Beauty is only skin deep? Maybe yes, maybe no....your vote for the best looking...

Interesting question. The world of audio is hardly flowing over with great looking products, but I think it is possible to have both looks and performance.

The Roksan Xerxes 20 plus is a fabulous looking turntable. My preferred finish would be one in gloss white. Even the cut out platter mat is an embellishment on what is already a very elegant design.

The Leben cs300/600 amplifiers look endearingly old-worlde with their gold fascias and wooden side panels. If they only sound as half as good as they look...

As for loudspeakers, even though the traditional box is unlikely to be the optimum shape for the cabinet, I find that all the classic BBC based designs (Harbeth, Spendor etc) reassuringly look like what I expect loudspeakers to look like.

Especially in their lighter finishes such as cherry or maple finishes.

I also thought the innovative 3 box Naim SBLs (in a lighter finish of course) were great looking loudspeakers, as were virtually all of the Martin Logan range too.

Of course plain ugly products abound but my pet hate are designs such as the Linn Majik range with their hideously ’bling’ chrome tweeter assembly.

Whoever designed that range, and more importantly whoever sanctioned it, cannot have much, if any, sense of aesthetics.

cd318,  

Perhaps that is a thought for a different thread, the ugliest high end audio products ever?

 Italian made audio products in general are the most visually appealing to me, whether minimalist or lavish in aesthetics.

@whatjd 

I remember there was a thread against the near ubiquitous usage of black in audio. 


@dayglow 

Sonus Faber have certainly made some beautiful loudspeakers which frankly now look like they were years ahead of their time. Amati Futura, anyone? 


I guess a lot of designers don't wish to stray too far from what they might consider acceptable from wherever they foresee as the products eventual home.

There's also the question of system matching, in looks as well as in sound. In my case I find it a little strange as to just how much these things matter more to me nowadays.

I'm guessing that marriage and kids must have gone someway towards making the visual element more important. Or maybe there's just no getting away from the fact the visual element is, to some extent or another, inextricably intertwined with the sonic appreciation. 

As soon as my amp or CD player need replacing you can bet that the colour will be an important factor in their replacement. I'd find it hard to resist an amplifier decked out in gold, and I'd rather a CD player in silver over black anytime. 

I'd also like to see more disc spinners which allow you to see the disc spinning.

It works beautifully for vinyl, and although I always previously resisted the temptation to buy one which had a strobe fitted, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't in future. 

Technics SL 1200GR with red strobe lights?

Perhaps my most fondly remembered ,...,as the British would say "piece of kit"

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.canuckaudiomart.com%2Fuploads%2Flarge%2F13735...

MAGICO Q3s /MAGICO MINI 2s.