How your gear looks ... does it really matter?

[Gigantic]

What matters, quite frankly, is how it performs. Not if it is antique, or surrounded in myth-nostalgia from the early 1970s. If some like the ancient stuff, so be it, but that is certainly not the key, at least for me.

Louder for the guys in back!

 

[lini]

While the visual appearance does matter to me, I'm not all too picky in that regard. Some things really seem to disturb me, though - for example I really don't like the visual appearance of the platter rims of some of the new/current Technics turntable models, that don't have strobe marks on the platter rim (e.g. SL-1500C, SL-100C...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[SeattleGuy]

I keep living-room tech in a cabinet except speakers. If I had the money I'd hide those too, but I don't want to be obsessive about it. I do like how my Marantz looks though. Sound wins over looks for me.

 

[unknownk]

I like my gear to match which isn't an issue since I like late 80's early 90's black plastics. I also don't like too many scratches, any dents, or missing dials or buttons.

My cats have scratched up grill cloths for speakers but left the cones and vinyl alone (you can re-cloth speaker grills).

When you have your gear stacked up in a media center you can only see the front anyway so just keep them clean.

 

[jsisk]

Most of my gear was purchased new, dating back to 1980. I have kept it as close to new looking as possible. (until you open it up and see all the dust inside)

 

[unknownk]

Most of my gear was purchased new, dating back to 1980. I have kept it as close to new looking as possible. (until you open it up and see all the dust inside)

I kept all my old gear from the 80's and 90's and purchased some used stuff from that era recently (plus some freebies). I kind of wonder what people did with some of the stuff I see on eBay with stains, dents, missing pieces, cig burns, melted plastics, etc.

 

[Young46]

Most of my stuff is in very good condition aesthetically. If I bought any piece of equipment where the sq was excellent but the face plate was bad, I would probably try to find a better one.

 

[jsisk]

I kept all my old gear from the 80's and 90's and purchased some used stuff from that era recently (plus some freebies). I kind of wonder what people did with some of the stuff I see on eBay with stains, dents, missing pieces, cig burns, melted plastics, etc.

I think it comes down to how hard they had to work for it. A lot of people inherited it, so they have nothing invested. My main system was just shy of $4,000 in 1980 when I bought it. At the time I made $17,000 a year and drove a car that cost $500. It took over a year to save up the money. It was my dream system at the time and I am still living the dream.

 

[gadget73]

There is a point at which its just too ugly for me to want to look at, but its a relatively low bar. If it looks like I need a tetanus shot to work on it, I'm not going to put up with it.

 

[arts]

My systems still look like a very badly executed high-school science project. Imagine, if you will, Frankenstein and Tesla take an acid trip together...pull that switch, I dare ya!
Frankenfurter's lab looks almost safe by comparison. The best part is, every time I drop the needle, I'm doin' the time warp again

 

[justjed2]

My systems still look like a very badly executed high-school science project. Imagine, if you will, Frankenstein and Tesla take an acid trip together...pull that switch, I dare ya!
Frankenfurter's lab looks almost safe by comparison. The best part is, every time I drop the needle, I'm doin' the time warp again

It's safe to assume 'It's astounding....' ?

 

[curtisw99]

I chose my vintage gear specifically for how it sounds to my ears in my room (not the specs) ... repairability and restorability are two additional factors that weighed heavily in my decision making process ... I'll whisper this fact: the way my gear looks (aesthetics) is near the bottom of my list of wants and needs.

Let's face it, nobody blurts out a WOW! when they see ADS bookshelf speakers with metal grilles installed, and my Harman / Kardon 730 twin powered receiver ain't winning no beauty contest either, at least not until the talent competition.


What about you, how high on your list of wants and needs is how the gear looks?

HK 730 is a beautiful receiver
If you were actually serious, you'd have some of the high end black stuff (no meters) from the 90's. That stuff blends into the background.
Your HK is a bit of a centerpiece

 

[Bushikan]

For anyone interested in a great essay about how we feel about and relate to the aesthetics of our lives—including our stuff—I highly recommend “In Praise of Shadows,” a 1933 essay by the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

It explores and contrasts traditional Japanese vs. Western aesthetics—especially the appreciation of shadows and dinginess and subtlety in Eastern culture vs. the Western pursuit of light and clarity and cleanliness. He compares and discusses Japanese vs. Western thinking—in light, darkness, wood, paper, glass, metals, ink, electronics, color, sound, and temperature, even toilets.

At one point, he talks about how—wanting to preserve the veiled, filtered light of Japanese paper screen-windows and the energy-efficient glass of Western windows (the best of both worlds)—he combined/sandwiched them and ended up with a self-conscious bastardized stepchild—neither Eastern nor Western. At another he debated hiding a telephone cord (Japanese) vs. leaving it exposed (Western), and, IIRC, how both solutions—either actually seeing and living with it (cluttered, unsightly) or knowing that it was there but hidden (precious and unnatural)—caused him anxiety.

 

[cason]

Of course looks matter, but function and sound matter more.

 

[mrswakka]

the looks of my gear is second only to the sound of it. It matters quite a bit to me. I'm not willing to live like a college student, with mis-matched pieces in questionable condition sitting on cinder blocks and 2x12s. The aesthetics of my living space matter and that extends to the gear I use to listen to music.

But, what if the cinder blocks were on sale, and you already had the boards.

 

[H2oman7.62mm]

HK 730 is a beautiful receiver
If you were actually serious, you'd have some of the high end black stuff (no meters) from the 90's. That stuff blends into the background.
Your HK is a bit of a centerpiece

I think the H/K line looks kind of bland when it is sitting next some other receivers from the 70's, it's got the look that people tend to walk right by. But the the way the twin powered line sounds is something people can't ignore, and that's one of the things that draws me to them.

 

[Bushikan]

I think the H/K line looks kind of bland when it is sitting next some other receivers from the 70's, it's got the look that people tend to walk right by. But the the way the twin powered line sounds is something people can't ignore, and that's one of the things that draws me to them.

View attachment 3774625

Interesting. When, in the 1970s, my older brother was in the market for a stereo, I suggested he get Marantz. Instead, he came home with an H/K receiver (he thought Marantz looked ostentatious). He told me he had told the salesman he wasn’t an audiophile and just wanted a good workhorse system. He still uses that H/K receiver.

 

[Bushikan]

Whenever I see a pretty impressive looking Hi-Fi system I am reminded of something Pinkley said in The Dirty Dozen movie "Very pretty, Colonel, Very pretty, But, can they fight?"

My former martial arts teacher was a 10th-degree black belt, which meant that he was often the top ranking judge at competitions. He complained to me that so many people would perform katas (prearranged fighting sequences, sometimes with weapons, demonstrating proficiency in a system) that were absolutely beautiful to watch as “dance”—but which were essentially all flourishes, bells, and whistles—empty movements that demonstrated no real comprehension of what those movements’ purposes were: no power, physically or spiritually, no control or ability actually to defend oneself or to kill an attacker. They’d get standing ovations from the crowds. And he’d have to be the “mean” judge who gave them low scores—which garnered boos and scowls.

 

[DesertRatt]

Interesting. When, in the 1970s, my older brother was in the market for a stereo, I suggested he get Marantz. Instead, he came home with an H/K receiver (he thought Marantz looked ostentatious). He told me he had told the salesman he wasn’t an audiophile and just wanted a good workhorse system.

I'll bet that describes 90% of people who purchase audio gear at a store.

 

[Bushikan]

But, what if the cinder blocks were on sale, and you already had the boards.

Have you priced cinder blocks lately?