It's audio -- at best. IMO, except for speakers, it works hard to be anything less than ugly. It's all just metal in boxes. I have nice gear (like a Cary SLP-05, Rowland monos, etc) but it's all ugly as hell compared to the custom woodworked Japanese-style box that sits over the whole system. Inside the furniture cabinet, the gear is on a Monaco Modular rack. Very nice looking -- for an audio rack. But it's still a hunk of steel, acrylic and carbon. It can't compare to the handcrafted piece of furniture it sits inside, the primary function of which is to aesthetically pleasing.
So it's all relative. Compared to an ugly metal box, a pretty metal box is artful. Compared to a piece of art, it's still just a pretty metal box.
As for the watch/stereo comparison, I think you have it wrong on a number of counts.
The watch often increases in value? Often? No. Rarely. Great watches retain their value better than others, but they don't go up in value unless a surprising confluence of events occurs.
Consumer electronics go down in value? Yep. We've long since figured out how to keep good time, but we're still figuring out how to make good sound.
Watches go up in price the more complications there are. A credible "minute repeater" does a lot more than tell time, and it can set you back well into six figures. The more an audio piece goes up in price, the less it does.
Fine automatic watches are using technology that will be fixable in 100 years. Similar watches (automatic/gear based) that are 100 years old are A fine piece of stereo componentry will be difficult to repair in 25 years.
If you like staring at your stereo, more power to you, but don't delude yourself into believing that it's a work of art.
My (cynical) two cents.
R
So it's all relative. Compared to an ugly metal box, a pretty metal box is artful. Compared to a piece of art, it's still just a pretty metal box.
As for the watch/stereo comparison, I think you have it wrong on a number of counts.
The watch often increases in value? Often? No. Rarely. Great watches retain their value better than others, but they don't go up in value unless a surprising confluence of events occurs.
Consumer electronics go down in value? Yep. We've long since figured out how to keep good time, but we're still figuring out how to make good sound.
Watches go up in price the more complications there are. A credible "minute repeater" does a lot more than tell time, and it can set you back well into six figures. The more an audio piece goes up in price, the less it does.
Fine automatic watches are using technology that will be fixable in 100 years. Similar watches (automatic/gear based) that are 100 years old are A fine piece of stereo componentry will be difficult to repair in 25 years.
If you like staring at your stereo, more power to you, but don't delude yourself into believing that it's a work of art.
My (cynical) two cents.
R