View Full Version : Disappointing Hi-Fi Purchases
walpurgis
20-12-2012, 18:27
What purchase of Hi-Fi gear has disappointed you recently and why? Also, what is your most disappointing purchase of all time?
I'll start the ball rolling. A good few years ago I bought a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.3 Mk.II standmount speakers. They looked fabulous, sounded amazing at the demo and had received glowing reviews everwhere and they were not cheap, but I just never got on with them. They just did not gel in my system. I was pretty disappointed with these and moved them on after about a year and went back to using Tannoys (sheer bliss again).
southall-1998
20-12-2012, 18:45
Made a big mistake selling my Linn Keilidh speakers for Linn Sara speakers.
My first ever cd player an Aiwa carousell multi play worked for one week and packed in...after numerous ''repairs'' it went in a skip..cost £100 back in 1991...paid it up at £5 a week..replaced it with a sony ''Gehtto Blaster'' which I used solely for around two years..was always skint back then but still bought a couple of cd's a week. and lived on beans n' toast.
Trichord Genesis CD player. Was £500 in about 1995. All it had that the Pioneer donor didn't, was a Trichord Clock :(
Covenant
20-12-2012, 19:35
Most of my 'hifi' when I was a lot younger and poorer! I didn't have a clue and bought cheap tat from the likes of Amstrad.
Hifi magazines had their own agenda unlike most of the forums today. I must be the complete opposite of Andre!
shabby64
20-12-2012, 19:37
http://hifiland.net/katalog/foto/velke/receiver%20Amstrad%20EX%20333.jpg
istari_knight
20-12-2012, 20:00
Worst buy ever was a pair of Art Stiletto 6 speakers back when they were in vogue on the forums. I didn't get the chance to hear them prior to purchase but everyone was raving about them so I went for it.... They were rubbish.
Learnt to take opinions on forums with a pinch of salt, not regretted buying anything since ;)
Recent history:
Audio Note IQ3 cartridge (a turbo'd version of a cartridge I've never been a fan of anyway).
Isonoe feet for the 1210 - sure they did something, but not for me I'm afraid.
Exposure XIV pre-amp. I'd dreamt about owning one of these for years, but the final reality wasn't the bullseye I was expecting.
Long ago:
Mission Cyrus 2 amplifier - quite possibly the most unmusical, dynamically strangled, boring amplifier I've owned in 30 years. Got it exchanged as I thought it was faulty. The replacement was just as bad - at least they were consistent. :D
Celestion SL6 - ditto much of the above (but in speaker-speak).
Pioneer A400
Audiolab 8000a
Audiolab 8000c pre: Thought it was the dogs gonads at the time and I liked the styling. One day, on a whim, I decided to hook up the Caiman as a pre and it pished all over the the 8000c. Shortly after that along came the DR5 and out went the Audiolab.
TQ Blue speaker cable: I'm sure it's great in the right system but it sounded utter bollocks in mine... :eyebrows:
icehockeyboy
20-12-2012, 22:24
Musical Fidelity X Ray V3.
It wasn't actually that bad, but having read all the glowing reports by pro reviewers and forum dwellers too, I was expecting a huge leap in SQ over my Rotel CDP which was less than half the price, sadly I didn't believe it was any better.
I will trace which model it was and post it............
RCD 02 !
This was my worst ever hifi buy and I've wasted some money over the years. It cost about £450 and was no better than the headphone amp on my Yamaha AV amp
Kef refrance one. Hard shrill poorly intergrated base and in all a shocking speaker.
koetsu "New Black" way back about 1990. Did some things beautifully but I just couldn't handle the slow, plodding bass. My VDH Grado 8MR was much better top as a fun listen.
Hal55
This was my worst ever hifi buy and I've wasted some money over the years. It cost about £450 and was no better than the headphone amp on my Yamaha AV amp
Hi mate,
Please add your first name to your profile, as this is required by all our members - cheers! :)
Marco.
Hi mate,
Please add your first name to your profile, as this is required by all our members - cheers! :)
Marco.
Done. :)
Nice one, Tony - thanks! :)
Marco.
A unspecified make of non kettle lead mains cable spoken highly of in a thread on AoS. Differences heard by several members. It looked the business, cable & plugs amazing.
It sounded no different to the one that came with the amp.
freefallrob
21-12-2012, 10:37
KEF Q1's - One note 'buffy' bass, and monochromatic, uninteresting listen no matter what was up stream.....
KAB special 'concorde style' (stanton/pickering?) cartridge imported from the states - DULL DULL DULL.....
KAB SL1200 Fluid damper - did nothing for me, maybe my cartridges were properly matched, just sucked more life out of the system...
Project Debut III c/w phonostage and speed box - okay I guess but GREY sounding and mechanical, what did I expect?!
hard1175
21-12-2012, 10:39
The worst peice of equipment i bought was a pair of lumley lampross 200 speakers
they just never worked in my room or with my system. i replaced them with a pair of Heed audio envoy's which did every thing the lumleys didn't
Bernie
Little Dot CD Transport. I bought blind & was sucked in by the BNC output, but this thing sounded so DIGITAL compared to my other transports.
Studio Power MC2000 loudspeakers - big 4 way metal cone drivers - a graduation present to myself. Utterly dire with any music except dub or house as they just didn't do bass timing and the treble peak was unbelievable. Lived with them for 3 years as I couldn't afford to change them :doh:
Anything from MF (except the A370), Tannoy (Sorry fanboys), dcs, Lumley, Kondo and Weiss
That ought to get the ball rolling
Ali Tait
21-12-2012, 17:54
A370 was a nice amp.
daytona600
21-12-2012, 18:01
used a 370 myself for 15years
Anything from MF (except the A370), Tannoy (Sorry fanboys), dcs, Lumley, Kondo and Weiss
That ought to get the ball rolling
What kondo did you have/buy?
I had a nice walnut pair of isobariks back in 1984. These soulded as smooth as any passive 'briks can sound, but black was the new finish and I passed them on to a friend who used them for many years. I bought a pair of 1985 era black 'Briks from Jimmy Hughes, who was going to do an appreciation of the model but didn't like them. Alarm bells didn't ring and I was grief stricken with the harsh and screechy noises that emanated from them - it was the KEF issues with the B110 and B200 that killed these, the Kan and Sara's of this era, together with the LS3/5A immediately pre the 11 ohm version.
I did a deal with some Snell E's which had a similar squeak, albeit at a narrower range of frequencies and these soon were flogged and replaced with some NS1000's, which I had for a couple of years..
Wakefield Turntables
21-12-2012, 19:31
Buying a ISOTEK mains filtration unit, robbed all the emotion out of my music :steam:
Filterlab
21-12-2012, 20:51
Anything from MF (except the A370)...
For me it was the Musical Fidelity A3.5CD. Looked great, build was nice-ish, finish was excellent, VERY well recorded music sounded decent. Everything else played though it sounded muffled, strained and difficult to intelligibly make out. I knew the game was up when I plugged my iMac's analogue headphone output directly into my amplifier and everything improved remarkably!
From there I ditched CD completely and concentrated on computer based audio. I've never looked back, and I have Musical Fidelity's lame excuse for a CD player to thank. :)
julesd68
21-12-2012, 21:02
Audiolab 8000a
I remember it not being great in the 80's. So why did I buy one a few years ago only to find it was worse than I had remembered ...:doh:
probably , everything i owned before my present system , some bloody dire speakers i wish to forget about
Never quite saw what all the fuss was about with Leak tl 10's after owning a pair and having them fully rebuilt and re valved they still sounded average to my ears and certainly not worth the current £900 odd asking tag
Kef refrance 1. God dam uwful speaker they got moved on very quickly.
lee, hody mate
Kef refrance 1. God dam uwful speaker they got moved on very quickly.
awkwardbydesign
22-12-2012, 18:18
Rega RB300; sounded so grey.
walpurgis
22-12-2012, 20:34
Rega RB300; sounded so grey.
I'll go along with that. Never got a sound I really liked from RB250 or RB300 Rega arms. The Linn Ittok was also vastly over-rated, it sounded unrefined.
Strangely, a friend with a Sondek LP12 and Rega RB300 (a non-recommended pairing by the powers that be) always got a good sound from it. I think the Linn's plummy sound offset the Rega's dryness to make a symbiotic combination.
southall-1998
22-12-2012, 22:19
I'll go along with that. Never got a sound I really liked from RB250 or RB300 Rega arms. The Linn Ittok was also vastly over-rated, it sounded unrefined.
Same here Geoff. That R200 you have is a much better sounding arm IMO!
the engine
22-12-2012, 22:56
AT OC9 ML 2......schreeeeeeeech !
Rega RB300; sounded so grey.
On an NAS Spacedeck and with decently matched cartridge (K9 and AT-F5 on the two I was intimately acquainted with), the sound is anything but grey I promise you - this with bog standard arms. I agree that the sound can be horrid if you mount and set the RB arms up wrongly and use the wrong cartridges with them.
walpurgis
22-12-2012, 23:29
Same here Geoff. That R200 you have is a much better sounding arm IMO!
I suspect you may be right Shane. I haven't tried it yet, but with the right cartridge and headshell on a suitable TT I reckon it should do the business. It's a close relative of the Lustre arm which was not bad at all, despite the sloppy mounting!
the engine
23-12-2012, 00:12
Rega RB300; sounded so grey.
excuse my ignorance ... but what does 'grey' regarding music mean ?
The Grand Wazoo
23-12-2012, 00:18
Bland....ininvolving.......
...or even uninvolving ;)
The Grand Wazoo
23-12-2012, 09:33
......yep, it can be that too!
I suspect you may be right Shane. I haven't tried it yet, but with the right cartridge and headshell on a suitable TT I reckon it should do the business. It's a close relative of the Lustre arm which was not bad at all, despite the sloppy mounting!
What condition is the anti skate belt in? Mine went after 15-18 yrs in its Rega 3?
walpurgis
23-12-2012, 10:56
What condition is the anti skate belt in? Mine went after 15-18 yrs in its Rega 3?
Hmm, as I say I've not used the arm, but checking it, it looks like the bias control belt is stuffed. Never mind, I'm sure I can find or make a replacement belt.
Hmm, as I say I've not used the arm, but checking it, it looks like the bias control belt is stuffed. Never mind, I'm sure I can find or make a replacement belt.
As long as you know about it and can handle it. It is a toothed belt IIRC.
hifi_dave
23-12-2012, 11:47
It is a toothed belt and available from Audio Origami, I believe.
I'm sure I remember a toothed belt from a VHS machine being a perfect fit, but I can't remember which bloody machine it was (could have been a Mitsubishi but it's so long ago :().
I readily agree that the R200 is a FAR more universal tonearm, mechanical resonances are amongst the best of all the "SME Headshell" type arms and musicality and truthful rendition of timbres is excellent IMO. You can't easily use on on a Techie, certainly not the SL150/1500, because it's so deep below the mounting plate.. I really think that one of the key reasons the PL71 sounds as good as it's reputed to is the tonearm, which is a "better" derivative of the R200 concept by the look of it...
To J7 (Audio Origami). Thanks for finding the belt and being able to sympathetically rebuild the old R200 into a truly great classic tonearm which I believe it to be :)
Rare Bird
23-12-2012, 15:53
i'm sure i remember a toothed belt from a vhs machine being a perfect fit, but i can't remember which bloody machine it was (could have been a mitsubishi but it's so long ago :().
140897940603
walpurgis
23-12-2012, 16:01
140897940603
Now bought!
Thanks Andre.
Geoff.
I don't think I have ever been really disappointed with any Hi-Fi I have bought, I have out grown it for sure and moved on, but I have always been grateful for what I have had. I can't really complain about my last system as I had nothing at the time when I returned from living overseas, so was chuffed to have something and got it from a friend, but I grew to really dislike the sound of Monitor Audio GR60 speakers - they looked gorgeous, but I couldn't listen to them for more than an hour or so.
icehockeyboy
23-12-2012, 17:36
If I may add another disappointing item............the MF A3 power amp I bought prior to the A3.2 was not one of my better buys, and looking back the little X80 from the same company was no better than the Marantz PM 7200 it replaced, despite it supposedly being twice the RRP.
140897940603
If that's the part number, then thanks a million Andr'e - I mean it!!! So much so this should be in the reference section since there are so many old Rega's out there desperate to be sorted out :)
Floyddroid
23-12-2012, 18:28
The worst thing i ever bought was a pair of Linn Kaber speakers. absolutely lifeless dross. Value wise most things i have owned by Naim did not stand the test of time. A Linn K18 cartridge that was simply sh1t. A pair of QLN speakers that i can only describe as Fisher Price rejects and a pair od KEF Carlton speakers that were simply awful. Oh yes, an Infinity black Widow tonearm which was basically an internally wires welding rod with a weight on the back.
This isn't even scratching the surface.:eek:
Kabers need the later soft dome tweeters to be fitted and if not actively driven, they MUST be bi-wired at the very least, as there's some interaction between the bass and mid driver, despite them not being mechanically coupled (according to Linn's rep, who showed the disastrous things that happen when these were single-wired).
The bolt-up naim 250 and 120 should be lovely once restored and tha late 12s can have modern boards fitted I believe, although early ones can't without some work I understand..
The earlier K18's could collapse and did so without warning. The mk2 was better sounding and more reliable, but I still think they were based on an AT95E inners but with superior styli...
Hope the SL1500 doesn't fit into this category, it can really be rather good given the chance :)
Floyddroid
23-12-2012, 22:41
The SL1500 is cracking. Bolted an Ortofon 2M Blue via a h4 headshell to it and it's sounding pdg. i need a cheap n cheerful MM phono stage though. Do you know anyone who has one they want to sell? Cambridge 640P would do the job.
A370 was a nice amp.
Hello Ali
I owned one of these units back in the day and at the time it certainly did make some good music, it is an anti thesis of MF's current ethos I feel.
Oddly enough I have the original press review model lying around somewhere in the workshop.
Ali Tait
24-12-2012, 10:27
Yes, quite sought after too. I bought one from Jerry and eventually moved it on at a profit.
The SL1500 is cracking. Bolted an Ortofon 2M Blue via a h4 headshell to it and it's sounding pdg. i need a cheap n cheerful MM phono stage though. Do you know anyone who has one they want to sell? Cambridge 640P would do the job.
My constant carping about Rega and their gear is getting up some lurker's noses every so often, but I HAVE to give a shout to the Rega Fono USB for around eighty notes.. It's a great little thing and does the job with no issues.
istari_knight
24-12-2012, 12:35
My favourite phono stage that's super cheap is in the NAD 3020.
All you have to do it connect your TT to the phono input on the NAD the the NAD's tape out to your amplifier... Doesn't have to be a NAD though, it will work with any amplifier that has phono input/tape out. Makes the modern external jobbies from Project/NAD/Cambridge seem pretty poor.
A good phono stage in 1979 is still a good phono stage now IMO :)
Rare Bird
24-12-2012, 12:40
I could really do with a new Phonostage in the new year to use with my old battle axe amp but the though of IC's on board gives me the creeps..I think a Croft toobe Phonostage maybe the best move for mi.
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