Does your amp/preamp/int amp have to look good?

For me it matters only because I won't audition a piece of kit I don't like the looks of. As far as I'm concerned, my Harbeth's are the best looking speakers on the planet. I do not like fancy glossy gear. There's so much amazing gear out there that I have enough choices to avoid looks I don't like. Of course if everything looked like a Vivid B1 I'd had no choice but to make my house look like Tony Sopranos.

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder!
FWIW I'm a budget aupiophool. My listening room is away from the rest of the house in the basement. Usually an "ugly" piece of gear can be got at a good price, but it MUST sound good. I could care less about the fine "look" of a piece of gear. I listen in the dark and everything looks the same with the lights out. :-)

How it sounds is MOST important Dude.

No, but mine do. A mere coincidence.

Looks matter to me. However...

- would I buy something that looks good and sounds good? Of course. This is the ideal.
- would I buy something that looks bad but sound good? Yes. Sound matters more.
- would I buy something that looks good and sounds bad? Of course not. Again, sound matters more. No one buys an amp to stare at it but never turn it on (unless you own a stereo museum or something).

If choosing between various components, I would choose the one that looks best if it was a tie in terms of sound. But at the end of the day, what you want more than anything is to sit down and listen and to really connect with the music. It's all too easy to assemble a system where this doesn't happen.