The shadow from the wadded-up cord almost looks like some of the magic smoke is escaping.

Chiming in, yes absolutely keep it as a set, I’d even look for a matching tape deck (and turntable?) to complete it.

The EQ is very useful when you start connecting different, modern sources - media players, phones, tablets, etc. - many of them are tuned to drive headphones, and when used as a low-level input, are extremely bass or treble heavy. Just turning down the bass or treble on the amp can leave it sounding “empty” while being able to isolate one overdriven (or lacking) band on the EQ can help it sound more balanced.