What was your most disappointing purchase for your audio system?

garyalex · « **Reply #40 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 03:28 pm »

For me, this would have to be the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Super 8 speakers. I'd heard that they worked well with Shindo gear, which I owned at that time. It didn't work out that way for me. I found their sound to be fatiguing and tending towards glary on a lot of material. It got to the point where I realized that I wasn't listening to music on this system because I just wasn't enjoying it. I found some suggestions for positioning but none of them worked for me. Eventually I realized that their best position for me would be in someone else's listening room. I sold them after four months.

toobluvr · « **Reply #41 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 04:28 pm »

Quote from: garyalex on 6 Apr 2010, 03:28 pm

For me, this would have to be the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Super 8 speakers.....

Wow...I'm really surprised at this!

I owned the DeVore Gibbons monitors for years and thought they were excellent. No glare or fatigue whatsoever....even when paired with SS. I'm quite sensitive to that sorta thing so if it were present I could not overlook it.

Guy I sold them to loves 'em too.

KCI-JohnP · « **Reply #42 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 04:39 pm »

I guess mine would have to be a rather expensive(for me anyway) set of speakers that I paid for in full, including shipping, and never received. As they say; "A fool and his money are soon parted" and I was a fool....

ctviggen · « **Reply #43 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: toobluvr on 6 Apr 2010, 04:28 pm

Wow...I'm really surprised at this!

I owned the DeVore Gibbons monitors for years and thought they were excellent. No glare or fatigue whatsoever....even when paired with SS. I'm quite sensitive to that sorta thing so if it were present I could not overlook it.

Guy I sold them to loves them to.

Goes to show you how different people are.

The only thing I've had I thought was poor was a set of speaker cables with silver in them. I found them unlistenable after a while and replaced with Bolder cables. I still have the cables (need to clean everything out one of these days).

toobluvr · « **Reply #44 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 04:52 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen on 6 Apr 2010, 04:49 pm

Goes to show you how different people are.

Yes that......but also how differently the same gear can perform in different setups / rooms.

Noseyears · « **Reply #45 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 05:11 pm »

The worst buy i ever made was an old tube preamp...it was broken and couldnt find the replacement parts for it. Currenlty is stored at my warehouse...

wje · « **Reply #46 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 05:13 pm »

My biggest disappointment? Allowing the seller of a recent Parasound use the USPS to mail the amp to me. Now, I'm stuck with a claim filed with the USPS - which I hear they're a pain in the a$$ to deal with. Had it been FedEx, the claim process would have been pretty smooth.

EthanH · « **Reply #47 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 05:58 pm »

Well, there have been a number of tubes I've tried that didn't work out, but that wasn't really disappointing since I sort of expect to roll the dice a bit with accessories and tweaks (which is why I generally don't spend a lot of money on that stuff unless I know it's going to be worth it).

But the biggest disappointment I've had in audio so far has been without a doubt a pair of B&W 602S2 monitors. They sucked! The only thing good about them is that I didn't lose any money on the purchase.

sts9fan · « **Reply #48 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 06:25 pm »

Tubes. They just don't do it for me. I am gonna try a few more for S&Gs but I feel myself moving to SS.

fredgarvin · « **Reply #49 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 06:54 pm »

A Marantz integrated that had won awards in Europe. The midrange was so smoothed out that vital details and information was MIA. I used it for a few months and when I replaced it the music was like a remix. Back up vocals and instruments rose right out of the murk. I put it in my shop system until it died a couple years later. I replaced it with a 15 year old parasound reciever that completely out-classed the Marantz. Except the top end was more refined with the Marantz, to give it some credit.

wilsynet · « **Reply #50 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 08:49 pm »

Vintage speakers I purchased once where the seller said that "it sounds good to me!". Which is to say that the speakers were broken in all sorts of ways.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't buy vintage gear unless the seller has had it serviced top to bottom; or
2. Only buy vintage gear if you're planning to make it a project.

And of course, the most important lesson: buyer beware.

DanTheMan · « **Reply #51 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 09:43 pm »

Audiosource amp200. I bought one a few years ago. After sending it in for repair 2 times at my cost for intermittent buzzing(every couple seconds in one channel), my third one is about to go to recycling after I strip out the good parts and salvage the chassis. No other amps I've owned have ever had an issues with the exceptions of a 20yr old NAD that just needed a cap and volume pot replaced and a Sansui from the 60s that needed the pots lubricated. That one is still kickin and is a beauty!

burned thrice,

Dan

FWIW, the first one just stopped working all together after a month. It never had the buzz issue. The next 2 buzzed from day one. I've paid nearly as much for shipping for repairs as I did the amp.

lcrim · « **Reply #52 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 10:03 pm »

I would have to choose between a number of interconnect cable purchases for the most disappointing purchase. I made a decision to throw away a pair from a well known manufacturer as I just couldn't use them and it would have been criminal to sell them to someone.
I now try making my own and while not that much less expensive, I've been pretty certain of the final sound quality.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #53 on:** 6 Apr 2010, 10:10 pm »

A Marantz SA8001 SACDP (muddy sound, rolled off highs), the modifications for my Music Hall 25.2 cdp from RAM's (made the sound in your face and took away the transparency and air), the Electro Harmonix 6CG7's tubes which are too sibilant and bright, and the Monitor Audio S1 speakers for my bedroom system which has rolled off treble.

Niteshade · « **Reply #54 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 01:15 am »

Sometimes people accidentally set themselves up for disappointments.

For example, a large room fitted with 85db speakers and a tiny 8w/channel amplifier that cost a few thousand dollars.

For future reference: It is better to err on the side of high power than low power. Amplifiers only average what the volume setting will allow them. A 100 watt amp can do a single watt as easily as any SET. I use HUGE amps with 100db speakers all the time with absolutely no ill effects. In fact, it's quite enjoyable.

Nuance · « **Reply #55 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 01:20 am »

Quote from: lcrim on 6 Apr 2010, 10:03 pm

I would have to choose between a number of interconnect cable purchases for the most disappointing purchase. I made a decision to throw away a pair from a well known manufacturer as I just couldn't use them and it would have been criminal to sell them to someone.
I now try making my own and while not that much less expensive, I've been pretty certain of the final sound quality.

That was very noble of you. I commend you for just throwing them out like that. You're a better man than I.

Nuance · « **Reply #56 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 01:21 am »

Quote from: Niteshade on 7 Apr 2010, 01:15 am

Sometimes people accidentally set themselves up for disappointments.

For example, a large room fitted with 85db speakers and a tiny 8w/channel amplifier that cost a few thousand dollars.

For future reference: It is better to err on the side of high power than low power. Amplifiers only average what the volume setting will allow them. A 100 watt amp can do a single watt as easily as any SET. I use HUGE amps with 100db speakers all the time with absolutely no ill effects. In fact, it's quite enjoyable.

Well said - great advice.

jackman · « **Reply #57 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 01:27 am »

I was ripped off on the first set of speakers I ever owned. Bought a pair of "Perfect Condition" Dahlquist DQ-10's from an ad in the paper when I was in college. The guy said I could audition but when I got there he said his amp was not working. He also said his friend wanted the speakers if I didn't, and that they were working perfectly so I decided to take a chance. Took them home, fired them up and found both woofers blown, both tweeters (not the piezo's, the domes) blown and non-original midrange drivers (the cones). Also, the xovers were "modded" by a moron.

I took the speakers to a place that did some repair work on some PA gear and they happened to have a complete set of NOS drivers for the DQ10's!!! Not joking, they had the exact original driver set still in original boxes from years earlier. Someone ordered them and never picked them up and they were gathering dust on the shelf. After hearing my sob story (I was a poor college student), they sold me the parts for below cost and installed everything for free, and they fixed the crossovers. The speakers sounded amazing! Happy ending to an otherwise bad start.

A couple years later, I gave the speakers to my brother who moved to California and let his 3 cats destroy my beautiful speakers. I believe he sold them at a garage sale in the 90's for $25.

Doublej · « **Reply #58 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 10:37 am »

Sony HD Radio, the one a whole bunch a people and press raved about. I guess for $100 it was fine but it sounded worse than the Onkyo T-9 I have.

What is amazing about the Sony is the ability to pull in stations. It's double the number of stations I can get with my analog tuner.

6rs · « **Reply #59 on:** 7 Apr 2010, 11:54 am »

Alphason Sonata, HR100, Garrott P86; Linn Kairn; Spectral DMA50; Quad ESL63.
Then replaced the Quad with ATCSCM20SL (space constraints).
That killed the magic of the system, it sounded harsh and congested.
However, I always believed in the potential of the ATCs.
Ironically, I kept the ATCs. Now, I use Weiss Dac2 and Nuforce 9SE V3 to drive them (heavily modded with Duelund Xover components, Scan Speak Ring Radiator Tweeters), and it is beautiful.