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JBL monitors with cubist-grid foam grille in strong colors (1970s). Good sound (with the grille on), but too visually "bright" for the average (my) living space. Got EPIs instead (sounded better, a little less expensive, less obvious in the room).

My long-gone Teac 350 cassette recorder. It was way deeper than tall. The cassette door on the top with some slighly slanting VU meters and input faders rather than knobs. For its time, it sure brought a smile to my face and brought high-end (? )audio into my vehicles.

I love Dynaudio sound, hate their complete lack of style.

The old silver and gold Musical Fidelity. It would be hard for me to buy ARC, even if I could afford it.

I would never buy McIntosh because of that crappy faceplate that always looks like it's falling apart. Also the meters, the very idea of a blue meter, the hardest color to focus on, just shows that this equipment is made to impress people with more money than technical knowlege.

Yes, a B&O system. It looked too good to be good.

One product in particular comes to mind. I forget the name of the product and brand but it was a DAC that had no case and it was simply laid out on a piece of wood and powered by a car battery. Also, some speakers (eg, line arrays) I removed from consideration because they were too large for my listening room.

In 1978, I and my Europhile friend were listening to his Sonab OA-12s. With the tops off. I suddenly became convinced they were "Twonkies," sent by an predatory alien intelligence to conquer the Earth. Before they could take over my mind, I fled. Own them? I would never set foot in the room with them again. It was worse than a bad acid flashback. Luckily, there were Hill Plasmatronics, sent by the friendly forces from the Pleiades, to help the human Racerdefeat the Twonky Sonabs. Many an audio salon was leveled in the ensuing battle. The secret government has kept this covered up.

I have Blue Circle—.and I will not buy anything in the green line. Musical Fidelity is vulgar Anything in black, or packed with buttons..

Would you buy a car that performs great , but looks horrible? I wouldn't.

At the end of the day, it's about the music. However, an imposing speaker that is visually unattractive might break the rule.

Many. I'm a big one on esthetics. Gotta sound good too.

I try not to focus on look when evaluating audio. I love the look of blue indicators but did not buy them. I did not like Audio Note's looks, but loved the sound.

The gradient loudspeakers, for one.

There are some makers that have products with styling features that would prevent me from buying those products. However, I've never been remotely tempted to buy such a thing.

I almost passed up a brand new pair of Klipshorns because my (then) wife of two years thought they looked ugly. Nearly 40 years later, those same ugly horns grace our living room as a part of our audio system. We have to occassionally laugh.

Aesthetic design matters, in audio as well as in cuisine.

Chord CD player

I hated the gold Conrad-Johnson equipment. Bought the PV-10 preamp anyways.

I like good design, but I'm not prepared to pay 10X more for it. Bang & Olufsen need not apply.

I have seen some very cheap looking audio equipment lately. And have passed on it for that very reason!

If it sounds good, and better than others at a similar price, I buy it.

Many times I have picked form over substance. The good-looking products are not always the very best, but I sure favor them.

I could not bring myself to buy the Focal 837V speakers. I loved the sound, but I want real wood for $2700, not an ugly sticker.

Only how it sounds matters.

Never. Sound is all that matters.

Obscene pricetags turn a lot of things quite ugly quite quickly.

I have never regretted not buying ugly equipment: later iterations usually addressed sonic deficiencies that I would have noticed only at home, but didn't have to, because the ugly design put me off in the first place.

All Naim products. Not a fan of their esthetics.

If no thought is given to the outside then more often than not why should you believe in the quality of the inside? Would you eat dinner off a dirty dog's bowl even if it was perported to be cooked by a Michelin-starred chef?