Well, I'm not going to do the legwork to find all the old threads but, we technically voted for this "new" design a while back; several times over too Chitown.

We didn't want a JJP-sized display. Check!
We still wanted artwork in the form of a BG/TL. Check!
We didn't want the new display to be the size of the old DMD. Check!

I think we said as close to the Sega DMD as possible was the perfect size "everybody" seemed to agree on but, that was years ago.

I think it looks perfectly fine to be honest, and I like that you can open the panel underneath without taking off the TL AND it has built-in cables to stop it from hitting the PF glass!
Good stuff.

On the bright side,
We've got Stereo now! STER-E-O!!!

Where are the Mono-lover's pitchforks today?
Still listening to their 180g Beatles re-issued collection I'm afraid...

True, I'll give you that.
But I still think people casually gloss over the other cool stuff with this new setup, that makes for a better "pin-perience."
Bigger speakers, cleaner audio; easy to service/update code.

All good things.

Both AS and GOT are clearly better as pros.
Too bad you're off complaining about speaker panels to go see/play the obvious differences in fun/flowy gameplay for yourself.

Funny, mine was in an inebriated Jimmy Stewart voice.

At least they both live in reality.
I'd hang with them.
We could do all the Pinside "taboo" things like nudging and slide-saves on pre-A-list classics like Stars till the floor wears out!

Maybe for a few short years, yes.
All new Stern games from the 2000's and up were plain black spray painted wood.

I actually prefer that simple/clean look over ANY of the new stuff...

IMG_5690 (resized).JPG

Kind of glad it's back to all black, personally.
If you don't like it, oversized-fridge-magnet it like the above pic and theme fap away!

Proving how much worse the new speaker panel decal is compared to the previous "classy" black painted wooden one isn't going to sway people to join your cause.

Plus,
The aftermarket guys will eventually get you what you need Chitown so you can put this behind you/sleep soundly, knowing that your 2017 (and beyond) Stern LE speaker panels can finally attain REAL "LE" purpose far beyond that of a simple matte black easy-to-use hinged panel for the display and speakers.