There's plenty of poorly visually conceived gear out there, many audio designers simply do not care that much about looks. Whereas a graphic designer is always going to tell you that it is the most important thing since sliced bread, especially if he's angling for some design work down the line ;-)

Werner's layout suggestions all make sense and would add nothing to the cost of the unit. But modifying the case work, trying different methods of construction, that all costs money and begins to migrate the product away from Stan's current core market- listeners, who I assume, simply want the best possible performance and VFM in their price bracket. I'd like to see Stan broaden his market reach with appropriately priced and designed product the issue he's likely facing is one of scale and resource.