Past mistakes? Or stepping stones?

[Sewerat]

We all have our equipment loves and I'm sure we have all taken an expensive gamble that didnt pay off. I know Ive had plenty of both and believe me more money has not equated in more joy
What have been your gems and your embarrasments?
Obviously, one only comes up with a thread like this if they are hurting ....just a bit.
So Cd players! As we are in the digital zone
I could do the same thread in amps too!

Roksan caspian cd mk 1 was amazing and it took 10 years of experimentation to beat it
Seeing off the likes of primare, sim audio, krell, sonnetare and quad
The unlikely winner doge 6 a little known Chinese brand. Cost me £380 on fleabay.
Blew my tiny mind! Only way to describe it.
Imagine the whole wall in front of you and left and right in dolby atmos but with 2 speakers.
Uncanny with the lights off
Tried to improve it with a music fidelity nu vista dac which made zero difference, i mean i tested this with everything,
2 hi fi buddies , 3 family members and 2 neighbours ... nobody could find a difference.
The chap i sold it to, said it make the biggest difference to his system than anything he had ever had or listened to.
Night and day he said ( my ears mustbe buggered then)

So my beautiful doge 6
It has started to get a tick on several cds and i felt that one day my love may leave me, and they dont make them anymore and i have never seen one 2nd hand other than my one.

So i took a gamble......big gamble
i love good valves, they changed my direction in amps
So obviously i picked a Prima luna classic.

Played my reference album OK computer which is a bit messy in places to see how it cleaned it up and the 1st note my heart sank, i manned up and stuck out the album and decided to not torture myself by playing it on the Doge 6
I know im impatient and to be fair ithe PL has only done 70 of its suggested 100hours of running in but it was a gut wrenching dissapointment to start with.
It sounds alright / pretty good ...looks stunning
but when compare to my aging doge 6 its miles behind

Doge 6 = lotus elise / mazda mx5 / porche boxter full on and exciting/ twitchy / ... you dont mind taking the long way home.

Pl classic = big comfortable bmw or Mercedes estate or even a Skoda supurb .. functional, comfortable , solid .....
Nice
I know i need to be patient.
I suppose you get used to a certain sound and in your mind that is the one to beat. It may be cheaper to train my mind into submission and pretend that this is the best ever and keep my dark secret in the loft with my WAD 5881 mk 1

[Ali Tait]

If you want a valve amp that’s more like an Elise I’d opt for an OTL, assuming your speakers would be happy with one.