Obviously components from different vendors will not match. And saying performance is what matters is so obvious and such a cliche its not worth answering. But, someone who is buying everything from ONE company, brand new, and spending a singificant money, probably expects it to match and also look good. If I already had an amp and was upgrading my preamp I would not care (other than at least try to get the same color like black or silver, and even that is hard with cable boxes and such). But if I am buying everything brand spanking new, from the same company, well at best it would be a wierd quirk the consumer doesnt care about or at worse its a lost sale.

Some people like their audio/video electronics setup to look good ( I would say many to most but It would just be a guess). Why would you see so many pics of setups in magazines if this were not the case, and why would this topic exist, why such expensive furniture (like bello)to display the eqpuipment (instead of enclosed racks)? To pretend people are being ridiculous because they are aware of or give weight to aesthetics is in my opinion a mistake. They made a significant investment and would prefer it if it looks as good as it sounds.

Every company knows a products looks matters. Thats why they hire industrial design firms, graphics artists, sculptures, etc. to design the look and feel for their products and convey an image. Why is it so strange we expect Brand X to have a consistent look and feel across their product line?

If looks are such a non issue in a product line, ask yourself this: Do you really think Outlaw will continue to produce a line without a consistent look and feel, each product on its own path with no relation to the others? Or do you think they are selling whats left of the old line before releasing the new revisions?

All we are saying is, some people are waiting for this to happen before purchasing.