Nice look, Hifi equipment

[DanielT]

Hello,

What do you think is nice looking Hifi? What is aesthetically pleasing to you? An old tube amplifier? A cassette deck from the 80's? Anything in HiFi. You can completely ignore the sound quality.

I'm curious about what you like.

Feel free to publish photos. It is appropriate in a thread like this

 

[jae]

Large, heavy volume knob

Toggle switches

Thick cables

Machined/industrial looking metal chassis

All black or stainless, bombproof look

Simple, minimalist layout (unless the functionality demands otherwise)

Boxy/squared off look

Rackmounted professional components

 

[DanielT]

Luxor 7082 A. Manufactured by a now defunct Swedish company, Luxor. Developed in collaboration with Luxman.
I have one. Purchased mostly because I am Swedish and interested in Swedish Hifi history. Nothing particularly remarkable about the sound from it.
But man, that I think it is has a nice vintage look. It was my taste and your taste? What appeals to you?

I have one Luxor 7082 A, in my bedroom.

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/luxor/7082.shtml

 

[Zek]

 

[DanielT]

Missed. Has supplemented with associated Tuner...

Not mine. Picture taken from the web.

HiFi should be fun too.

 

[DanielT]

View attachment 149810

Wow...

 

[DSJR]

Got to say it being the age I am and UK location. B&O and Braun ruled it for decades as regards cool looks and functionality. Didn't 'physically' know Braun but I took B&O totally for granted for decades, not understanding the people who bought it as it was all about how the gear would 'enhance' and fit into their living room - the fact that some of it actually performed really well was irrelevant to both buyer (in their eyes it was taken for granted it was the best gear around) and us, who preferred piles of ugly unmatched boxes, speakers on spindly stands with wires everywhere (no change there then )

 

[DanielT]

Many of my friends have given up their hi-fi interest and now use something boring wirelessly together with some loaf for speakers. Sounds like crap, in my eyes also looks horribly ugly.

For my own part to my main hifi, I do not care about the look. There only go with the soundquality.

What is it called in English ? Friend with benefits? My former wife had such, benefits.
... She liked good sound and ignored the look ..

Here's an old tube amplifier. A classic. The start of sensible hifi amplifiers. Or it helped to set a higher standard in terms of levels of distortion. Around 75 years old construction. I like, in some strange way, its appearance. Both ugly and good looking.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamson_amplifier

 

[Eetu]

Check these threads out:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...l-cd-players-turntables-and-other-gear.22113/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/most-beautiful-speakers-in-the-world.17178/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...t-are-your-industrial-design-favorites.17080/

 

[Willem]

In the old days: Dieter Rams for Braun, without any doubt, although I also liked my Quad 33/303/FM3 combo. These days: Sonos, and particularly their new amplifier that can be located out of sight, because in my view invisibility really is the best look. Alternatively the Boxem power amps offer the same potential invisibility and clean looks. To me the altars with huge but really obsolete turntables and tube amplifiers in between the speakers are just about the worst possible taste. But de gustibus non est disputandum.
The bad news is that speakers are and remain large objects. My Quad 2805s certainly are large, but at least they have a clean modern look.

 

[DanielT]

Sorry, missed that there were already threads like this one. Thanks for the links.

There is so much you can bring up in HiFi. This nice old analog tuner for example, Pioneer TX-9100

Or, well stand for speakers? Incidentally, a tip. If you are in need of a stand for speakers, check with your local metal workshop. So you can get stands designed according to your taste, liking and needs.

 

[DanielT]

In the old days: Dieter Rams for Braun, without any doubt, although I also liked my Quad 33/303/FM3 combo. These days: Sonos, and particularly their new amplifier that can be located out of sight, because in my view invisibility really is the best look. Alternatively the Boxem power amps offer the same potential invisibility and clean looks. To me the altars with huge but really obsolete turntables and tube amplifiers in between the speakers are just about the worst possible taste. But de gustibus non est disputandum.
The bad news is that speakers are and remain large objects. My Quad 2805s certainly are large, but at least they have a clean modern look.

Interesting. Hide hifi equipment. Why not. The taste is divided.

I have a friend who built a subwoofer out of a coffin. Similar to the one in the picture. His taste of decor agreed to place such a coffin in the living room, the listening room.

Downward base elements.

Well, why not...

 

[JSmith]

What is aesthetically pleasing to you?

I would like this baby... VU meters are sexy as!





JSmith

 

[jae]

Sansui AU series

 

[Grumpish]

View attachment 149810

I would love to build a steam punk tube amp, but I am utterly hopeless when it comes to working with wood and metal.

 

[Wes]

 

[DanielT]

"1972 the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) chose seven Bang & Olufsen products designed by Jacob Jensen to be included in their Design Collection as representing excellent examples of the Museum's criteria for quality and historical importance; design, in fact, which had influenced the twentieth century. Beomaster 3000 was one of those seven products. Two years' previously Beomaster 3000 won the iF Design Award."

https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=336

Cool...

 

[UCrazyKid]

What I own and what I can afford are two different things. But I like Industrial Design and I like minimalism and the look of engine turned metal.
I own Musical Fidelity but long for JRDG

 

[MaxBuck]

I'll be honest, Bang & Olufson is the only gear I've ever seen that I thought really deserved to be seen.

 

[DanielT]

Hifi manufacturers know how to capitalize on the craving for vintage. Preferably with brushed steel. Some examples of newly made with a vintage look. JBL, Yamaha and Vincent. .

The demand for vintage is probably largely due to the fact that now middle-aged men with the right thick wallet can buy their dream they had in their teens.

If a Technics SE-A5 will appear on the used market where I live, I will buy it immediately. For nostalgic reasons and because I'm curious about how my youth's unattainable power amplifier sounds like. I think it still looks nice.

If, on the other hand, I buy new hifi, I have completely different critical glasses on. Read tests on ASR for example. Evaluates different solutions against each other etc etc. For the most part I also do not care what the stuff looks like. It's a small advantage if the speakers do not look too ugly. They are a part of the furniture in the living room, so ..