Faceplates Silver or Black???????

I own a Dolan PM1 from back in the day. It was offered with a brass or black faceplate and I had the brass. I've always had black gear so I opted to switch out the brass for the black. I regret it to this day! Even though the preamp is in the 'spares' closet right now, it was a primo-looking piece of gear with the brass!

Black, no doubt about it. I don't care for silver or gold faceplates or trim. I don't want my equipment screaming out for attention aesthetically. I don't mind a component calling attention to itself for performance reasons.

Personally, I find silver more pleasing. But I never think about it. No, I'm not saying that I'm too good to think about it. I'm as shallow as the next guy. But for several years my equipment has lived in a closet, so I never see it. Hence I never think about it.

My system is a hodgepodge of black, silver, modern, retro, pro audio, and mass market. Even when my gear was visible, I didn't buy things because of how they looked. I've never been a fan of the look of Pass amps or Parasound Halo amps, but I currently own both.

Come to think of it, I really like having all my equipment out of sight. It's not because I don't like gear. It's because I DO like gear. I just don't want to be thinking about it when I'm listening to music.

Bryon

Get black; when it dies it won't have to change.

At night I like to see glowing tubes and the "output needle" setting on my Squeezebox Touch (unless it's off...then it displays a colorful analog clock thing). I have 2 Pangea power supplies with extremely bright LEDs that I put behind a little Bravo II plexiglass headphone amp to dissipate the brightness viewed from my listening spot. I use a Littlite mixing board light with a red filter on the top of the heap. I think all amps should be required to have some sort of moving needle or something to indicate life...I'd buy a Pass, McIntosh, or D'Agostino (!) just for that.