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Gear you can't stand the look of

Neil P said:
Oh yes chord - I will NEVER buy a chord dac whilst they look like something from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
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Yes I find Chord stuff deeply unappealing. I’ve never found Roksan gear very attractive other than their higher range turntables.

I’m not keen on the Rega skeletal turntables either.

Cheers BB
 
a) Anything huge with masses of CNC’d alloy casework with no discernible functionality beyond adding bling/Veblen pedigree.

b) Painted MDF speakers. I don’t care how well done they are they always look cheap to my eyes. Even at the Wilson/JM Labs price of a car level. Variations on a theme of Ikea.

c) Blue LEDs. They are just a horrible unnatural light that exists nowhere in nature and people really should wake up to that fact.

PS The first two points go against everything I think I understand about high mass being a bad thing too, i.e. it’s not just bling, but actually bad design to my mind too. A wrong direction.
 
Joco said:
NAD kit, there just seems to be an bloody minded obstinacy in their designs which, while immediately distinguishing the brand makes me want to look away, like seeing Russel Brand or that dreadful TV dating show which starts beneath the waist, quite freakish.
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Quite like it although i didn't buy on looks.

The cdp died years ago but i've still got a pair of power amps, the pre amp with a good little phono amp and later bought the tuner for GBP7.

No good for low impedance speakers though so bridging into 5 Ohms was dire.
 
Nero said:
I've yet to see a Tannoy that looks nice.
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I like the Ardens with their three-part grilles in place. Just timeless mid-century modern IMO. The real classics e.g. 1950s GRF corner cabs etc are very much of their era and painfully UK conservative. I’d happily own a pair as they are such astonishing speakers, but stylistically they aren’t my thing. The similar-era Klipschhorn, La Scala and Belle are far more to my taste aesthetically, again stunning mid-century modern in the way of an Eames recliner, Anglepoise 1227 etc. The modern Tannoy Prestige range is a total mess IMHO. Tacky Conservative Club kitsch if beautifully made.
 
Did Roberts ever make a radiogram? I only think of their radios (I have a couple). For radiograms I think of Bush, Dynatron, HMV etc.

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I got given one of these as a school kid/early teenager when my grandparents upgraded to a typical ‘70s Japanese music centre (a Sanyo IIRC). Did me well for a few years until I bought a proper stereo (Lenco, Quad, 149s). I remember listening to Alan Freeman, Peel, playing dodgy prog albums on it etc. Sounded decent, typical valve radiogram sound and even though it was mono it was way better than the cheap plastic Fidelity record players or old Densettes friends had. It at least had some warmth and body to the sound.
 
Most hifi from the last 30-40 years actually...I think the vast majority of black boxes with blue lights give very little to no aesthetic contribution or visual interest to living areas and are best hidden away.
 
Hankies and violins out, guys!
When I was posted away from my widowed mummy in our tenement in Dundee down to college at Stanmore aged 19, I loved music but only had it on the radio.
Down in my digs in Queensbury, near Honeypot Lane, the landlady owned a radiogram which she let us use. Wow! She had the top selling South Pacific soundtrack LP. I had recently seen the movie - Todd-AO - or something, widescreen & stereo. Despite being into all the pop chart stuff like Del Shannon, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc. It was bliss to play stuff like that. Later I added 5 by 5, an EP by the Stones, and persuaded her son to buy Hermans Hermits (blush) and Manfred Mann.
Eventually I bought an acclaimed Bush record player (£26 iirc) and never looked back. (...I think.)
 
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Any high gloss speakers, particularly black ones. And zebrano veneer, far too fussy looking.
Some Schiit stuff looks quite bad to me. Last one I saw (preamp I think) looked like an old sky digibox with a couple of random valves sticking through the lid.
 
Chord. Just hideous... That Google stack thing! If they dared to ditch their product designer (I think its just one chap who's responsible) then I'm sure they would sell a lot more kit. The Hugo is a visual and ergonomic disaster.

Not a fan of blue LEDs either
Nor using gimmicks like psudo profanity to draw attention to your brand. Schitt show, etc.

Do Shitt make a projector? They should..
 
A lot of folks hate these but, honestly, it looks just fine in a rack. I like the art deco styling myself - anyway mine's a keeper :)

iu
 
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