For me i need both, especially for speakers. I dont think i can live with a fantastic sounding yet ugly equipment.
I like a variety of different looks with my HiFi equipment, but I tend to not mix brands. I have an all Naim 500 series downstairs and a 70th anniversary McIntosh with a mt5 turntable upstairs. The two couldnât be any more different if they tried, but I like them both. One is totally understated while the other is bling and lights. I prefer the looks of the McIntosh but the Naim does sound better, and it should it was 3 times the price. I do not have a single friend that owns any quality HiFi and when my friends come over (Pre-COVID) nobody notices the Naim and everyone comments on the McIntosh. One of my friends once looked at my Naim system and stated, âmy God I bet that costs you a bundle, probably $10,000â, I just replied I would never spend that kind of money on a stero and left it at that. The same friend buys a new Corvette every year to sit in his garage and drives it 2000 miles a year, priorities.
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I canât disagree with anyone re: Chord, Macintosh etc. I find it hard to explain to anyone why Chord products are so ugly (yes, yes I know some people are bound to think itâs the apex of design etc.) and relatively clunky to use.
On the other hand I currently have the best sound Iâve ever had in my living room. The TT2 is on a bottom shelf off to one side and I need hardly ever look at it.
IMO looks are a necessary but not sufficient condition.
Iâm with @feeling_zen â there are some things that are just so hideous to look at â Chord,
DâAgostino, Krell and other US muscle amps, all those oil rig turntables, things made of perspex or acrylic, hideous McIntosh stuff, horrible Wilson speakers⌠anything bling with overly sized displays â that I just couldnât live with it, no matter how brilliant it sounds. It strikes me that a lot of brands are badly designed and in-your-face because theyâre trying to make a statement â look at me! Iâm big and chunky so I must be really powerful! Iâm really shiny so my owner must be really rich! Equally, I wouldnât buy a brand just because itâs good looking, either.
Olive aside, I donât think Naim gear is particularly pretty, but at least itâs not in your face and, given the excellent SQ the brand offers, I could live with it quite easily (but not Fraim, funnily enough). Good-looking (sometimes beautiful) stuff to me is Linn, Luxman, classic 1970s and early 1980s Japanese stuff, Braun, B&O, Bauer dps turntables, Marantz etc.
Good design is important. We have to live with this stuff.
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I reluctantly admit that the looks of the black boxes played a significant role to my at least initial,attraction to Naim.
Aesthetics is a must. But enjoying the music is paramount. That means SQ is great but also knowing my hifi also looks good. SQ does not need to be 100%.
However, what looks good to me wonât look good to everyone. I prefer understated. The classic series is just that, as is CB. I personally think some of the TTs pictured are hideous but I donât own a TT so I havenât had to think about balancing looks and performance. The LP12 is gorgeous.
I love this place for the variety of opinion, backgrounds, approach, musical tastes and all the rest.
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Sound quality is king, but the good thing about Naim boxes is they are quite discreet, only the logo glow in the lounge.
Our Sonus Faber speakers look like high quality pieces of furniture but also sound fabulous! Win win.
Hi TK,
I want to send you a gift, beautiful amp and so wonderful speakers. I feel itâs what you were searching for, since so many years.
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The common observation about the aesthetics of Chord products is unsurprising , though personally I mostly donât mind them. However I found Hugo small enough to tuck invisibly mostly behind something else, just reachable for its volume control and to switch on/off - though its glow was still visible. Dave on the other hand is much more subtle, without multiple coloured LEDs and with the display not just switchable in colour, but having the option of having it automatically switch off when not in use, and in black the DAC is scarcely prominent.
What I donât like if something has to be visible is loads of silver colour, VU meters, bristling knobs. I also donât like the industrial appearance of massed ranks of multiple racks of boxes.
Price we all have a budget then Sound quality first and foremost, then size and looks
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Sound first for me. I have an Ear 912 pre and Rega Rp10, that I find more both ugly than beautiful. But the sound is something else.
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. Fantastic! It suits so well the speakers. Do you have an idea of the decoration of the living room? The sofa?
Maybe that?
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I tried to find the ugliestâŚ
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@TheKevster already wrote much of what I had in mind. I do like the McIntosh C22 and the DNM acrylic cases, though. The dps top plate is acrylic, too.