If we put aside the sound for a minute, what do you think the best looking gear you’ve ever seen is? Amps, DACs, headphones, speakers, cables… if it’s pretty, it belongs in this thread. Please post pictures, and a brief explanation of why the item is so beautiful in your opinion.
For me, I really enjoy the look of the Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies. The mixture of aluminum, glass and warm tube glow make me drool. Even the necessary components like headphone jack, volume knob and LEDs are implemented so they do not disturb the monolithic presence.
Beautiful! I recently sold my WA7 Fireflies. I always found it visually pleasing, day or night. Jack has always put aesthetics as supremely important in overall product.
I had the Black. They were the first ver. 1 I also had the LCD2s (I still do) and Matrix Xsabre These had great synergy. To answer your question sold for the usual reason. I wanted to try a new flavor. Also being on a limited income now (retired) I can no longer afford several setups.
I’ve always liked the look of the WA7 Fireflies. More than once I’ve had my cursor hovering over the “Buy” button … and that’s purely because of the looks - as I don’t need another DAC/amp!
Another amp I love the aesthetics of is, well, another Woo unit:
Something about the curves, the massiveness of the thing, and the stark contrast between the beautifully finished silver/black metalwork adorned with the soft glow from the tubes I find quite stare-worthy.
I’m a sucker for the intersection of technology and art, so ZMF wood hand-built custom headphones really hit that sweet spot for me. And fortunately, the sound quality matches the aesthetic quality. These are my Atticus in Cocobolo and Auteur in Padauk.
I can see the appeal in that for sure. I’d have done it in much darker wood, maybe Macassar Ebony … or perhaps gone with either anodized aluminum or nickel/chromed steel, but it’s a very interesting design nonetheless!
Another unit I find quite appealing, and with something of a quasi “retro” vibe is the SPL Phonitor X. The problem would be deciding what color to get it in. The red is wonderfully vivid, the black purposeful and serious and the silver further pushes the “retro” styling cues (for me):
I actually have a picture of a phonitor X (Red) with a Director (Black) and with the following headphones : Audeze EL-8 open or Campfire Audio Cascade or Aeon Flow Open.
Pick the headphone and I will post the picture of the stack ( the lighting was kind of bad though since we weren’t in the studio).
Also I prefer an all red stack. @andrew likes the all black. For what its worth haha.
Edit i also have pictures of just the Phonitor X in silver which I could post as well.
I’d go with the Aeon Flow Open then, as I’ve seen the other two in the flesh - as it were.
To make a real choice on what color I’d go with for the Phonitor stuff, I’d probably have to see it in person. The red is really tempting, as it’s untypical.
Oops I meant the Aeon Flow Closed. Luckily they look the same. The AFO is just a little less glossy on the driver enclosure.
I am commuting but when I get home I will throw a picture up. Also they look really good in person! In North America I’ve never only ever seen them showcased at RMAF. I would imagine they make an appearance at Munich as well since they are a german company.
Last year, my wife and I went to Las Vegas for a week, she’s a fan of Journey (especially Arnel Pineda) to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The band was doing a residency at the Hard Rock and we were front-row center for two concerts. While we were there, we went to an exhibition of Steve Smith’s (the first and current Journey drummer) work in photographs.
Steve has had an illustrious career as a jazz drummer on his own with his band, Vital Information. One of the things he does, for his own training, is to us lit drumsticks in a dark room so he can visually track the efficiency of his drum strokes. One day a photographer became interested in the process.
Most of the higher end closed headphones look awesome to me. I managed to take a picture of the Z1R, TH900, and Atticus/Eikon together some time last year and they all look great in completely different ways:
