in the past i've owned audio art such as the Linn CD-12, Kharma Exquisite Reference 1D's, Mark Levinson #33 monoblocks and #32 preamp, and Tenor Hybrid 300 monoblocks. beauties all.
i currently own a Studer A820 RTR deck; which to me is about as elegant as audio can get. last year i had the new darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks in my room for a month, stunning to look at.
i love my darTZeel preamp and stereo amp; but i'm not generally a fan of gold anodized casework. but it has typical swiss craftsmanship and sounds heavenly, so it earns it's place in my room.
what can you say about the aesthetics of turntables, i'm not sure i've seen one that did not appeal to me aesthetically on some level. in fact, like tube amps.....turntables that strive for modesty might have the most aesthetic appeal.
OTOH i have also owned the early EMM Labs digital gear (which bettered and replaced the CD-12) which to be generous was a bit homely. i also used the Placette passive RVC (replaced and bettered the ML#32) as my main preamp for 3-4 years, which looked more like a wall wart than audio gear.
and the best sounding source i have yet heard is likely the King/Cello repro unit i use for my Studer, which is just 2 square ugly boxes.
i like aesthetically pleasing gear; but it never influences my aquisition decisions........and i always enjoy it when performance includes elegance.
of course, my listening room is dedicated, and separate from my house.....so WAF is not an issue....if my listening room was my living room i would need to view it differently. my wife has liked the look of some of my gear, and tolerated some. she still laments when i sold my Kharma Exquisite speakers, which she loved the 'look' of.