You're right, it could be gaudy and I like the round edges as well, but the 990's dark charcoal doesn't work well for me. My adcom 7707 is black with an aluminum stripe in the middle. The black on that unit is a nice black even though the unit is somewhat ugly, but I think it looks better than the 990.

Perhaps the next model should keep the charcoal brushed aluminum and the center strip, if it has one, should be aluminum along with the volume nob and the buttons. It would be two tones instead of three and a little c leaner.