My preferred finish is whatever Ian would like to throw my way...

I'm undecided on speaker finish preferences. I went with Boston Cherry because real wood was more than I wanted to pay for. As for why I chose Boston Cherry over the other vinyl choices, I don't really know.

I've been going with black for my components just because I don't really want to draw attention to them. When I move my system into the basement, I'll probably hide them completely during movies. I have a ledge running the perimeter of most of the basement. It's a convenient place to put my electronics, and I'll probably have a curtain I can pull in front of it, if I don't go further with sliding doors or something. Depending on the color scheme that's chosen for the basement, I may decide to trade up to a different finish for my speakers. I'll probably go the cheaper route and match the color scheme to my existing system, however.

You can be like me and go for variety. I have boston cherry M22s and a VP100, maple QS8s, and a black EP-500.

I still prefer the brushed aluminum look for components, must be my age. Having said that everything I have is black.

For speakers I am slowly switching over to a Cherry/Chestnut/Semi-Gloss Finish. I've currently got the M3s ( 2channel/tube setup) the VP150 and EP350 in wood.

As for my existing cherry/vinyl M60/VP150/QS8/EP350 setup, if they were being placed on a yacht, they would be described as "for sail". Lets hope I haven't sailed beyond the forum rules with that one.

I am in the minority here, but I like the look of silver components. I like the look of my Music Hall Maverick player and my Belden surge protector. I have a black Denon amp but would love to add a silver Cary SLI-80 (I will admit that I would take the Cary in any color offered). I am not too particular about the speakers as I have a mixture of Boston Cherry and maple speakers.

Black is out, passé.
Metals and woods are back in.

As long as they all match my shoes...

Component colors don't matter to me. There all tucked away in the next room, out of sight.

I run a set of Boston Cherry fronts with the Maple surrounds that I retro-fitted with some white speaker grills. I like how the rears blend into the off-white walls better this way.