Poll: Do the Visual Aesthetics of Audio Gear Affect Perceptions of Sonics?

On average people will gravitate toward the shiny object, the louder sample, the brighter sample as being more revealing.
On an individual basis you can remove the [insert bias choice] if you are informed.

I pointed out that I think I have two ugly pieces in my system. I didn't buy them because of their looks. I bought them because of their price and performance. I wish they would look better but a similar sounding option will cost me much more than I want to pay.

 

Well it´s possible, but it´s very difficult. It´s not likely many can do that.

 

I think Kyhl is spot on. The question changes to - are YOU influenced by visual appearance or do you think anyone could be? For me? Maybe I'm being naive but I honestly don't ascribe any bias to what something looks like. Stuff it in a plain black box, I don't care. I also don't have a prejudice to thinking attractive gear will sound great - in fact I'd say the more money you put into packaging, exotic material enclosures, and general aesthetics, the less you may have put into R&D, components, QC, and so forth. Just like getting a kitchen knife that comes in a really fance, awesome package versus one from Japan with nothing but a black box and a knife inside. I'll go for the latter every time!

But, I know that most do not think the same way so my answer to the poll should have been "Yes" in general, but specifically for me, "no" is what I chose.

 

People do not realize when they are biased.
Has nothing to do with being naive at all.

Has everything to do with human senses being all inter-related.

 

The thing is, as I see it, we cannot know how much we in reality are influenced; by looks, by design, by brands reputation, by people here on this board, by price, and so on. That is the whole matter, we don´t really know. The first step is to acknowledge that we cannot say how much.

Judging from what people generally write on this board it´s very easy, the things people are attracted to is visual quality. Also the weight of components is often commented in admirable terms.

 

If both those posts above are true - and they very well may be but by your own words "we cannot know" - why try to quantify it? Just shrug your shoulders, do your best to acknowledge it can influence you and act accordingly with further purchases. For my part, I'll take the over-engineered, lightly or not-at-all marketed, plain brown box gear and be happy. Maybe I'm influenced that way - the lack of beauty or pinache positively affects how I think it will sound? That would be a fair observation, I think? My equipment comes from Keith Herron, George Merrill, and Klaus at Odyssey. Outside our little world here, and even in some audio communities, those names and brands mean nothing. That's a little of what draws me to them, honestly.

But none or very little of the above is tied to any aesthetic value I've put on the gear in front of me.

I'm not trying to be argumentative at all, please don't take my posts that way. Just injecting my point of view

 

I voted yes. I think it’s in our DNA, it’s how we work.

 

If everyone was so open minded, most of audio arguments would dissolve easily.

 

Yes! I don’t care if it’s delicious, I’m not eating it if it looks like a dog turd.

 

The thing is; it cannot be delicious then.

 

Well if an artistic chef forms some delicious chocolate into a VERY realistic “wet” dog turd with some wispy candy hair, I ain’t doing it. But it probably taste delicious

 

Well You might be able to eat it, but remember we eat with our eyes; it´s in our DNA.

 

Yes

 

It also depends where you fall on the spectrum of form versus function. I am a function over form guy. An item is useless to me if it doesn't work satisfactorily. If the choice is between two items, one that works beautifully but is ugly and one that works ok but looks good, I will chose the former almost every time.

I have gone round and round about this with my wife regarding the layout of the listening room. She has finally come to the point of asking, first, "if we changed this will it work with the sound?" My music room is not aesthetically pleasing. It looks more like a padded cell with windows, including a hodge-podge of equipment and wires. Example, a radio antenna wire that looks randomly strung from the gear to the ceiling. But it works.

Looking through the "photos of your room" thread I'm in awe of visuals of some of the rooms but I know my room will not sound as good using most of those layouts. They may look great but if I tried something like those setups in my room the sound would suffer and I would not like it.

 

The more thought I put into the question, the more I get pulled to thinking there are two components to the answer.

On the surface I agree with @Kyhl above and what he says, we can tell ourselves certain things are not important, nor should they impact our perception or happiness of enjoyment of something, but under the surface I think another component of our mind, works it's own magic and dictates what we like, without our known understanding of what is happening.

The amount of each will vary from person to person, but it is like the Ying/Yang of our senses and somewhat under control, but also part is not under control.

 

Come on now, there is actual science behind this. You are making strawman arguments of what people say.

 

Yes, but also wrote 'design' as part of our perception.

My listening room isn´t really that good. I have a potentially much better room for the listening, with a library, but I´m just too lazy

 

But in reality, never mind from where we are, we are very similar; with very, very small differences in our DNA.

 

Science can't tell me what I'm hearing and that is the bottom line. I've heard ugly gear sound great and beautiful gear sound like poo. I don't buy poo regardless.

 

I voted no, but do think looks can influence how much we love our gear or not. In my experience, I've auditioned minimalist gear, such as David Hafler, elegant in simplicity but certainly not beautiful. I chose a Luxman L-11 for its visual appeal over the Hafler.. although the two were close in performance. The Luxman is the faster amp, (ring emitter power transistors) cleaner attack, but the Hafler more luscious sounding. I quickly regretted my leaning for the more impressive looking Luxman (and she was beautiful) still a great amp.. but should have brought the Hafler home.

My ears told me Hafler.. my eyes said Luxman.

 

Thats fine, but its just a fact that other senses affect our experiences. Like how sight can affect our tastes when eating.

I think a great example of this is what John Ledermann told me once. He listen to his equipment for testing and can at times experience music differently depending on what time of day it is, his mindset, blood pressure or whatever reasons while he knows that there is nothing different about his setup.

 

I voted the for the “Blue One”

What did I win?

 

I say I look at the pretty, but buy what sounds best. If they both sound great,, I buy the pretty.

I was torn between a VPI scout and my Roksan 5.2. They both sounded fantastic. I ended up buying the Roksan based on looks. It had to deliver the goods to be bought though.

Some stuff wins on all counts. The Sonos Faber Amanti speakers for instance are just about the most beautiful speakers I ever saw, and they happen to be the very best I ever heard at the shop...its that dag gum $36,000 price tag that made them ugly...

 

I notice that most of the conversations are based on the bias that they wouldn’t necessarily buy a good looking piece if they didn’t think it sounded good. Is it possible that people also buy industrial or plain looking pieces with the perception then being that since the designer seemingly spent no effort on looks, it must sound good? Maybe it’s just a manufacturer trying to cash in on a different bias?
I’m drawn to equipment that is attractive as well as good sounding. I believe there is enough variety out there to achieve both. I setup my stereo in the living room so having some sensitivity towards aesthetics helps keep everyone happy and I get to indulge my hobby.
This is an interesting thread! Thanks to the OP!

 

I think we have drifted from the original topic.
It involved, do Visual aesthetics of gear affect perception of sound, not do we buy or not buy based on looks.