What was your most disappointing purchase for your audio system?

Nuance · « **Reply #140 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 04:42 am »

Brian and Russell,

Thank you for the explanations. That is some very good info.

Robert F. · « **Reply #141 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 10:07 am »

When I was 19 years old I went to Rike’s department store and bought the largest Fisher stereo system with the most flashing lights that they had. Total POS. The monkey coffin speakers were huge and kind of cool at the time.

Robert

ctviggen · « **Reply #142 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:56 pm »

My worst purchase was an Onkyo receiver. It was OK for playing movies, but it absolutely would not drive my Linn 5140s and sounded completely horrible for music. I added a two channel amp for the 5140s, and they finally started to sing again. Plus, the center channel dialog improved from the Onkyo (probably because it only had three channels to drive instead of five). I ended up buying a Bryston 5 channel amp for center and surround duties. I also ended up with a used Proceed AVP (audio video preamp), which completely blew away the Onkyo (of course, it should for the price difference). I still have the Proceed but don't have the Onkyo.

hmen · « **Reply #143 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 01:06 pm »

I bought an Onkyo for HT use and had to bring it back 3 times before it worked properly.

kgturner · « **Reply #144 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 03:00 pm »

Quote from: Randy on 10 Apr 2010, 05:19 pm

Here's another vote for the Gershman Avant Garde. They had a boomy, vastly underdamped bass that was unlistenable.

apparently i'm the one one who liked the avant garde's. i thought they were great little speakers when paired with some high power, high current amplification. i used my gershmans with a pair of aragon palladium ii monos and they sounded excellent. when i made the move to tubes though, they never sounded right.

i had a pair of cary slm-200 monos, which i also enjoyed despite the previous cary no-lovefest. everything sound great, but the bass slam just wasn't there anymore. i ended up selling it all and getting my current speakers (von schweikert dB99-SE).

the one thing i miss the most about those cary's were the 16 Ei KT-90 tubes that i sold with them as a package. man, if i could have those tubes back today.

kevin t

honesthoff · « **Reply #145 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 03:18 am »

Zu Druids! I think I was blinded by the good looks, and the fact that no one I knew had them, but when I got them home they were awful. Weird whizzer top end, and even worse bass. Thankfully was able to sell them at a minimal loss.

JLM · « **Reply #146 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 01:54 pm »

Bought a Rotel A/V stereo receiver about 10 years ago. Well built, but has a lousey tuner and the sound is medicore at best. A HK receiver at half the MSRP beat it on all counts.

jaywills · « **Reply #147 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 03:34 pm »

Timely topic for me. Today, FedEx "delivered" what was sold to me as a mint McIntosh 2105---in pieces. Very disappointing.

Philistine · « **Reply #148 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 04:06 pm »

So called 'premium' Bose sound system as an 'upgrade' in an Audi..........

toobluvr · « **Reply #149 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 04:40 pm »

Quote from: jaywills on 14 Apr 2010, 03:34 pm

Timely topic for me. Today, FedEx "delivered" what was sold to me as a mint McIntosh 2105---in pieces. Very disappointing.

Now that's disappointing!

Reminds me of when my Gallo Nucleus References arrived with a fork lift blade puncture right thru the box and thru the spherical aluminum ball. My heart just sank.

I hope you are able to get it sorted out in short order with little pain, Jay.

jaywills · « **Reply #150 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 05:31 pm »

Thanks, Toob, so do I. Wonderful example of inept packing or Kung-Fu shipping, or both:

werd · « **Reply #151 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 05:35 pm »

Thats horrible, sorry to see that Jaywills. This is a nightmare that i worry about constantly when i buy on-line.

toobluvr · « **Reply #152 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 05:52 pm »

I blame the packer. It's a given that the carrier is gonna gorilla the package, so proper measures must be taken.

From your photo, that packing job is woefully inadequate. I have shipped much stuff, heavy amps and all, often without original cartons. Never a mishap. You gotta wrap and cushion and double-box the shit out of it. If it turns out all firm and solid once sealed up, like a big soft/firm over-stuffed pillow with no slide/movement whatsoever in the gear, it is good. No peanuts for an amp or anything heavy...ever!!

kgturner · « **Reply #153 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 06:01 pm »

i always pack the things i sell like i want them delivered to me. the golden rule of shipping, i suppose. i've gotten into the habit of keeping all my original boxes so when i sell something, i just put it back in it's original box, then i hit up wal-mart, officemax, or u-haul for an appropriately sized outer box. home depot sells 4'x8' sheets of styrofoam that are 2" thick. i use that styro to fill the space between the original box and the new outer box, sometimes up to 4" thick all around depending on the item. i probably lose about $10 each time i package something this way, but you can't put a price on piece of mind or the buyer's satisfaction.

kevin t

thunderbrick · « **Reply #154 on:** 14 Apr 2010, 06:32 pm »

Quote from: toobluvr on 14 Apr 2010, 05:52 pm

I blame the packer. It's a given that the carrier is gonna gorilla the package, so proper measures must be taken.

From your photo, that packing job is woefully inadequate. I have shipped much stuff, heavy amps and all, often without original cartons. Never a mishap. You gotta wrap and cushion and double-box the shit out of it. If it turns out all firm and solid once sealed up, like a big soft/firm over-stuffed pillow with no slide/movement whatsoever in the gear, it is good. No peanuts for an amp or anything heavy...ever!!

+1

planaria · « **Reply #155 on:** 19 Apr 2010, 01:16 am »

SET Man - I had a different experience.

I have been using Caddock Mk132's for everything, but thought I would try alternatives in the most sensitive place: 47K cartridge loading resistor. Caddock ultra-precision TF-020's did not work well in my circuit, to my ears. Vishay TX2352 were as much better than the Mk132's as the TF's were worse. The nude Vishays sounded more accurate - the same kind of "more accurate" as a film and foil cap against metallized.

Then I installed the TX's throughout the phono stage signal path, and the result was magic. Sorry your experience wasn't as good as mine.

SET Man · « **Reply #156 on:** 19 Apr 2010, 03:21 am »

Quote from: planaria on 19 Apr 2010, 01:16 am

SET Man - I had a different experience.

I have been using Caddock Mk132's for everything, but thought I would try alternatives in the most sensitive place: 47K cartridge loading resistor. Caddock ultra-precision TF-020's did not work well in my circuit, to my ears. Vishay TX2352 were as much better than the Mk132's as the TF's were worse. The nude Vishays sounded more accurate - the same kind of "more accurate" as a film and foil cap against metallized.

Then I installed the TX's throughout the phono stage signal path, and the result was magic. Sorry your experience wasn't as good as mine.

Hey!

Hmmm... interesting. My system mostly used the MK132. I tried the TF-020 only in one position and it seems to sound fine. The Vishay, if I remembered right it sound a bit on lean side to me in my system. But that was a while ago and my system have changed somewhat. Maybe I could give it a try again and see someday.

So far my favorite is still the MK132 and Halco... not sure how the current Halco are today.

But that was a while ago and my system have changed somewhat. Maybe I could give it a try again someday.

Take care,
Buddy

JackD201 · « **Reply #157 on:** 19 Apr 2010, 03:39 am »

Maggie 1.6QR. Non available for audition so I ordered indent. It simply did not match the room even if on paper it seemed a perfect match. It was a big disappointment to me. I tried them in another room however and they were all they were touted to be. I kept them for quite a long time quite happily in that other room. Needless to say I still had to get another pair to fit in the original space. That choice led to my eventually becoming a dealer of that speaker.

I guess it might be the same for a lot of the entries in this thread. Products were not bad per se. Just a question of synergy for the most part.

Daverz · « **Reply #158 on:** 23 Apr 2010, 05:21 am »

Quote from: timind on 10 Apr 2010, 12:56 am

Very interesting as I was looking at a used 3B-ST.

I've never had any regrets about my 3B-SST. I use it with a BAT 3iX pre and Vandersteen Quatros. I loved the B-60 I had for years, and this was an upgrade of sorts. Perhaps some folks have trouble hearing beyond the pro-audio rep?

Most disappointing:

Clearaudio Aurum Beta. Nasty sounding cartridge, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Almost put me off vinyl for good. Bought it because of a Stereophile review. Well, cartridge purchases are often a crapshoot. Luckily, a Dynavector 10x5 gave me some taste of what could be done at this price level (at least before I broke the cantilever).

Rega Planar 3. This was before the 2000 upgrade. Indifferent soundstage, noisy motor, picked up lots of surface noise. I just don't get why Rega is so often recommended. The arm is pretty good, though.

Soliloquy 5.3 speakers. Sounded great in the dealers big basement listening room, and I'm sure I was influenced by their gorgeous looks. But they were too boomy in my 2nd floor apartment, and I could never get an adequate left-right balance. Traded them for Dunlavy SC-IIIs, which were bliss.

J. Royce Baron · « **Reply #159 on:** 23 Apr 2010, 06:08 pm »

Any Dennon digital CDP/DVDP absolutely the worst – went through 3 units in one year they replaced the original with two upgraded models they all failed within the year.