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Do Aesthetics Matter?
- Thread starter Crook
- Start date
), I always liked to see my cables bareAnton S
Senior Member
Hey, I resemble that remark!
While I do take aesthetics into consideration when selecting speakers, my electronics are allowed to look however they must look to achieve my audio goals.
wadude
Senior Member
Aesthetics do matter. Thankfully my S.O. is very flexible about it. I like the hifi itself looking industrial minimalist, wires visible and hangin’ loose.
All my audio/video hardware (and their cables) are kept out-of-sight; even the TV is on a lift system.
I had earmarked a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 888s but had to settle for the SourcePoint10s... because the SP888 are ginormous!
My gear-phobia seems to diffuse any aesthetics and/or WAF issues.
"Yes honey, the SP10s are ugly but not SP888 fugly!"
I had earmarked a pair of MoFi SourcePoint 888s but had to settle for the SourcePoint10s... because the SP888 are ginormous!
My gear-phobia seems to diffuse any aesthetics and/or WAF issues.
"Yes honey, the SP10s are ugly but not SP888 fugly!"
PristineSound
Major Contributor
I am pleasantly surprised that this thread hasn't spiral down yet. There are those who are utilitarians, to consider aesthetics for them is repulsive and sometimes they are very vocal, I have been accused of spending "excessively" in buying aesthetically pleasing equipment for my ego. Let's hope this doesn't happen here as I enjoy reading this thread.
Personally for me aesthetics is on the same level as performance, possibly a smidgen higher. I have no issues going great lengths on aesthetically pleasant equipments.
For example, waiting 6 months for stock on the color I want. Stripping an electronic to its chassis to sandblast and re-anodized to silver so that it matches with my other electronics. Spending an extra 30% to get the color I want, sometimes an extra 50% for rare pieces. I have modified my audio stand to have cable highways to nearly tuck all the cables in. I have use nylon sleeves to cover speaker cables when I assemble them.
Further, these Topping and SMSL as great of performance and value they are, their desktop form factor does not fit into my aesthetic requirements. I have shelved my Topping and SMSL DAC in favor of a much older Oppo Players/DAC because I need the 44CM form factor and silver color to match.
Aesthetics is very important for me and I highly encourage others to indulge themselves in aesthetics if it's important to them too.
Personally for me aesthetics is on the same level as performance, possibly a smidgen higher. I have no issues going great lengths on aesthetically pleasant equipments.
For example, waiting 6 months for stock on the color I want. Stripping an electronic to its chassis to sandblast and re-anodized to silver so that it matches with my other electronics. Spending an extra 30% to get the color I want, sometimes an extra 50% for rare pieces. I have modified my audio stand to have cable highways to nearly tuck all the cables in. I have use nylon sleeves to cover speaker cables when I assemble them.
Further, these Topping and SMSL as great of performance and value they are, their desktop form factor does not fit into my aesthetic requirements. I have shelved my Topping and SMSL DAC in favor of a much older Oppo Players/DAC because I need the 44CM form factor and silver color to match.
Aesthetics is very important for me and I highly encourage others to indulge themselves in aesthetics if it's important to them too.
Aesthetics are extremely personal choices. What looks great to one may look hideous to another.
Oh wait... that's the rule of the majority of discussions in audio forums.
Oh wait... that's the rule of the majority of discussions in audio forums.
Torin Krell
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2025
- Messages
- 116
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- 138
Superior esthetics and ergonomics create a comfortable environment that encourages one to relax and enjoy the music experience more. In a recording studio environment it can also stimulate greater creativity and the ability to work in the space for longer periods of time.
RexrothPigeon
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2025
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- 410
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- 722
One unexpected side effect of switching to actives is that I (currently) have zero components in my main listening space. So clean, so fresh, and tbh not something I expected to matter to me--but it does.
phoenixdogfan
Major Contributor
They do, unless you don't mind being this guy.
JSmith
Master Contributor
Yes, component look and feel is certainly a factor and influence for sure. I’ve never really been able to arrange my equipment in a way that I found overly aesthetically pleasing however.
Room layout and design is not a strong suit - no matter how hard I try. I’ll have a “vision” and will get all excited. Then when I put it together I’m like meh, this kinda looks like crap and give up
Room layout and design is not a strong suit - no matter how hard I try. I’ll have a “vision” and will get all excited. Then when I put it together I’m like meh, this kinda looks like crap and give up
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2020
- Messages
- 680
- Likes
- 554
That is an aesthetic! May not be your style. But it is intentionally designed, and resonates with some of us.
Waxx
Major Contributor
Yesterday i was at a place where the owner does care a lot about both, so he build his Purifi based amp in an diy amplifier case of beautifull polished aluminium, bronze and wood. It looks like a fancy 1970's receiver, but the preamp is a diy super clean opamp based system, there is a minidsp board hiddin in the case (accessible trough lan) and the power amps are purifi boards. He also added VU meters (technically useless in an amp) and an OLED display (that tells the source and the minidsp preset).
It costed him about 5x the price to make this "audio jewel" and develop the VU and display system (he's an electronic engineer) than when he would have bought the boards and put them in a cheap generic case with standard switches and dials (that would sound the same) but for him it's worth it. So yes, asthetics do matter for many... But not enough to me to justify the 20K price it would cost to make it for myself. (4ch amp with preamp and dsp). But at least it's not spend on snake oil, it's on asthetics.
It's the same guy who buy's a JBL M2 set (which is amped with this amp) and rebuild the cabinets in plywood with a full wood front because he don't like the asthetics of the original. He did even cnc the horn from a big block of chesnut wood that dried for decades. I did not ask how much this costed him, but it must be a fortune (he hired carpenters for this). The M2 won't sound better, but fit his (and mine) asthetics a lot more and for him (not for me) this is worth the price it costs.
It costed him about 5x the price to make this "audio jewel" and develop the VU and display system (he's an electronic engineer) than when he would have bought the boards and put them in a cheap generic case with standard switches and dials (that would sound the same) but for him it's worth it. So yes, asthetics do matter for many... But not enough to me to justify the 20K price it would cost to make it for myself. (4ch amp with preamp and dsp). But at least it's not spend on snake oil, it's on asthetics.
It's the same guy who buy's a JBL M2 set (which is amped with this amp) and rebuild the cabinets in plywood with a full wood front because he don't like the asthetics of the original. He did even cnc the horn from a big block of chesnut wood that dried for decades. I did not ask how much this costed him, but it must be a fortune (he hired carpenters for this). The M2 won't sound better, but fit his (and mine) asthetics a lot more and for him (not for me) this is worth the price it costs.
Well, I'd much rather have a beer with this guy than someone who colour co-ordinates their speaker cables ...
Æsthetics are just one item on the list of priorities that everyone must juggle to their own satisfaction. For æsthetics to have top priority requires a certain level of financial excess over the purely functional as well as enough room to put all the clutter that gets in the way of elegant decor. When one has limited space, limited financial wherewithal, limited cognitive energy together with multiple space, time and cash consuming hobbies, obsessions and passtimes then the æsthetics of one's living space inevitably slide somewhat far down the list.
So yes, I too live in a tip ... ;-)
Aesthetics is an important component of choosing the gear for me. But only after performance has been objectively established would I choose from the pool of such available gear and decide which one to choose.
I was sometimes ready to pay a premium for what I would consider a better looking gear, but then it did not happen many times. Sometimes I was even lucky to get what I liked at lower price than the other items from the performance pool.
There is so much to choose from so why not choose what you like.
I was sometimes ready to pay a premium for what I would consider a better looking gear, but then it did not happen many times. Sometimes I was even lucky to get what I liked at lower price than the other items from the performance pool.
There is so much to choose from so why not choose what you like.