How important is how your hi-fi looks?

[Deleted member 2457]

It's important to me but so is the sound, I like to have both if possible. I suppose that's why I like B&W speakers and gear.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

It's important for speakers but an understated look for amps is good. But I think speakers like pmc, spendor mentioned in first post actually look good. I would as I own pmc. They have good grain figuring, nice trapezoid shape leaning back, grills and mounting plate. Utilitarian as speakers yes, but still a good design. Amps etc are not furniture unless shown off, as they can be accommodated in a cupboard, so matter less in appearance.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I think the only thing I've got that looks good and sounds good is my Yamaha A-S2100 and Yamaha A-CD2100 my Dali opticon 8s look ugly without the speaker covers on but sounds good so yes when buying hifi I try to buy something that looks good and sounds good but not always possible .

 

[insider9]

I think the only thing I've got that looks good and sounds good is my Yamaha A-S2100 and Yamaha A-CD2100 my Dali opticon 8s look ugly without the speaker covers on but sounds good so yes when buying hifi I try to buy something that looks good and sounds good but not always possible .

Interesting, I actually prefer them without grilles.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I think the only thing I've got that looks good and sounds good is my Yamaha A-S2100 and Yamaha A-CD2100 my Dali opticon 8s look ugly without the speaker covers on but sounds good so yes when buying hifi I try to buy something that looks good and sounds good but not always possible .

Interesting, I actually prefer them without grilles.

have you got the Dali opticon 8s then ?

 

[insider9]

I think the only thing I've got that looks good and sounds good is my Yamaha A-S2100 and Yamaha A-CD2100 my Dali opticon 8s look ugly without the speaker covers on but sounds good so yes when buying hifi I try to buy something that looks good and sounds good but not always possible .

Interesting, I actually prefer them without grilles.

have you got the Dali opticon 8s then ?

No, Sabbath I don't. I've had quite a few Dali speakers and I just like how they look.

 

[newlash09]

Drivers without the grills. The sight of naked drivers, gets me all excited.

Being a sailor, there is a certain industrial side to me I guess. I like vu meters, volt and amp meters, naked drivers etc...you get the drift.

 

[lindsayt]

ANYONE using something more elaborate than a £50 Bluetooth speaker is classed as some kind of mad ####er anyway, so who cares?

So true.

 

[chebby]

ANYONE using something more elaborate than a £50 Bluetooth speaker is classed as some kind of mad ####er anyway, so who cares?

The big money audio items are Beats Pro headphones - as worn by all your (neighbour)hood's wannabe gangstas.

 

[Vladimir]

Drivers without the grills. The sight of naked drivers, gets me all excited.

Being a sailor, there is a certain industrial side to me I guess. I like vu meters, volt and amp meters, naked drivers etc...you get the drift.

Then you need a steam punk valve amp.

 

[Vladimir]

ANYONE using something more elaborate than a £50 Bluetooth speaker is classed as some kind of mad ####er anyway, so who cares?

So true.

It's cheaper to buy a used space satelite than complete a semi-decent klangfilm system. So yeah, we are mad *****ers.

 

[Vladimir]

I think the only thing I've got that looks good and sounds good is my Yamaha A-S2100 and Yamaha A-CD2100 my Dali opticon 8s look ugly without the speaker covers on but sounds good so yes when buying hifi I try to buy something that looks good and sounds good but not always possible .

Interesting, I actually prefer them without grilles.

have you got the Dali opticon 8s then ?

No, Sabbath I don't. I've had quite a few Dali speakers and I just like how they look.

The design seems to be a tribute to HAL 9000 (thus the name Opticon, the Eye). The red woofers, the dome and ribbon drivers looking like camera lense with intercom...

 

[newlash09]

amp is something I could drool over even if it never worked. Right up my street

 

[Vladimir]

amp is something I could drool over even if it never worked. Right up my street

The two horizontal glass tubes in the middle are actually Nixie tubes VU meters.

 

[Infiniteloop]

amp is something I could drool over even if it never worked. Right up my street

If you like that, you'll love this:

https://www.hifiengine.com/images/model/alchemist_kraken_apd6a_mkii_integrated_amplifier.jpg

I used to have one of these. It sounded fabulous. Ran in Class A and actually got me interested in Valve Amps, even though it isn't one!

 

[Infiniteloop]

As a designer, I feel there is no excuse for poor design at any price point. The Amps I own, for example exude character and design excellence even though they are completely different. The Unison Research S8 is an orgy of curvy wood, sleek function controls and huge glowing bottles. The Devialet a minimalist slab of shiny metal whose controls are all mainly in the digital domain. I love them both equally, but for different reasons. They both sound superb, yet different to each other.

 

[lindsayt]

As a designer, I feel there is no excuse for poor design at any price point...

Really? What if you're, for example, a one man band, making clones of existing classic SET valve amps? Do you really expect someone like that to pay much attention to the "design"?

Or what if you think the route to overall best sound in speakers, without getting too over the top in size and price, is to mate a 15" bass driver with a compression driven midrange with a horn that's shaped to help in-room dispersion? How on earth do you design such a speaker to look good? The best you can do is cover the ugliest bits with some cloth or foam.

Sometimes in hi-fi it's acceptable for form to follow function.

 

[Vladimir]

+ Great Looks

+ Great Performance

+ Low Price

Pick only two.

 

[insider9]

Great performance + low price

Every time

 

[Andrewjvt]

Great performance + low price

Every time

Plus one buti actually like the large looks

 

[insider9]

Great performance + low price

Every time

Plus one buti actually like the large looks

Yes, I think both speakers above look great.

 

[Vladimir]

 

[Infiniteloop]

As a designer, I feel there is no excuse for poor design at any price point...

Really? What if you're, for example, a one man band, making clones of existing classic SET valve amps? Do you really expect someone like that to pay much attention to the "design"?

Or what if you think the route to overall best sound in speakers, without getting too over the top in size and price, is to mate a 15" bass driver with a compression driven midrange with a horn that's shaped to help in-room dispersion? How on earth do you design such a speaker to look good? The best you can do is cover the ugliest bits with some cloth or foam.

Sometimes in hi-fi it's acceptable for form to follow function.

Form should follow function in almost all good design:

A lone SET Amp maker should pay attention to the design of the curcuit layout, how the components fit inside the case, how the wiring is soldered and which components to use. These are all design considerations and affect both the sound quality and reliability.

If the design of a speaker is thought through properly, the aesthetics should look after themselves. Bass driver, compression driver and a horn - PMC manage to pull all that together very successfully.

 

[davedotco]

Whilst I find the looks of many hi-fi items to be appealing, these days a prefer a minimalist look. Once upon a time I revelled in a big rack containing 4 full size ARC components and a separate multi-layer (Phase 4) Mana stand supporting my SME record player.

I thought it all looked fantastic, but these days, no. Also whilst I love the sound of classic 15 inch cones plus compression driver systems, I would no longer want them in my home.

These days I have a tiny streamer/preamp hidden next to my router and just a very tidy pair of Adam actives on view. Even these are not positioned correctly as to do so, which I have done, takes up too much living space. As they are, they sound fine at modest to medium levels and ease of use is superb.

Listening to some fantastic jazz from one of Vlads threads, Santucci/Scoppa, On the underground road.

 

[Al ears]

+ Great Looks

+ Great Performance

+ Low Price

Pick only two.

Can double as dining table..... ;-)