[MC5C]

For me, a "scabbed on" active pickup control panel on the upper bout of an acoustic guitar is a real distraction, detracts totally from any sense of beauty or elegance, hence I don't like them. But if I was buying a guitar as a tool for amplified performance, my view would change and I would buy a Takamine rather than a luthier built pure acoustic masterpiece. So if you use a pickup in an acoustic guitar, choose the very best one you can find and embrace the effectiveness of your choice. If you don't use a pickup and find them obtrusive, then by all means choose a guitar that doesn't have one and embrace that choice.