Ugly vs Gogeous speakers

@imhififan , ugly, IMHO.
Does look like R2D2.

I had to get rid of one of the most beautiful speakers I’ve ever had in my room - a pair of Audio Physic Scorpios in perfect room-matching ebony.
I bought them because I’ve always loved audio physic speakers, the reviews were excellent, and they were virtually my aesthetic ideal. Turned out they didn’t have quite the same tone of previous AP speakers that I craved and didn’t quite do it for me, so I sadly had to bid them farewell.

The right sound always has to be there, of course.

On the other hand, the right look to some degree as well.  For instance, though I'm quite intrigued by all the talk of Tekton, I don't think I could ever live with a pair of those things aesthetically.

BTW, imhififan, if there could ever be something truly "objectively ugly," those speakers make a great case for it.

Yeah, it’s quite odd about the Tektons. The box designs are all the old rectangle cabinet, now only used in the entry level stuff. Even Pioneer has curved cabinets in their FP-FS52’s that go for under $300.

And the paint colors that they offer are no improvement. Bright harsh tones instead of at least a nice laminate or stain finish. And the grill cloth tone definitely clashes instead of complementing things.

Which is too bad because the drivers are quite plain too. The whole package is just off putting to say the least. They obviously need a woman’s touch because they have no idea how to make their speakers attractive to the eye.

If they were asking Pioneer type prices, under 500, I could understand, but 3000, 5000 and 12000? Not for prime time.

Tekton does have a few veneer finishes, but from what I read on their web site, you have to wait for your second life to come around before you get them.....

I refuse to comment on threads where the OP hasn't proof read the title of the post. Wait…I just commented…darn it...

Good to know.

Dave

wolf_garcia,

Hi wolf! Good to hear from ya!

Just saying, I bet most speakers look better than the guy sitting in front of them.

I like to listen in the dark.  Similar to tasting wine in a black glass.  If your eyes are taken out of the equation then the reason you made the purchase comes to the forefront.

A million dollar question!
Ugly? Gorgeous?

http://www.milliondollarstereos.com/pix100k/MoonAudio_DarkStar.jpg

imhififan,

Horrendous.

A lot of these speakers are like a basement-dwelling engineer's attempt at making something that looks cool, but without any actual aesthetic or industrial design experience.   They just end up looking ugos!

I'm a sucker for a simple contemporary look with a beautiful wood finish, so here are some speakers I think look great:

Tidal:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/07/ef/8c/07ef8cb965521e21e4283a62d1a7f332.jpg

Joseph Audio Perspectives (I hope to buy a pair some time):

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/39/13/52/3913522d7ac97099183530f341566d22.jpg

Though I prefer this wood finish:

https://d29pumjbf1ozmy.cloudfront.net/resize=w:700,h:470,fit:clip/rotate=deg:exif/output=quality:70/...

And I love, love, love the look of the Thiel 2.7s that I now own in the premier ebony.  They look exactly like these pictures:

http://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/large/779895-thiel-audio-cs27-pair-in-premium-composite-ebony-msr...

I prefer grills on:

http://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/large/779884-thiel-audio-cs27-pair-in-premium-composite-ebony-msr...

@imhififan yeah, that second pair is hideous. The first you shared I kinda like..

I got a used pair of top of the line rbh speakers with nice wood veneer and rounded corners because my wife hated the giant black jbl L7s that I had. We were remodeling the basement and she told me the L7s were too ugly and had to go. I said sure, as long as I could buy a pretty pair that sounds at least as good.. that worked out well for me since the JBLs were $400 plus refurb effort.

For me, if they sound good, it makes them look better. It’s like a person you find just marginally attractive, but whom you find incredibly attractive after talking to and seeing who they are as a person. There is the inverse, in speakers as well..

I really like the look of these crazy bang and olufsen floor standers:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/bang-olufsen-beolab-90-loudspeaker

I always loved the look of Sonus Faber

Vandersteen Treos (CT in my case) have a clean architectural look I like, but also lots of lovely matched cherry veneer. I know the finish doesn’t add to the sound quality but since I spend a fair amount of time sitting facing them, and it’s nicer than the stretch-sock exterior of some towers.

The Treos replaced a pair of KEF LS-50s which were also beautiful, but I couldn’t find stands to put them on that didn’t ugly them up.

I have some ugly ones that sound great.

Daedalus speakers have heirloom quality woodwork. All pieces fitted and joined to perfection. No screws or nails. No mdf either. All solid North American hardwoods with gorgeous details. Plus the sonics are world class.

I run a custom built set of Linkwitz Orions, which normally have kind of a Danish Modern look.  Not bad actually, especially compared to pretty much most of the monstrosities listed here.   His LX521 is every bit as good as anything I've ever heard, but is inherently butt ugly.  But you can afford it, unlike most mentioned here.

I had my Orions built in a kind of Mission style, to go with my Craftsman bungalow.  I think they look pretty good.
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/russbutton.com/Russ/audio/photos/home_system/20150503_160924.jpg

I'm still chuckling over 'a gorgeous form of ugly'...

There's a lot of that 'out there'...the MBLs' have been referred to 'alien fire hydrants'. and scrolling back through this thread  there's been a lot slung at other units of various 'intent'...

It truly is 'eye of the beholder'....mixed with the 'ear of the owner', which makes it truly a very mixed bag.  It's no wonder that the 'serious listening space' (aka, "Man Cave") has evolved into a very planned and detailed arrangement when taken to the extremes....

Which leads me to an observation and a question: Is this a Good Thing, or a Bad Thing?  Do we expect the 'new recruit' to not be shocked at the extremes of both details and costs to not be driven off by what could be viewed as dilettantes discussing the population of angels on a pin head?  Will he/she/either just decide to be happy with the Bluetoothed turntable bought to explore 'this vinyl thing'?  When approached by a 'newbie' with some basic questions, shall we rein in the urge to flood them with cable this 'n that. and our personal prefs in that regard?

Should we erect a 'newbie forum'?  Big letters at the entry:

"Welcome to a very satisfying pursuit, the quest for music as You perceive it.  The experience can be as simple or as involved as You choose to make it.  Here you will find some basic advice and commentary on how to begin.  Stop at any time if you're happy with what you hear and experience.  Or, as your interest evolves, you can investigate your thoughts and desires for Perfection as you see fit.  In any case, WELCOME."

We can be an opinionated and rather daunting bunch to the casual observer.  And the technology is still evolving...the 'A' amp of now may become the 'A+' of tomorrow, since it's just a matter of design and software now.  I'm not saying 'toss that fire-bottled 70# thing into the recycle bin, no.  Just keep in mind that the future wins, eventually.

 Someone WILL figure out how to make a 'point source' speaker that will make anything we currently discuss its' pros and cons Moot.  And you will probably buy them.  Because they're that much Better....

All speakers sound good to those that own them, regardless of what they look like. *shrug*  'Twas always thus.  Any audio show proves that....

In my house speakers have look good (for the wife) and sound even better...the Legacy Audio Focus SE's fit the bill for me, love the Rosewood finish..

Agree with james_w514 " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder with speakers.".   
At the moment, there are so many audio speaker designs that everyone can find the right ones for themselves, of course, top designs are expensive. The production of loudspeakers has gone so far that the cabinets and technological solutions for them are far more expensive than the price of the integrated electronics and speaker units. Let me tell you that I am CEO at Acoustic Preference d.o.o. and in our projects, we still strive to have the price of casing in the ratio of 1: 1 with the price of the integrated electronics, because we think that the design is as important as the sound quality. Of course, we are therefore constrained in creating, but this is a way that is still guaranteed by the acceptable price ratio.

So, my opinion is the same as James's.

Link, to our fully hand-made solid wood walnut loudspeakers Gracioso 2.0 LE because most of you probably do not know:
http://www.acoustic-preference.com/products/gracioso-2-0/

My two cents worth is this: The sound is important, the look is important.  Why not have both?  Good sounding ugly speakers (or amps etc) ... just pass them buy.  We are spoiled for choice at the present time, so we can have our cake and eat it too.

Sonus faber is the most beautiful hands down end of discussion. The Franco Serblin models. Game over!

the lower end of the Wilson line up reminds me of amusement park trash cans from the fifties and sixties........ butt ugly.

When I retired my Dahlquist DQ10s and replaced them with a pair of ML reQuests, my friend said: "I like these new ones - I thought those other speakers were ugly as sin."

An amusing statement coming from a guy that doesn't have a single piece of matching furniture in his home, let alone a decorating scheme.

Different strokes, I 'spose.  ;-)

While I certainly like the speakers, like Sonus, that are fine furniture as well as sound reproducers, the question that always comes to mind is whether an audiophile with limited means (whether having a budget of $1,000 or $100,000) wishes to spend money on sound, appearance, or both, with the corollary that anything significant given to appearance usually means less spent on performance.

I’ve had odd looking speakers - the Spica Angelus looked rather like a couple of nuns staring at you - but I admired Vandersteen’s approach - put the maximum effort into performance and then wrap a sock over it so it looks at least acceptable, albeit a bit reminiscent of the monoliths in 2001 A Space Odyssey.

I have large Wilsons that do look a bit like something out of the Alien movies, and I made the mistake of sticking the grilles on them just as a way of keeping them safe while I was setting up the room (never do this - convincing a wife that they have to come off for listening is very difficult once she knows they have grilles!)

I guess there is a balance between aesthetics and sound, but I come down on the sound side. But if someone abandoned a pair of Sonus on my doorstep, I wouldn’t hesitate to haul them inside!

I've read most of your comments with an open mind.  I realize that beauty is somewhat subjective.  Most people can agree on a pretty woman, beautiful home, nice car, etc, but speakers seem to be not in any of those categories.  
For me, I have always enjoyed (much like cars and women) really nice curves.  If you look at some of the most coveted cars in the world, Shelby cobras, Porsche 911, audi R8, they are well rounded.  So for me, I like the 802 D3s. Really nice curves.

But I also own three of them. 

I am just not into anything I can potentially build in my garage in an afternoon with a table saw and jig.  Not to say I don't appreciate those other speakers, (which I do) I just like something with a little more sex appeal.  

 Beauty certainly is in the eye of the beholder.  James mentioned someone's wife dry-heaving over the look of the MBLs.
The MBLs have always been divisive: as an example of more "way out there" industrial design, I actually find them beautiful.

Probably the most puzzling "WAF" note I've seen was in the Soundstage review of the Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers.  The reviewer swooned over their sound, but could not keep them because apparently his wife hated their looks so much she put her foot down on his ever buying them.  The Pulsars are about as normal-looking a monitor as there is, and even with some nice contemporary lines.  How someone could hate their looks so much truly baffles me (and that line of Joseph speakers usually gets kudos for their good looks).

wspohn mentions the "mistake" of putting grills on the Wilsons.  I'm with his wife on this one: I generally don't care to see the speaker drivers.  While *some* designs do have beautiful looking drivers, most look drab or industrial.  The Wilsons are IMO a perfect example of this: there is nothing pretty about their drivers, and they exhibit one of my pet peeves: the very visible silver screw heads around the drivers.   I get this can make it easy to place and swap the drivers...but jeeze...go the extra yard to make it look nice. You don't see screw heads sticking out of walls and nice furniture for a reason; why anyone wants to look at those, like some unfinished shop project, on their super expensive speakers is a mystery to me.

Both aesthetics and sound are a personal choice for anyone buying a pair of speakers.  That being said, the Lawrence Audio line of speakers not only looks very different and aesthetically pleasing but they are extremely neutral sounding with tight bass, gorgeous mid-range, and extended sweet sounding high-end. Look at some pics on my website at eastendhifi.com

I think it could be said that some speaker designs are quite unusual in appearance.  One either likes it or hates it.  Other designs are quite conservative which equates to boring, the boxy design with a narrow width and longer depth made out of some variety of budget conscious MDF.  But at least with many of these, stains or wood grain laminates are often offered to dress it up.

I still like the curved cabinet variety, with a nice wood grain, but even that is probably seen as conservative by some.  Still, it's usually a lot harder to manufacture, or at least if your doing it to minimize standing waves and resonances.  I'm still surprised that a newish company like Tekton has paid such little attention to looks, with greens, blues and yellows as color options for a 3000+ speaker.  Hideous.

My wife isn't the sort of person who would care what my speakers look like but would certainly have issues if they smelled bad. Speaker design esthetics are so all over the map it's amazing, and that's actually a good thing.

Sorry about the empty posts above. I fell in love with the esthetics of the Legacy Focus.  I bought them in 95.  I think you might describe them as Art Deco and still love the looks and the music that flows from these beautiful 7way gems 22 years later. The new Focus do not look as good. 

Certainly tastes differ, but I can't see why anyone would want a speaker whose looks they don't like in their place--any more than they'd like an ugly chair or picture. 
I personally love the understated elegance of my B/W cm9s. Rosewood and plain black grills. Slender. Lovely. But much as I love their sound, if I were going up I wouldn't listen to their 800 series, b/c I find them really ugly--like British letterboxes. 
Tidal is gorgeous--not too cheap. Raidho is slender, which I like. Wilson is blah. Magico at least has simple, clean lines. I quite like the Monitor audio pl II--and their sound is out of this world.
Aerial are well done. I'd like to see the new Paradigm Persona line in person.
And there are some European lines that are all beautiful wood--Penaudio and Arthos (something like that) I think are great.
One other issue someone might have mentioned: size and weight. I mean, having a 200 or 200+ pound thing in your living room might be a bit much unless your a really strong person. Kind of hard to move if you need to.
that's one advantage of Vivid Giya--less than 100 pounds--and only $40k!
best to all,
r 

A used pair of 
Merlin VSM black magic
Speakers.  You will need 1 extra interconnect. Very sexy speaker.    If you have a sub sitting around 
  Its a great value. Only look at  Black magic VSM 

I actually enjoy some of the B&W loudspeakers and I own the Nautilus 804's in a home theater setup.  For my recent 2 channel system I selected a Wilson-Benesch Vertex.  Extremely pleased with this 2-way and it isn't weird to look at.  Check them out.
Best of luck!

Wolfe_g, my wife is the same.  Although when I switched from towers to standmounts in my theater, she didn't quite care for that.  Her hearing is quite sensitive, but she just doesn't care about audio whatsoever. 

gdhal"Aesthetically speaking, "Ugly" and "Gorgeous" are in the eye of the beholder".
I agree...

IMO. The big Wilsons- ugly
The Vandersteen Quatro CT, Magico, Magnepan- beautiful
Volti Audio- http://voltiaudio.com/vittora/- very, very nice

My wife and I recently downsized our empty nest home to a new condo.  Our new digs are quite contemporary and the 30 year old Ohm Walsh 3's just didn't cut it looks wise.  So I decided I decided to pull the trigger on a pair of Duevel Planets in a light silver finish which complimented our decor perfectly. I read several reviews on the Planets and felt pretty confident I wasn't giving up too much on the Ohm's and with the exception of a few Hertz down low they sound very similar to the much bigger Ohm's.  As I now have a dedicated Man-Loft system (Maggies) the main great room setup is more of a "Lifestyle" system.  It's fun when guests ask "what are those" and they're mighty impressed when I spin some tunes on them. So I suppose my foray into speakers based on how they look turned out OK, on a side note these are the only speakers my wife has approved of since my Martin-Logan Aerius speakers from some 15 years ago. 

Regarding the Duevel's. What part is the burner, and what part is the oven????

I agree Tannoys can be nice, some of their Definition series is quite good to me.

Those Duevel Planets are something completely different, quite a conversation piece!

The Duevel Planets really are quite something, a simple and attractive way to fill a room with natural and near full range sound.  I think the best compliment I can give them is I don't really think about them or the system at all.  In fairness I felt the same way about the Ohm's but simply couldn't get past their looks.

When I approached my wife with the idea of replacing my stand mounts in the living room with floor standing models, she said "why don't you move your system down to the family room, and create your 'man cave'".  That's what I did!

As Jeff Foxworthy said, "if mama's not happy, no one's happy".

Sonus faber beautiful nothing else comes close!

i've always loved the look of the wilson alexia - it's my biggest reason for wanting one :)