I Find Primalunas Ugly. How about You? Is there an alternative?


The curved cage on Primaluna amplifiers is extremely ugly. Their shiny cases do not help. Visually, they are worse than forgettable. I like the look of Line Magnetic amps, but they sound terrible. Is there a decent alternative?
defiantboomerang
@lalitk 

Good points. I prefer vintage gear. I think manufacturers were more honest about their goals in the past. 

My budget is $10,000 at most, for something really spectacular. But realistically, more in the 6k ballpark. 
@soundwatts 

yes, that is a good looking machine. Can you run it on KT88s? Or do you have to use KT120s?

I don’t like KT120 as much, because they lack the historical pedigree of KT88s. 
@facten 

I auditioned the LM216. It is a really good looking machine, but the sound quality was disappointing. There was even mains hum?! Also, I heard ringing. 

As as regards the LM518, I remember reading a less than stellar review in the Stereophile magazine. JA found the amplifier to be noisy. While the rest of the review was passable, I have a strong preference for very quiet amplifiers. 
You should check out the Quicksilver V4, you can use KT88’s with those amps!
http://quicksilveraudio.com/products/v4/
If you don’t need that much power the mid mono’s are another option!
http://quicksilveraudio.com/products/midi-mono/

defiantboomerang, you must be new to the audiophile hobby. You complain about the looks of PrimaLuna products and they’re basically borrowing the same aesthetics as used by a number of high end manufacturers. For decades! And then you declare that you’re interested in amps costing more than twice the cost of a PrimaLuna. Why did you even mention PrimaLuna in the first place? Product bashing in the subject line and you're really not even interested in the product. Nice.