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Some visual appeal is probably required to cause a person to want to audition a piece of equipment in the first place.
Some audio companies, such as Bang & Olufsen, concentrate just as many resources into their products' appearance as into their sound. Does this matter to you?
It always helps that a product is good looking, but still has that "high-end" look. I have a Krell 300i, and that blue light is pretty cool-looking at night. But when it comes to speakers, they should look good. They're in the middle of my room, for crying out loud!
Function before form! Given that, I do like it when an audio manufacturer can give its equipment an elegant or pleasing look. Spartan visual design well done, like Audio Research's, is okay too. What I don't like is to see a company offer expensive equipment with cheesy or too-clever/kinda-ugly visual design . . . names withheld here, because you probably already know who you are---if you don't, your closest friends really should risk gently telling you. Some components are quite endearing, like B&W's Nautilus snails and Moth Audio's mad-scientist's-laboratory retro designs. My favorite: gazing into those dreamy big blue meters on a McIntosh amp while listening at night in a darkened room.
As every Chef knows, we eat first with our eyes. So it goes with our listening. It needs to please the eye as well as the soul. I love visually well-designed equipment. With Bang & Olufsen I am never sure which is more important to them, the look or the sound. In the world of audio we like that serious, no-nonsense look. We want it purpose-built, built to last, almost industrial in design, but with some flair. I want the components to have some style, some artistry to them. This can ran the gamut from the straight and linear to the curving and rounded fa
If the actual equipment used to record, mix, master, and duplicate recordings does not need cosmetics, which contribute nothing to the sound and needlessly drive up prices, then neither do I when reproducing such recordings in my home.
While I wouldn't make an important buying decision solely on looks, many of us don't have the luxury of having separate listening rooms. Therefore, aesthetics are important. I can't believe that good design costs more than poor.