Ever made a HUGE audio mistake?

tdangelo · « **on:** 10 Dec 2007, 01:56 am »

A few weeks ago I was looking on Audiogon(do that too much!!) and saw these speakers for sale locally. Hmmm.. I thought.. I could sell my Vandersteen 5a's for a profit and buy these. Hmm... these Wisdom M75 retail for $55K and I could get them for $12.5K - wow great deal. HP from The Absolute Sound wrote a 23 page review claiming them to be one of the best!!! So, I call the seller and he says they are in 9/10 condition(his add said that too)! I get excited and make arrangements to buy them - they were crated so no way to audition. Figured if I didn't like them I'd sell them and make some $$... SO, I get the $$, drive down with my trailer and help the guy load them. The total weight was about 750lbs - 4 crates. Before loading them I asked again "are these really in 9/10 condition" - sure they are he replies - I say 9/10 means perfect to me - "yeah, they are great - just 1 2" scratch on back of a woofer tower". He says he had them crated and shipped from up north about 2 years ago. Ok, nice guy so I gave the benefit of the doubt.... We get to my house about 45 min. later and take about 1hr to uncrate.. First crate opened and unboxed - hmmm... whats this ding here? "oh, my room was dark and I didn't see it"... Same story on the next 3 crates. dings, scrapes, dented corner, chipped paint..... I'm getting really upset - we hook them up and they sounded aweful... He calls the factory to get some info about setting up the outboard xover... About an hr. later they still sound terrible. I did ask before the purchase if they would work with my 100wpc tube amps - "they should work fine" he replies.... NOT... My tube amps could hardly play the mid/tweets above 75db I'd guess... We had his ATC amp(I bought that too - it was about 7/10 condition...) on the woofer towers and my tubes on the mids/tweets - aweful... Put the ATC on the mids and my tube amps on the bass - a little better.... I was SO upset. He already had my cashiers check. It was getting late and I explained that the speakers were in no way the condition they were described to be. Not only were they way too big but all the extra electronics and cables were a total mess. He agreed to come back the next afternoon to pack them up and give me my money back... As a gentleman that he was he showed up and we packed them. I took them back to his house and he returned my check before leaving my house. WOW!!! I felt so sick the night we uncrated them.. What a bad situation - I'm really fortunate he gave me my $$ back. I also bought the amp from him and was out almost 15K... We actually remain friends after all that. I really believed him when he said they were in good condition before they were shipped.

Lesson learned!! I absolutely love my Vandersteen 5A's!! They are so compact and powerful, adjustable and just perfect for my situation and room... The lesson learned is to be happy with what you have if you like it - count your blessings

IronLion · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:01 am »

Just reading your story and the details in it, I can only imagine how you felt that night when you opened and setup everything. I mean, I got angry and frustrated just reading the story...luckily for me, all my transactions online and face to face have been flawless. There are many good and honest people in this hobby, and as a relative newcomer to it its been a pleasure so far dealing with other people.

zybar · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:03 am »

Glad it worked out in the end.

Good thing you didn't sell the 5A's to fund the purchase.

George

arthurs · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:08 am »

Wow, that raised the hair on my neck until the happy (kind of) ending....glad it worked out and everyone stayed friends, could have been really ugly.

tdangelo · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:51 am »

thanks for the comments guys

That first night with the speakers I didn't sleep to well. It's not a huge amount of money but it is substantial for me. I really felt bad for my wife. She was with me the whole time and while me and the seller first played them she was in our bedroom listening with the door cracked - she felt sick too hehehe... To her credit she was a sport but she did say that I was crazy when I first started to pursue this...

I guess I got bored with my system

After this, I was over a friends house listening to his Dartzeel/EMM/Evolution Acoustics system and was totally impressed. He doesn't even have room treatments other than a bunch of Auralex Space Arrays. His system was so real and engaging.

I came home that night and listened to my system and was disappointed. I immediately started repositioning my speakers - removed the 4'x8'x2" first reflection point panels(sucked the system dry) and replaced them with GIK 242 panels(1 per side) - moved my listening chair into an equilateral triangle with the speakers and adjusted the washers on the 5a's. I was amazed! After that I replaced the Cardas/Mongoose cable on my RSA Jaco with a Fusion Audio Enchanter. WOW, that was such an improvement I replaced all my cables with Fusion Audio - even my IC's(speaker cables are Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator - very nice too). Quite amazing cables from a startup company - silver foil cables they are. Then, hehe.. I got an Audio Logic DAC - my system has never been better. I can listen for hrs without fatigue or the need to fiddle about, hehe... Sorry for being long winded but I've been through a crazy(unnecessary really for life) journey, I was compelled to share it. I'm sure others here have had the same experience

arthurs · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:54 am »

Which Audio Logic DAC did you get?

tdangelo · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:56 am »

Quote from: arthurs on 10 Dec 2007, 02:54 am

Which Audio Logic DAC did you get?

I got a good deal on the 24MXL with 2 pair of Amprex Bugleboys.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:58 am »

Tony....

Glad it worked out for you....

Maybe you could purchase a 2nd. system...to cycle in when you get a "little tired" of the 1st. .....just a thought.

Audio Logic DAC....George had one awhile back...it was a good DAC.

Good luck........

zybar · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:59 am »

Quote from: tdangelo on 10 Dec 2007, 02:56 am

Quote from: arthurs on 10 Dec 2007, 02:54 am
Which Audio Logic DAC did you get?

I got a good deal on the 24MXL with 2 pair of Amprex Bugleboys.

That is best standalone DAC that I have ever owned or auditioned in my system.

George

tdangelo · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 02:59 am »

I forgot to say that I also changed the xovers for the Vandy's to balanced. By doing that I was able to use the balanced input on my Suprateks. That allowed me to bypass the first gain stage on the amps. That resulted in a really nice improvement in transparency and the amps are DEAD quiet. I can turn the volume up all the way on my Calypso pre and put my ear right on the Vandy tweets or mids - absolute quite - I like that

arthurs · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:10 am »

I sold my 24MXL to a buddy, and still wonder about my sanity on that one. I sent mine to Paul at Tube Research Labs and they did a great mod on it that didn't break the bank, adding direct output option and some other magic, that not only gives you a tube versus direct output choice for flavor, but made an already incredible DAC even better overall...FWIW

tdangelo · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:18 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 10 Dec 2007, 02:58 am

Tony....

Maybe you could purchase a 2nd. system...to cycle in when you get a "little tired" of the 1st. .....just a thought.

Good luck........

good idea Chris

I used to turn to my motorcycles when I got bored with audio but I sold all my bikes back in February

Maybe exercise would be a good idea, hehehe

tdangelo · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:19 am »

That is best standalone DAC that I have ever owned or auditioned in my system.

George
[/quote]

I was pretty stunned at the improvement! I'm still trying to decide if I like the XLR or RCA outputs. The designer likes RCA. I think both have their merits

tdangelo · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:20 am »

Quote from: arthurs on 10 Dec 2007, 03:10 am

I sold my 24MXL to a buddy, and still wonder about my sanity on that one. I sent mine to Paul at Tube Research Labs and they did a great mod on it that didn't break the bank, adding direct output option and some other magic, that not only gives you a tube versus direct output choice for flavor, but made an already incredible DAC even better overall...FWIW

I'll give them a call tomorrow - thanks for the tip

TomS · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:51 am »

Wow, that's scary. Glad to hear he was a gentleman and took care of it the right way. I've had that happen just once, with a preamp, and had to eat it unfortunately.

Enjoy the Vandies. I'm sure they look even shinier now!

Tom

zybar · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 03:53 am »

This story is exactly why I haven't sold my 5A's even though I think the CS2's are a very good speaker.

George

John151 · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 04:30 am »

I am still trying to get over the sale of my Magnepan 2.6Rs.

Frank S. · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 05:06 am »

Too many to mention!

TONEPUB · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 05:14 am »

Selling my Quad 57's, Acoustat 2+2's and my mint Stereo 70/PAS preamp combo many years ago!

Double Ugly · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Dec 2007, 05:24 am »

I'm experiencing some pretty serious seller's remorse over the sale of my Butler Monads, but I'm not sure it's a mistake... yet.

The guy who bought 'em sure is happy, though. Got an e-mail from him today in which he went on and on about how good they are.