Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
On professional equipment the idea is to clearly indicate at a glance which functions are in operation and which are not, also the use of different colours for different controls is pretty common. That all makes sense to me and I don't see why domestic use is any different.

Having all the LEDS and controls the same size and colour may look harmonious but it's function following form, which I don't like. These are tools to do a job, decoration should be a secondary consideration if it's to be a consideration at all.
The aesthetics of domestic audio gear is different from professional audio gear precisely because it is in a different setting with different requirements of use. Professional gear will often have provision for 19" rack mounting, or will have grab handles at the front. When professional electronic gear is used the controls are deliberately set before use; the only 'glancing' that is done is with the displays: meters or waveform traces. None of this is done with a domestic audio system (unless of course if you like to watch the power meters dancing to and fro).

On all of the domestic audio gear I have used, none of it has had control knobs of the same size: the most used control, the volume control has always been larger than the rest (the only exception is with the Levinson ML10 preamp).

But in the end the styling of domestic audio should harmonise with its surroundings; most women don't want to see the corner of the living room look like a corner of a laboratory, and not everyone is fortunate to have a separate listening room.