[tdangelo]

I'm really surprised about this one.   They've been on my "must look into list" for awhile now.  Not based on having heard them, just based on what I've read and heard about them.  I figured they'd be right up my alley in the musicality dept.

I listened to them for 20 minutes and noticed one speaker didn't have any bass - the magnet fell off.  They were current production and Gershman didn't have any replacement woofers in the same size to send me.  I had to ship both speakers back to Canada at my expense to have the cabinet mounting holes enlarged and new woofers installed.  When I got them back one had sustained shipping damage and  was all cracked up - I tried to listen to it and it shorted out my Bluecircle BC2 mono amp - another 1K repair.  What a nightmare and dealing with Ofra was NOT pleasent in the least...

[tdangelo]

I'm really surprised about this one.   They've been on my "must look into list" for awhile now.  Not based on having heard them, just based on what I've read and heard about them.  I figured they'd be right up my alley in the musicality dept.

for the few minutes I heard them they were really nice - they just didn't play nice with the BC amps which one of went up in smoke, ehehe

[toobluvr]

Wow!   

Maybe scratch them off my list.  No worries, the list is long!   

PS:  you think the speaks fried the amp?     More likely a coincidental amp failure....no?   I recently had an amp failure and it turned my woofer voice coils into toast, but in no way do I think the speakers caused it.

[tdangelo]

Wow!   

Maybe scratch them off my list.  No worries, the list is long!   

a local friend just bought some used tonight.  He's picking them up to avoid the shipping damage I incured.  I'll let you now what I think FWIW.

[toobluvr]

a local friend just bought some used tonight.  He's picking them up to avoid the shipping damage I incured.  I'll let you now what I think FWIW.

Please...I'd like to hear your impressions.  What amp?

[tdangelo]

Please...I'd like to hear your impressions.  What amp?

he has my old Belles 350 Ref. and a Modwright 36.5

[Nuance]

What...and you didn't measure it to be sure?   
C'mon, everyone knows you didn't really hear what you heard if you didn't prove it with measurements!          

 

[CSI]

Nohr ACA 2B Preamp. I bought it used on Audiogon for $200. It was very sweet sounding - when it worked. It would be fine for a day or two then develop a nasty hum in one channel. A few days later the hum would go away but it always came back. I changed tubes 3 times, experimented with cables, amps, speakers, different household circuits - you name it. The Nohr people were useless. It took me 4 months to get a reply to my emails and phone calls and then they didn't have a clue what was wrong or how to fix it. They didn't suggest sending it back to them which is just as well. Someday I'll take it out of the closet and offer to sell it to an ACer with experience in tube circuits. I'll list it with full disclosure and not ask for much money.

[hibuckhobby]

A used pair of NHT 2.9's I got off A'gon.  I had a pair of 2.5i's and liked them a lot, but the 2.9's didn't do it for me.  To be fair, when i got them, the midrange wasn't playing.  I traced it down to the crossover, so the previous owner got me another crossover board. Then it worked, but they always sounded thin and harsh with very little bass, so after trying two different amps and a couple of preamps...they went down the road.
HBibuck...

[hmen]

Cary 572SE Mono Blocks. Dull, lifeless and uninvolving. With an SET you expect at the very least to get decent midrange. These didn't have it. The upper registers were barely audible and there was practically no bass at all. Sold them after a week and went back to my Decware, which was one third the price.

[toobluvr]

Cary 572SE Mono Blocks. Dull, lifeless and uninvolving. With an SET you expect at the very least to get decent midrange. These didn't have it. The upper registers were barely audible and there was practically no bass at all. Sold them after a week and went back to my Decware, which was one third the price.

This has been my experience with any Cary amp I have ever heard.  They sure do get lots of buzz, but the appeal completely eludes me.   

[Niteshade]

Could you or someone else explain this misplaced buzz?

This has been my experience with any Cary amp I have ever heard.  They sure do get lots of buzz, but the appeal completely eludes me.   

[Nuance]

This has been my experience with any Cary amp I have ever heard.  They sure do get lots of buzz, but the appeal completely eludes me.   

Heyo - Something we actually agree on!   I like tube gear, but Cary's stuff has always sounded too dark and veiled for my tastes.  Just my opinion, of course.

[Quiet Earth]

What's interesting about this thread is that you can place all of the answers into the most impressive purchase for your audio system.

[toobluvr]

Heyo - Something we actually agree on!

See that!   Before ya know it we'll be tippin beers together, clasping hands and singing Kum-bay-a!            

[toobluvr]

What's interesting about this thread is that you can place all of the answers into the most impressive purchase for your audio system.

Very astute observation!   

[smargo]

The dreaded "digital lens" that robert harley thought was the 2nd coming - im gonna say the late 90' s - the worst and overpriced piece of garbage that came down the pike to try and make digital more listenable at the time

the retail price was around $2000 - i remember driving like mad to get the piece in delaware - i live in pa - about 20 miles away at the time. Then i had to drive back to phila for dinner - couldn't wait to get home and try it

Long story short - im still waiting for it to break in - about 14 years of break-in....

[Randy]

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

[shep]

Hmmm. certainly the most expensive and frustrating. I spent a lot of money (back then) on a VPI deck with the original Souther arm and a Grado sig. black. I could never get it to sound right, no matter what I did. Hours and hours of tweaking to no avail. The whole thing was probably totally unsuited together. I drove Lew Souther and Grado crazy with my phone calls. Joe Grado finally hung up on me. Lew Souther was a gentleman till the end. I gave up; sold the whole lot for peanuts just to get it out of my life.

[drphoto]

My most disappointing purchase actually turned out ok in the end. As some of you may remember I bought a used Decware Zbox tube buffer a few months ago. When it arrived sans tube, I stuck in the only thing I had, which was a Sovtek 12AX7, which was listed as an option. Well it sounded awful. Just horrid distortion.

After I calmed down, I contacted Steve at Decware and he suggested a 12AU7. He said a high output DAC could overload a 12AX7. I should have gotten something cheap to try, but rolled the dice and bought a platinum grade Mullard.

 Damn, now it sounded really good. It wasn't a magic fix that suddenly turned my somewhat mid-fi system into the something great, but it added a little midrange liquidity and opened up the soundstage a bit. Not bad for less than $300. I found myself enjoying the music more.

This experience is why I now have a tube pre coming my way. Hopefully the pre give me the same improvements but on a larger scale. I'll try the system with the buffer and pre together and the pre alone.

Just goes to show that initial opinions can be wrong, and maybe due to operator error.

 Makes me leery of single post slamming or praising something. When something like the MAD pre I have ordered gain lots of favorable reviews, then I feel a bit more comfortable.