Why are modern arms so ugly?

I don't know, but I would prefer the looks of the Triplanar to the DaVinci Grandezza - gold and wood reminds me too much of 1970s stationwagons...

I agree with a lot of your examples. I have a Triplanar and it is pretty ugly, I'll admit. However, I have a Schick 12" and it looks beautiful to my eye. I also liked the appearance of the Moerch DP-6 with 12" wand that I had a while back.

I'm with you, ugly. Old "S" shaped arms did look pretty cool.

I find the Reed's and Durand arms stunning ! While I'm sure the Continuum Cobra is about as good as it get's performance wise, it looks like the male reproductive organ. Certianly not beautiful...LOL
In any event, I buy on performance not bling/looks

I don't look, I listen.

Hey Stan. I have always respected and appreciated your posts. Does your post above mean that you agree with my Rinalso quip????

Form follows function.

This thread reminds me of the old SNL shows where Billy Crystal played Rinaldo. Funny as heck when Billy/Rinaldo said, "it's more important to look good than to feel good." hahaha. Sorry for the low browl(sp?) humor.

Beauty is no excuse for poor sound.

For many audiophiles, a good part of the appeal of a piece of equipment resides in its appearance. It's not just the sound. And tastes differ with respect to whether any particular design looks good.

I won't buy something that I think looks ugly, no matter how good it sounds. Personally, I think the Graham arm looks pretty cool, but I can understand that it can appear ugly to others. Buy what you like.

Ditto what Sid said.

Seriously, When the music drifts one to another place and time with eyes closed... does it matter?
I happen to have the Grandezza 12".
The Continuum Cobra has it's own league.

OOPS, I had posted after reading the OP's thread heading, only.

Because of the "new rage" in full sleeve tatoos?

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Take the Graham series of unipivots.......a theory of design suited to elegance.
What Bob Graham delivers is something akin to an exhibit at a proctologists' convention. The only saving grace is that it is manufactured in matt black to disguise its clumsy proportions.
And then there's the Triplanar.......something the Soviets would launch against some Balkan uprising.
And this fashionable separation of VTA tower and arm is responsible for a whole brood of monsters.
Even the Reed (sorry Nandric) and its separated-at-birth twin the Talea show the inability of designers to come to terms with the consequences of this solution.
And then comes the latest horror.....the Kuzma 4 Point......the sister that even Quasimodo's family tried to hide.
Look at the Continuum Cobra as the exception that displays a design excellence in solving the very same conceptual problem?
So there are a lonely few modern arm designs still able to deliver innovation with beauty.
The Continuum Copperhead and DaVinci 12" Grandezza stand apart.
But God help us if our 'classic' tonearms of the future are to be selected from the current hapless choices?
Remember........classics are always beautiful.