Black or Silver? (1 Viewer)

[Ron Duca]

I am curious as to whether HT/Audio enthusiasts are making a switch to Silver face plates on components vs the traditional Black units. I am about to purchase the Anthem AVM 20 and have yet to decide which color to get. I like the looks of the "brushed aluminum" unit, but all of my current components are black. I'm not sure how they will look together.

I know this kind of thing is of personal taste, but I am wondering what percentage of you have a mixture of black and silver components, and which direction is your setups moving toward.

 

[Kevin T]

i used to own an ead theatermaster encore which i affectionately referred to as silver. it really stuck out like a sore thumb though it was part of the charm. i sold it and purchased an aragon soundstage which has some silver (more like grey) but not enough to mismatch the entire system color scheme. of course, if i can get my hands on a pair of palladiums i'll be right back to the mismatch.

kevin t

 

[Nick V]

I just purchased a Rotel RB-1070 with the silver insert on the faceplate. I am planning to buy another silver amp (either rotel or parasound halo), and a silver pre/pro (either Anthem, Rotel, or B&K).

 

[Prathavan V]

Upstairs, Black Pio Elite, Marantz CD, Sony DVD and Silver-Grey JVC S-VHS.

Downstairs, Silver JVC S-VHS, Black Scaler, Silver DVD-A and SILVER ANTHEM AVM-20 w/ MCA Amps!! Yes, it really does sound better in Silver

My buddy's AVM is black, but it's below his Projection screen, and all his components (except his JVC S-VHS which is silver) are black. My stuff is off to the side of my room.

 

[Chas_T]

An Oakland Raider fan might want both.

I am a fairly traditional kind of guy, so black is my choice. When I ordered a new SSP, I had a choice of color. Actually, I agonized over it for 24 hours. Finally, I could not break my pattern. Black it is.

However, just so I am not to boring, I do own a Sony 36-XBR400 and a Panny RP-82 in silver. Both of these components were as is. No choice in color.

I considered taking the monitor to a body shop and spraying the frame black. After about 5 seconds of deliberation, I decided it was not worth the effort.

 

[Evan S]

AVM-20: Silver $3400
MCA-5: Silver $1300
Look on peoples faces when they come over and hear the combo: priceless

 

[Chas_T]

Look on peoples faces when they come over and hear the combo: priceless

 

[Craig Robertson]

tradition is black and will hold it's value better when silver loses it's short term appeal.

 

[Douglas S.L]

I haven't lost that loving feeling for silver yet.... My 5.1 system utilizes 11 components, all of them silver. 8 of the 11 are 20+ years old. Any upgrades will also be silver.....

I've seen some pretty impressive black systems. However, never seen a black and silver combo that looked good at all...IMHO To each his own....

 

[Patrick-J]

Ron,

I'm all about the silver, it looks great, except that it could limit your future upgrade choices if you want to keep everything matching. All my components are currently black and will probably remain black because it seems to be the standard. I'm sure I'll always be able to find the amp...dvd...cd... I want in black.

Patrick

 

[Tyler DJW]

Everything I have is black except my Pioneer 656A DVD player (because there was no choice). All of my gf's gear is silver. If we move in together we might swap it all for some Rotel gear... it's black and silver and imho looks great... it's all about compromise.

I think I particularly agree with the above statement:

tradition is black and will hold it's value better when silver loses it's short term appeal.

 

[RobCar]

I much prefer black and have been a bit confused by the recent switch in the electronics industry. I mean, who decides these things? And who decides that it's gonna be a universal move and that there'll no longer be a choice?

For example, I walked into a huge B&M electronics store over the weekend to look at new TVs, and among the hundred or so models lining the back wall, I couldn't find ONE black one? What's up with that?

I don't really have anything against the silver, I just prefer black and prefer a CHOICE.

 

[Bill_D]

I prefer black but got an excellent deal on a unit .... and they only had it in silver.

Adcom's new amps straddle the fence:

 

[BenK]

I dont necessarily dislike silver. I just dont like that EVERYTHING is coming out in silver. Not just a/v equipment. My cell phone, pda, and HD cable box are all silver and not by choice. I would just like the option to choose. Black I believe will always be the norm for a/v equipment (I hope) whereas silver will fade away for some other "in" color. Gold perhaps

 

[JohnnyG]

For all those that dislike silver (myself included), blame Sony! They started the whole thing with the Wegas.

I've got an extra silver DVD player at home right now that's been sitting around 'cause it has karaoke capability (don't ask!). It was sitting on the floor behind a speaker, and the wife recently put it on the equipment rack, just above the TV. I will admit that the silver looks 'pretty' at times, but my eye is constantly drawn to it, which is not good! This is exactly why equipment should be black!

Also, as a retailer, it's a major PITA 'cause now I have to stock TWO of just about everything.

 

[chung_sotheby]

I think that silver stuff looks cool, but only on components that are up to snuff, so to speak. If a cheap component is silver, then it ends up looking even cheaper (like some HTIB's). This is what I like to call the Jersey Goomba effect, where an overabundance of cheap and tasteless chrome kills any sense of design. But if a nice, solid component is in silver, it can look miraculous (like some of the Anthem and EAD gear).
Myself, I kind of have a gold thing going on, with my gold Sonic Frontiers Line 1 SE, my gold Panasonic RP91, and my gold Sony CDP-X5000, but these are all quality components, so I think they look refined instead of cheap.

 

[Jonathan M]

I personally don't care for Black - it's too plastic looking.

Silver is good if it's done well (ie. if it is brushed aluminium - none of this fake metal plastic look - YUK!)

Ofcourse, what I REALLY like, is the classic look of NAD grey

BTW: Even NAD is changing slowly. Their new budget T742 receiver and T532? DVD player can be had in NAD grey or the new look titanium finish :frowning:

 

[Douglas S.L]

Who knows where the industry is going to go in the long run. Have we forgotten that the standard in the 70's to early 80's was brushed aluminum? I've waited sooooo long for it's return, so that i could upgrade.

Craig: With all due respect..... Brushed aulminum lose it's value, i don't think so. The value is in the build quality, not the color.

Johnny: If i put a black piece of equipment in my all brushed aluminum rack, my eyes would be drawn to it too...

Rather it's black, silver or what ever, we should ALWAYS have a CHOICE.... Hard on the people who have to stock it, but it would keep us "ALL" happy..

 

[Ron Duca]

Well, I just bought a black AVM 20. It looks great and matches the rest of my system.

Now I have a question about this unit and power/surge protection, but I am going to start a new thread for that.

Thanks to all for their input on the black vs silver issue. Feel free to continue that discussion in this thread.

 

[Erik_C]

I had a choice between a black and silver Anthem AVM-20. I went with black. It disappears better.
-Erik