care about sound as the design of anything that doesn't work (except maybe Frank Loyd Wright's leaky roofs) often kills the vibe and with it the esthetic.