Poll: "Ugliest" receivers and speakers?

[stan2]

I wouldn't characterize them as UGLY ... I think stoopid-looking is the more appropriate term for the loudspeakers from B&W and Swan that have the tweeters mounted outside the enclosure. I couldn't live with such an atrocity, for it would remind me on a daily basis of just how bizarre and "off-the-wall" some audiophiles actually are when they think that mounting a tweeter outside will somehow have some magical effect on the overall sound (it won't).

For receivers, I don't classify any of them as actually ugly. If the question was asked in reverse ... what receivers are the most handsome, I'd answer that by saying - any of them that aren't BLACK! Give me gold - give me silver - give me titanium - give me ANY color other than black ... PLEASE! I'm somewhat encouraged that the pendulum seems to be starting to swing back away from black - but it can't happen too soon to suit me. I'm a bit perturbed at Yamaha for eliminating the importation of anything other than black into the U.S. In Japan, gold finish is the dominant color ... here, they claim that gold finish simply doesn't sell. This makes no sense to me at all. A black finish shows every speck of dust - every fingerprint - they're virtually impossible to keep looking pristine - yet that's what "sells" ... go figure!

clearly, black components are better looking. gold? silver? gold and silver? jeez. how could you get this so wrong?

[jamison]

yah that room would be hell to calibrate, that pic is straight from Klipsch's website.
my room isnt much better with an L shape to it i can't put the surround speakers in the proper locations. Also my Front left speaker is near a hall way and i have the age old floor furnace to worry about. Anyone got any ideas how to isolate it from rattling? i have a Velodyne HGS-18 sub that is about 10 feet away and it rattles the floor furnace like crazy when i turn the volume up. Heck it rattles the windows in the garage on the other end of the house. I have Huge Spikes on the sub too.

[etude]

Jamison,
Spikes?!!! ... they are not really what you want. You should mount it so that any vibration of the box is damped underneath. By using spikes you are transferring vibrations to the floor. The vibrations of the floor will add coloration and change the sound. You may like this effect, you may not, but it will only decrease the accuracy. Foam underneath is probably better unless you like the coloration of the vibrating floor.

I don't know exactly what your furnace is, but it sounds like you need to add something that will dampen parts that are rattling where they are joined.

The Klipsch should be less of a problem with more directional speakers which I expect these to be. Bass is the main problem I can see as there is very little that will absorb low frequencies, so there will be a lot of bass energy affected by room modes.

Anyway, all this is going off topic!!! ..........

For me, aesthetics is more of a priority than most. For this reason, I actually like to build some of my own equipment. My speakers have curves and I like to use either piano gloss or an exotic veneer. My subs have aluminium drivers and no dustcaps. I like the look of the klipsch drivers, although their mains shown above look a little chunky. I think B&W make very beautiful speakers.

I'm surprised at some of the comments on receivers. I like my audio gear like my photography gear - black. They are easier to match, and it gives them a certain serious, technical look. I like Denon and Yamaha receivers that I have seen, although Marantz seem to have too-small volume knobs for my taste.

Silver components look to me more like popular cheap mini system brands like Teac, Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, or even some of the many el cheapo unknowns. Gold can be nice and if you had mostly black components with one stand-out gold component, it could look good, almost as if it has the spotlight on it, but gold is harder to match to other components if they are silver and your decor as well. Silver and black are more neutral, and thus safer, so I understand why they are more popular.

[pelly3s]

The ugliest peices of gear on the market have to Proton or NAD. With Outlaw very close up there. But they are my three favorite companies. Great products for the money