??? Would You or Have You Paid A Premium Price For A Component Because Of It's Looks ???

Yes, all things being similar, I’m willing to pay more for a component that looks good to me and has some wow factor as opposed to an ugly black box!

Do you think Mcintosh gear would be as popular if it wasn't pretty?

For me ascetics are almost as important as sound quality. yes, you can have both. You look at your system almost as much as you listen to it. Plus if it's "pretty" your other half might have less issue having it take up half a room. 

For me, I like unity, so if most of my stuff is black, the other pieces should match. Also meters and lights are pretty, so why not, again, Mcintosh. 

For me the one exception would my turntable, will never buy a piano black one again, almost impossible to keep clean!

Of course! I just acquired a bunch of McIntosh stuff.  Rega P8 turntable.  Would I have bought it but for the looks?  well... I didn't buy the P6.

I wouldn’t spend extra solely because of looks, but if you’re spending big $ on a component it better not be hard on the eyes. When I was shopping for a new Integrated, my final choice came down to Luxman and Accuphase. Both sounded great to my ears, although different. I was initially leaning very slightly in favor of the Accuphase but couldn’t pull the trigger on it because of how it looked. Went with the Luxman 509-Z and have never looked back.

I would pay a PREMIUM PRICE  for clear premium audio performance capability ….and.I will pay a FAIR PRICE (a clear and unambigous distinction….) for its cosmetics factor. Intuitively, I may pay a premium price if both its upticked looks are in lockstep to its upticked audio performance thst are offered jointly.

I would never pay a Premium Price just for the cosmetics.choice factor alone. IMO, paying any premium price primarily just for the looks and somehow disregarding a material omission (anchor?) with a lacking non-premium audio performance unit, is tantamount to just putting lipstick on a pig.