Do you care about speaker looks / appearance?

[Dunring]

I use a big roll of vinyl automotive wrap. It comes in everything from black matte to carbon fiber and can really change the look of something if you like the sound.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

One 'speaker that I've always loved the look of is the Empire 9000 Royal Grenadier. Lovely looking pieces of functional furniture. No idea how good they were sonically, as I've never managed to hear them or seen any detailed measurements, but I'd have a pair just as side tables.

They were more successful as side tables, imho.

 

[benanders]

One option ist missing: I don't care but my wife does.

More than one opinion can surely influence your selection for shared room purposes. I think her concerns function as yours too, if you acquiesce.
I kept the option of changing poll choice in case anyone changes their “collective” mind down the road.

 

[Mikig]

There are speakers that I really like. There are some that I really don't like.
Don't ask me why, I'm afraid I won't be able to give an explanation!
Of course, I would have a hard time accepting having something I don't like.
But the brand also contributes: there are brands that I generally don't like, and it goes without saying that this influences my judgment from every point of view...

 

[jeffbook]

While I appreciate good industrial design and generally like to have 'nice things' I do believe form should on the whole follow function. This allows me to happily live with a pair of LX-minis even though they look like an accident in a pipe factory.

Voted #5. I have the LX521. Function over form.

 

[Ilkless]

I'm still a sucker for walnut-clad Italian-made speakers and am thinking seriously about giving the new Sonus Faber Sonetto actives a whirl

 

[DWPress]

#4 for me. My DIY monkey coffins are huge and hideous - outside the front baffle the rest of the sides are just painted chipboard (with butyl layers and lots of bracing inside so very well dampened) and hang from the ceiling on ⅝" chain.

In the house the only thing you see are the speakers and everything else is tucked away neatly.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

It's number one for me. I mind a lot when a speaker looks like crap, especially since I know there are many, excellent sounding speakers that are also really good looking. So nothing that looks like it's tweeter is going to shoot death rays in my direction (Wilson), or cones on a stick, or large shoe polish flat black boxes with enormous throats for horn tweeters. And I really have to shake my head at guys who have $500 k worth of equipment, surrounded by stacks and stacks of vinyl and CDs on shelves that look like they come from the public library, and who cram all that shite into a 10' x 14' basement room like Mikey (you know which Mikey I'm referring to) does. IDK how anyone can properly enjoy sound when the space looks so jacked up. I really do not.

 

[Chrispy]

Personally I don't find audio gear in general as "attractive". Speakers are mostly just ugly boxes, even when they have a nice veneer. I don't have any WAF to satisfy at all, tho.

 

[Penelinfi]

While ultimately I would like an artistic speaker, they are usually very expensive and/or don't measure great.
So I settle for looks reasonable enough.
While I don't mind the looks of say genelecs and Neuman, they aren't as visually engaging compared to say the Sun audio speaker, or March Audio Sointuva.
At the same time, I generally like the look of the higher end or some vintage b&W, but the sound isn't quite my type. The older 802 s80 was not too bad considering the age. Also sold them and later discovered that some upstream equipment wasn't behaving correctly. Audio interface with an odd distortion problem no one can figure out. It's like adding IMD so that all your speakers have the same amount. Enough to affect the sound but not necessarily prominent enough to notice straight away, especially when you trust that a modern equipment won't have such issues!

 

[DavidMcRoy]

A design chief at a major car manufacturer once said, "Good styling costs little. We have to bend the metal anyway so we might as well make it look nice."

 

[DLS79]

In general I'm 50/50, with everything that I have to regularly look at. That's why I just can't pull the trigger on genelecs, to me they look like someone say on a box and semi crushed it.

 

[Chr1]

I tend to like the appearance of things that perform really well, be it speakers or vehicles.

Give me a a Mugen or McLaren over a Rolls anyday...

And I would definitely make room for a pair of Genelec 8381As.
Even though their appearance may initially concern the mrs.

 

[Multicore]

It depends on the context, doesn't it? For my own living room this would be perfect but I know it doesn't look quite slick enough all tastes.

But looks isn't everything. I also care about how they smell.

 

[Multicore]

yes, me too I think they look really good in a 'Space: 1999' sort of way.

Was that the most depressing kids' tv show ever? Hard to say. More depressing than Blake's 7? Kinda.

But yes, I'd rather have Genelec Space 1999 than Kyron Daleks.

 

[Svet Angelov]

But looks isn't everything. I also care about how they smell.

I used to go and smell the dust-packed air coming out of the speakers' bass port when I was a kid.

Just thinking about it now, and I can almost smell them again. Ahhh to be a kid again

 

[Chr1]

Audio Apocalypse Now...

"Smell that soldier?"
"That smell"..."The whole hill"...
"I love the smell of a dust packed bass port in the morning."

 

[Robert-Hifi]

I care a lot about speaker looks/appearance, but for me it's the combination of looks, finish and sound quality.
Nowadays, if you want a black speaker and you shop above the budget category you can have any finish you want as long as it's piano gloss black.

This pisses me off, because I don't want a mirror and dust/fingerprint/scratch magnet.
Sure, you can get it professionally painted in satin black or whatever, but you also destroy the resale value of the speaker.

 

[tmtomh]

I care a lot about the overall look of my listening space, because it impacts my experience. However, my preference runs to minimalism - I want my visual experience to be mostly about the imaginary soundstage and not the speakers or gear - so a wide range of speaker looks will work for me, as long as the speakers are dark gray or black and not so large that they make me feel like I'm looking at a wall when I listen.

For the same reasons I prefer my gear to be black, with no VU meters or other large lights or displays.

 

[Basic Channel]

I have no interest in appearance, for me it's all about personality. And the size of the cones.