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My "audiophile" weakness(es)...ie: how the item looks, and you?.

It's all about the sound.....right?  Well, with me mostly and most always.....however I am influenced by the cosmetics of audio gear.

The Maggie 20 are impressive, as are many Martin Logan's, and tubes....the glowing of tubes does have impact beyond the glow and heat.  Still love the "looks" of my original CJ ART preamp. 

As I look at the cosmetics/looks of audio gear I do give myself much slack...I know in sports cars, furniture, art and many other things how something looks does impact my thoughts......perhaps that explains some of the very pretty women I was with that were not actually very good people.....but they did look nice.  As a p.s. the best sports cars I ever drove were not very "pretty" as they were race cars...and the "pretty" street ones were much better looking but not nearly as fast/fun to drive as those race cars. 

Have you been influenced by how audio items look?  If you have, what are some of your favorites in the "looks" department?  Thanks for your thoughts/experiences. 







whatjd
jond's avatar
jond
5,660 posts
 
@hilde45  haha awesome I'm sure the hamster loves your lava lamp!
lg1
199 posts
 
Looks no doubt play into it...I like a certain degree of “no nonsense functional” appearance but there’s a balance.  I’ve gone with a PrimaLuna integrated over something with lights and meters and that look (in addition to wanting to try out tubes for eons!) certainly weighed heavily in my decision but my personal sense of aesthetics wouldn’t have let me buy something that looked more “jumble of exposed electronic innards on a board” than the PL., no matter how great the sound quality/value ratio was.  For example, I don’t think I could live with a Manley Stingray if I was given one even though I’m aware it’s a fantastic component...It’s the design (looks) that doesn’t dovetail with my subjective sensibilities...
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
Thanks for the responses so far.  It is good to know others see design/cosmetics/looks to be a factor....perhaps not the main factor, but a factor none the less. 

I still find the "Thunder-Lizard 2000e" speakers to be without peer,...if you are not familiar with them they are the ones that are made from old Pinto and Vega parts.  (if you don't know of the Pinto and Vega cars...well that is good)

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,783 posts
 
One trajectory for this topic is kind of a "toe-may-toe" vs. "toe-mah-toe" discussion. I like it, but it’s almost pre-determined not to converge. It’s about which designs, which aesthetics or which utilitarian pieces, etc. Which was the OP's slant. So, now, can we talk about the Italians? Because their stuff is suh-weet looking.
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
hilde45   I have been lucky/unlucky enough to own and drive some exotics, including Italian cars.  The local, private repair shop I used would jokingly talk of how many "units" it was going to cost to repair that car...with each "unit" being one thousand dollars.  Not to be mean here, but my mechanic said that he always liked the early English sports cars because they made the Italian ones look reliable (ie: steady income for him)....his take rather than mine.  I do remember my Lotus costing more than most other sports cars I have owned to keep running...but when it was running well, taking roads with plenty of curves was a great deal of fun. 
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