Buying gears for aesthetics?

I'm about to buy the TFZ Exclusive King because it's really beautiful the first time I saw it in the pictures. When I saw it irl and tried it on, well, suffice to say it isn't too bad (and sufficiently deviate from the original TFZ Series as the Exclusive King is with much lesser bass quantity - head cracking pumping). But the oceanic and shiny blue is really an eye pleaser!

Thinking back, I also choose gear according to a set of colors (e.g. black colored earphones matching with black colored cable and black colored DAP). Just like having a gold colored phone matches quite well with the gold colored Cayin C5dac. They look harmonious, and sound good (despite that the battery life of Cayin is shorter than the phone and that it gets hot). Well, not often I can do that because sometimes what sounds nice to my ears doesn't necessary match with the grand scheme of theme, and vice versa.

So, have you bought (or choose one over the other) an audio gear because it looks good (by itself or in your entire chain)?

 

I bought the blue Shure SE215's over some other similarly priced IEMs mainly because of the looks I'd say (and build/isolation [I live in the middle of nowhere so I didn't need to hear traffic])- I just use them for running so I wasn't too concerned about sound quality. However - I'm about to go to uni and want to upgrade for a great-sounding portable setup so maybe I'd be satisfied if I chose something else.

 

The blue 215 is quite a looker too. Honestly, it's almost the same beauty as the TFZ Exclusive King (with the TFZ adding some shiny surface). Love to see the interiors and how they placed the drivers.

Having said that, I'm a sucker for Noble wizard design (specifically the starry night theme). But the sound and price aren't really convincing my wallet to appease my eyes.

 

Absolutely. While I don't recall ever buying something that sounded worse because it looked better, I have definitely passed on good-sounding equipment because it wasn't aesthetically pleasing (to me).

Aesthetics are very important to me. It's just how I'm built.

 

Oak veneer has influenced my speaker buying. But hey, I listened too.

In fact, I was auditioning amplifiers when I decided to leave the amplifiers and buy the demo speakers. But speakers, especially floor standers, for my do have to have at least acceptable (or studio-utility, I suppose) looks. They are almost furniture.

 

In the same vein, this reminds me that I skipped the Audezes because they won't fit on my head and it's quite heavy when i'm holding them. But the wooden housing is really beautiful tho.

That also reminded me that I really wanna own a tube amplifier. Those glowing tubes are really beautiful at night. Floor stands would be amazing if I have ample floor space in my room tho.

 

Go With The Glow, eh?

These days, speakers have to fit on my desk... but many people seem to buy smaller speakers and put them on stands. Two things to buy, same amount of floor space, and less stable: in this case, I would always choose floor standers.