• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

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

Looks are important, no great amp is going to look bad IMO. I like to buy all kinds of old gear and go thru them and I do spend extra money on some things to help dress them up. It won't make it sound better but it is an overall package in my mind.
 
RunOutGroove said:
I get that... I like classy looking gear, but even more than that, I care about the aesthetics of the room that I have all of that gear in. I haven't done a thing to improve the room acoustics, like putting in anything like acoustic panels, bass traps or the like, but if I were to use that kind of stuff, it would mean less room for hanging art and that's not really a compromise I'm willing to make. With the limitations of the window, doors, built-in bookshelves, the amount and positioning of furniture I like to have, the TV and the artwork there are going to be compromises made to the sound. That being said, though I don't really have much to compare it to, it seems like the sound I get in my living room, despite all of the compromises, is pretty good.

As for the gear specifically: I suspect that I might be able to get a bit better amplification for the money that I could fetch for my Marantz 2270, but I'd certainly miss the look of that thing. I don't think that piece is all about the aesthetics, as it also sounds really good to me, but I have to admit that the look is a big part of the appeal. Ditto with my speakers, Jamo C103s, which sound very good to me but more than that have really beautiful real walnut casing. As good as they sound, I wonder if I would choose them over my Dali Oberon 3 speakers, which I have in another room and have never A/B'd, and retailed for maybe only half as much (and sound great to me!), though they don't look nearly as nice...
Click to expand...
my absorption panels are discreetly placed behind by speakers and my diffusion panels count as art; my partner thinks as much, at least. As for the felt panels in the center, they come down for watching movies, transforming a blank wall into a 103" projection screen. my living room has over a dozen pieces of original art on the walls, with room for more. At some point, I'll get a bigger rug to reduce boundary reflections, but for the time being and the limited amount of money I've spent, it all works pretty well. It's not half bad for a now disabled and retired working-class slob and it's all a work in progress.
IMG_3934.jpeg

As for your gears, you could always use your 2270 as a preamp and while your Jamo 103's are indeed quite lovely, your Dali are far from ugly and are handsome in their own right.
 
Last edited:
I like the equipment to look good, but my wife INSISTS that it looks good in her living room- she doesn't want to see all the wires hanging down in the back so I have to put plywood on the back of the rack to hide the mess. The cables go through 1.25" tall/ 6" wide slots cut just above the shelves.
109_4753.JPG
 
Aesthetics matter to me. Fortunately most purveyors of Hi Fi gear understand this. There are some brand styles that I don't care for. Macintosh comes to mind.
 
Gigantic said:
my absorption panels are discreetly placed behind by speakers and my diffusion panels count as art; my partner thinks as much, at least. As for the felt panels in the center, they come down for watching movies, transforming a blank wall into a 103" projection screen. my living room has over a dozen pieces of original art on the walls, with room for more. At some point, I'll get a bigger rug to reduce boundary reflections, but for the time being and the limited amount of money I've spent, it all works pretty well. It's not half bad for a now disabled and retired working-class slob and it's all a work in progress.
View attachment 3775927

As for your gears, you could always use your 2270 as a preamp and while your Jamo 103's are indeed quite lovely, your Dali are far from ugly and are handsome in their own right.
Click to expand...
Looks nice... Kudos on that Tortoise LP I see (I think that's what it is). They're a favorite of mine and definitely the kind of thing that's enhanced by good audio. I saw them within the last year or so when they came though town last. I must have seen them 4 or 5 times over the years...

I actually have thought about buying a power amp and using the 2270 as a preamp, though I'm not convinced on how much of an improvement that would make (the 2270 is already pretty powerful) and just as importantly, I'd have to pretty radically reconfigure things to find space for another component... which I'm not really wanting to deal with. I'm one of those odd people who finds the whole audio thing an interesting subject, yet have reached in point in my development with it where I'm feeling that things are basically sounding good enough. I can hear some things that are a bit less then perfect, but I'm not quite motivated to chase perfection at this point, when I've got things to a point where they generally sound so good to me.

It didn't seem like the Jamo speakers I have were reviewed much and honestly may not have been one of the very best picks for the money they originally cost, but I got such a good deal on them that I'm convinced they are among the best for what I paid! I got the Dali speakers only maybe a year ago and am continually impressed with them...
 
RunOutGroove said:
Looks nice... Kudos on that Tortoise LP I see (I think that's what it is). They're a favorite of mine and definitely the kind of thing that's enhanced by good audio. I saw them within the last year or so when they came though town last. I must have seen them 4 or 5 times over the years...
Click to expand...
I've only seen them twice, but I've been into them since their eponymous record came out in '94, and listened to Slint, Tar Babies, Bastro, Gastro Del Sol & Eleventh Dream Day before that. I've seen them in Detroit & Philly, but never caught a show in Chicago, much to my eternal regret.

As for your 2270, you might see the most improvement if you vertically bi-amped them- I noticed improved channel separation, definition, soundstage and imaging when I dipped my toes into those waters a few years ago. It was enough to convince me to by more amps and a processor. Now I've got 6 amps driving my horns. That said, your best improvement would be separates, but really, the 2270 is such a nice piece that it's not a sin to keep it, especially if you're pleased with its sound.
 
krautmaster said:
I like the equipment to look good, but my wife INSISTS that it looks good in her living room- she doesn't want to see all the wires hanging down in the back so I have to put plywood on the back of the rack to hide the mess. The cables go through 1.25" tall/ 6" wide slots cut just above the shelves.
View attachment 3775949
Click to expand...
Looks great and is to my taste but for a couple of nits; the negative space of the 2nd shelf and the nearly perfect overall symmetry you’re going for is spoiled by the Freya. Centering it would balance that shelf and balance the rack by aligning the 3 non-conforming pieces vertically. Even better IMO; leave the Freya there, pull the socket savers (once your done tube rolling), pull the butcher boards from under the amps, and put one under the Freya.
 
Last edited:
Aesthetics of gear has always been important to me. So far I haven’t bought anything just for looks, but I haven’t bought any particularly ugly either. That said I enjoy timeless design, clean lines, uncluttered faces and have a thing for horizontality likely from FLW’s Prairie period. Turntables are also kinetic sculptures, there are definitely some out there that I’d love to have for looks over performance.
I couldn’t afford the whole Beomaster system, but it certainly checked my long & low horizontality boxes so got the B&O turntable and speakers and a sensible Yamaha CR-600, also a looker.
50 years later my Schiit Schmear checks that same aesthetic box, but was bought for performance, personal brand track record, the very poor longevity of my Chi-Fi amps* and the prohibitive cost of freight. Schiit is fairly local.
IMG_4856.jpeg
IMG_4853.jpeg
@krautmaster Same size feet are on the liszt for when I finish the cable management.

* I recently moved my Emotiva and Jolida amps along. When the cost of shipping & service exceeds my cost for the new equipment I’m out.
 
Gigantic said:
I've only seen them twice, but I've been into them since their eponymous record came out in '94, and listened to Slint, Tar Babies, Bastro, Gastro Del Sol & Eleventh Dream Day before that. I've seen them in Detroit & Philly, but never caught a show in Chicago, much to my eternal regret.
Click to expand...
That first Slint album is a unique, interesting thing. I really like it even if I'm seldom in the mood to put it on. I have just one Eleventh Dream Day album, but I really dig it, though I hadn't heard it in years, until I put it on recently and rediscovered it. I need to seek out more stuff by them.
Gigantic said:
As for your 2270, you might see the most improvement if you vertically bi-amped them- I noticed improved channel separation, definition, soundstage and imaging when I dipped my toes into those waters a few years ago. It was enough to convince me to by more amps and a processor. Now I've got 6 amps driving my horns. That said, your best improvement would be separates, but really, the 2270 is such a nice piece that it's not a sin to keep it, especially if you're pleased with its sound.
Click to expand...
I doubt I'm ever going to try any of those enhancements that you speak of, though I don't doubt that they would improve things a bit. As for your thoughts on my 2270, "It's not a sin to keep it," I'll be taking that part of it to heart!
 
Last edited:
I don't think I've listened to 11th dream day since grad school. I'll have to track some down somewhere and give it another listen.

Meanwhile, after I've finished this side of the new Boards of Canada wreck-id, I think I'll put TNT on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom