Over the past few months, my wife and I have been window shopping for antique radios. Most of this has been online, but we also spent a good hour at a fantastic shop on Belmont called Good Old Days, which sort of specializes in radios and TVs.)

It’s been impossible to choose anything because, for the decades spanning the 1920s and 1930s through the 1950s, pretty much every radio is just gorgeous. Art Deco floor models, cathedral radios, MCM Bakelite tabletop models—all of them.
What are your thoughts? Are there any instruments or pieces of AV equipment where you think, who cares if it works? I’d be delighted simply to look at it?

Telecaster

At the corner of Lake St. and Ogden Ave. In Chicago, you'll find Lyon and Healy "Harpmaker to the world". They have over 70% of the world market in orchestral harps and about an 18 month backlog. The showroom is on the top floor and there are 2 big rooms full of completed harps and it is totally overwhelming. Some of the most stunning and intricate work of any kind that I've seen. Each string on an orchestral pedal harp can play 3 notes, changed through this complex, completely mechanical system that is largely hand made.

So that’s my vote. Harps

The old Lighting Zenith Logo is a thing of beauty.

My youngest plays in high school wind ensemble and they had a guest musician at one of their concerts last year that played a bassoon with a maplewood finish.

THAT was a beautiful instrument.

Of AV equipment? Turntables are my favorite pieces usually. Followed by amplifiers. I don't care what speakers look like really as long as they are not ugly and sound good. No speakers have ever awed me wrt appearance.

A favorite.

I hope it links, but the Yamaha SA-15 always struck me as a gorgeous design.

A (smaller) Moog or hand crafted acoustic guitar are the only things I'd consider displaying in a more 'formal' room.

Hard to beat a pipe organ for sheer impressiveness.

Set of 4-5 timpani in a nice sounding hall is probably the most impressive instrument I’ve been able to play. Harps, as mentioned, are completely awesome as well.

The Travis Bean 1000A is the best looking electric guitar and it's not even close.

= Justin