Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 36
  1. #1
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    St. Paul, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,421

    What was your most disappointig purchase for your audio system?

    I saw this question on the Audio Circles forum and found it interesting to post here.

    So what was your most dissapointing purchase for your system?

    Mine have been the modifications of my Music Hall 25.2 cdp from reference audio mods, my Monitor Audio S1's (should have gone with the PSB B-25's or NHT Classic 2's)
    the Electro Harmonix 6CG7's tube's that I recently bought in my tube rolling endeavor (too sibilant), and the Marantz SA8001 SACDP that I sold.
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  2. #2
    frenchmon frenchmon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    St. Charles Mo
    Posts
    3,271
    So what disappointing about the Monitor Audio S1's

    frenchmon
    Music...let it into your soul and be moved....with Canton...Pure Music


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    W10 i5 Quad core processor 8GB RAM/Jriver 20/ Fidelizer Optimizer/ iFI Micro DSD DAC-iUSB 3.0/Vincent SA - T1/Vincent SP-331 MK /MMF-7.1/2M BLACK/MS Phenomena ll+/Canton Vento 830.2

  3. #3
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    St. Paul, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,421
    Not very detailed and treble is rolled off, midrange is too forward. They are not bad speakers and sound decent for the highly discounted price of $400 that I paid (they sold for $650pr). I bought them without auditioning them based on their reviews. They are smooth sounding and have great tight midbass for a small speaker. I just expected more from a speaker that is in the same price range as B&W 685's and NHT Classic 3's.
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  4. #4
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    2,908
    I always exercise such caution and care in every purchase that I can't think of anything that has truly disappointed me other than the problems with my Music Hall MMF-5, which I suspect were caused by abuse and shipping. I wound up getting a partial refund that made it a bargain and it does sound good.

  5. #5
    Rob_a rob_a's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Yucaipa
    Posts
    232
    I bought a Denon 998 receiver for a second system, paid $400 for it, thought I was getting a good deal. What a piece of cr@p that thing was! No power, no low end, no pre-outs for second amp. cheap remote. I think it was made for Bose speakers.
    HT system:
    Marantz SR7001 receiver
    Emotiva UPA-2 Amplifier
    Adcom GDV-870 DVD-A/CD player
    Yamaha S1800 DVD/SACD player
    Panasonic DMP-BD60K blu Ray player
    PSB Image series speakes s/s
    Dayton RSS210HF 8" reference sub
    Hitachi 46" HD projector screen

  6. #6
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    St. Paul, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,421
    C'mon, there has to be more people that have bought equipment that did not live up to their expectations.
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  7. #7
    Do What? jrhymeammo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    3,276
    -Marantz 8001.
    -PS Audio HCA-2
    -MMG with modified crossover.
    One of the speakers arrived damaged, but I could still very much tell how the speakers sound. Perhaps my expectation and personal taste was way off.

  8. #8
    Ajani
    Guest
    Only two HiFi products I've bought have dissapointed me:

    NAD C352 Integrated Amp - Boring sound with my Mission Speakers at the time, boring looks and a pain in the @$$ remote volume control...

    &

    NAD C521BEE CD Player - I didn't find the sound to be a substantial upgrade from my sub $100 Panasonic DVD player or my mac mini.... Plus it had all manner of issues reading discs (that my old Technics CD player never did)... and of course it looked equally boring to match the C352 amp....

  9. #9
    Charm Thai™
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    867
    Sony D-33 Discman - The thing was way too sensitive and always skipped plus the output jack was loose causing drop outs.

  10. #10
    Chicago IL
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Chicago ,IL
    Posts
    1,188
    My worse was Sansui S-X700 receiver. I own the 9090DB and the 5000A, I was like I will get this receiver expecting that it will sound similar to my vintage stuff. When I connected the speakers the sound was so cheap and nothing even close to the Sansui I know.

  11. #11
    I took a headstart... basite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Mortsel, Antwerp, Belgium, Europe, Earth
    Posts
    3,056
    so far:
    Rega RB-301.

    good arm, really, it is, although I more like the RB300, the 301's bearing housing is made out of some kind of plastic, but nonetheless...

    when I first installed the arm, it seemed that the internal cable was not connected to the external cable, never was, so off to england it went again, under warranty of course, came back and worked fine for a month or 2, then I discovered the cable broke at the solder joints...
    no longer under warranty, sending it to Rega would cost me €250 for a rewire. Ended up installing a cardas Din plug for tonearm cable, rewired it and ditched the original cable. The internal cable is fairly good, the external cable is just regular cheap coax with somewhat better connectors and a thicker rubber shield around it.
    The Din plug is probably the best upgrade I've done to the arm so far...

    Keep them spinning,
    Bert.
    Life is music!

    Mcintosh MA6400 Integrated
    Double Advent speakers
    Thiel CS2.3's
    *DIY Lenco L75 TT
    * SME 3012 S2
    * Rega RB-301
    *Denon DL-103 in midas body
    *Denon DL-304
    *Graham slee elevator EXP & revelation
    *Lehmann audio black cube SE
    Marantz CD5001 OSE
    MIT AVt 2 IC's
    Sonic link Black earth IC's
    Siltech MXT New york IC's
    Kimber 4VS speakercable
    Furutech powercord and plugs.

    I'm a happy 20 year old...

  12. #12
    Super Moderator Site Moderator JohnMichael's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Central Ohio
    Posts
    6,307
    I must say the Ascend CBM 170SE's. Only because they are too forward in presentation.

    I am surprised by the disatisfaction with the Marantz SA 8001.
    JohnMichael
    Vinyl Rega Planar 2, Incognito rewire, Deepgroove subplatter, ceramic bearing, Michell Technoweight, Rega 24V motor, TTPSU, FunkFirm Achroplat platter, Michael Lim top and bottom braces, 2 Rega feet and one RDC cones. Grado Sonata, Moon 110 LP phono.
    Digital
    Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD/cd SID mat, Marantz SA 8001
    Int. Amp Krell S-300i
    Speaker
    Monitor Audio RS6
    Cables
    AQ SPKR and AQ XLR and IC

  13. #13
    Suspended
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Posts
    4,380
    I will have to say my ROTEL RCD-1072 which is not a bad player overall.

    When I first got it, it started flaking out in the first month and would not read disks properly. It was sent back to Rotel for repair. This is the first disappointment as I should have just been given a new player and not forced to repair a brand new player.

    When I got it back, it did work much better but I still have a few purchased CDs that it will not read/play but the same disk will play on every other $29 - $300 CD player I have put the same disk in. I made a copy of the same disk with Nero and it will play on the Rotel but the original will not.

    The other thing is it has a real hard time with long CDs and flakes out when it gets close to the outer edge of a long or overburned disk.

  14. #14
    Forum Regular audio amateur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    France
    Posts
    2,524
    -Velodyne 5.0 speaker kit. The sound is nothing special and the bass non-existant (I suppose that is to be expected being as they are 'sattelites'). The worst part though, is the volume limiter which kicks in rediculously early.

    -Jamo E4.1 Sub. Very cheap driver and very cheap construction. The amp is ok. Overall SPL is weak and bass is a little 'slow'/'muddy'. Poor bass extention too.

  15. #15
    frenchmon frenchmon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    St. Charles Mo
    Posts
    3,271
    An old Marantz integrated in the 80's...cant remember the model number but one side always would go out....sent it to get repaired and the same...the left channel was out.

    frenchmon
    Music...let it into your soul and be moved....with Canton...Pure Music


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    W10 i5 Quad core processor 8GB RAM/Jriver 20/ Fidelizer Optimizer/ iFI Micro DSD DAC-iUSB 3.0/Vincent SA - T1/Vincent SP-331 MK /MMF-7.1/2M BLACK/MS Phenomena ll+/Canton Vento 830.2

  16. #16
    AR Newbie Registered Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    1
    I've been pretty satisfied overall with most of my audio gear purchases over the years. I usually put my money into better preamps, processors and amps, and build or modify speakers to custom tailor the sound to my preferences and listening room. The one noteable exception was a B&K 125.3 power amp I got to power a center channel and 2 surround speakers on my main home theater. The power on/off button broke in the first couple months I owned it. No big deal, as I usually have my amps connected to a power supply which has it's own off switch. But recently, all the outputs started going into the crapper... now any speaker connected to the amp's terminals sound like a clock radio playing from the next room, even with the volume all the way up. Maybe I'm just being an *******, as the thing is 10 years old now, but this system is not used all that much. We watch tv on it maybe a couple hrs a night, and play movies and cd's on it a few times a week, and when friends are visiting. But the other amps in the system are all performing 100%, and for a brand that advertises quality build, I would have expected it to last longer with only moderate use. Think I'll stick with ATI and Outlaw amps from now on. They are moderately priced units big on power and performance. I can easily push any speaker I have built to its limits and beyond and still have clean detailed sound with any of my ATI amps. Dave

  17. #17
    Charm Thai™
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    867
    Hyfi reading your post made remember my Rotel 1070 preamp. The thing performed fine for 5 years then it couldn't have been 2 weeks after the warranty was up when it died on me. The unit would power up and i'd get a tiny faint sound through the phono input but that was it, everything else was dead as a doornail.

  18. #18
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    Classe CAP-150 - as sterile as a eunuch.

  19. #19
    Suspended atomicAdam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Oaktown!
    Posts
    1,774
    I suppose this isn't really a regret list, more like a 'wish it was different' list.

    SimAudio Moon LP3 - because the power adapter went bad a couple months after purchase, but give SimAudio cred they replaced quickly and w/o complaint. Though set up has been a bit of a pain, though that could be me.

    Rega P3/24 - over all great, but for ~$1300 I would have like the power adapter female part to be soldered in straight so the male part would fit all the way in., also, i don't know, seems like a lot of plastic for $1300.

    AVA OmegaStar 250EX - very small speaker cable terminals, suppose would be fine if using banana or spade termination, but if not, very irritating. And in all honesty, after listening to it on some speakers with a more detailed mid range, it seemed the amp's warmth in the mids was really distortion that wasn't as apparent with the RS6 speakers. Though maybe this assessment is being hastily made.

  20. #20
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    St. Paul, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,421
    Adam, if you are getting distortion in the midrange with the Omegastar then I would contact Frank VA about it.
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  21. #21
    Suspended atomicAdam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Oaktown!
    Posts
    1,774
    Quote Originally Posted by blackraven
    Adam, if you are getting distortion in the midrange with the Omegastar then I would contact Frank VA about it.
    Ok, I've got to open up the pre-amp and send him a photo anyways - so I'll bring that up as well.

    -adam

  22. #22
    Sophisticated Red Neck manlystanley's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    In Old Pickup Truck, Cruising Hickville
    Posts
    651
    Quote Originally Posted by blackraven
    I saw this question on the Audio Circles forum and found it interesting to post here.

    So what was your most dissapointing purchase for your system?

    Mine have been the modifications of my Music Hall 25.2 cdp from reference audio mods, my Monitor Audio S1's (should have gone with the PSB B-25's or NHT Classic 2's)
    the Electro Harmonix 6CG7's tube's that I recently bought in my tube rolling endeavor (too sibilant), and the Marantz SA8001 SACDP that I sold.

    Hello BR,
    What a great question! For me, I'm still new in this hobby, so have not had any major disappointments. Even things, that I've bought and have not worked out, I've learned a lot from it. But, I guess in retrospect, the first Denon HTIB with a 5.1 Boston Acoustics miniature speaker set and sub-woofer. I spent $400 on it and never really used the speakers and sub-woofer. It was then I decided to try buying more used stuff.

    Best Regards,
    Stan
    Listening/Movie Room: ADCOM GTP-500, XPA-2, Denon 3930ci, Front: Jamo C809; Surround: Klipsch R-5650-S; Back: R-5650-S; Denon AVR-687,. Projector: Sharp XR-32X.

    Family Room: Denon avr-687, Denon CD player, Klipsch RB-5II

  23. #23
    ride a jet ski Tarheel_'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    662
    Worst purchase:

    A god-awful sounding Pioneer 1018thx receiver (think i got the model right). I purchased this online and it sounded terrible. I listed a long thread about this on this site and nothing or any advise could help.

    Luckily, i was able to sell it used on audiogon and only lost a few dollars.

  24. #24
    nightflier
    Guest

    Perhaps an issue of Synergy?

    Quote Originally Posted by jrhymeammo
    -Marantz 8001.
    -PS Audio HCA-2
    -MMG with modified crossover.
    One of the speakers arrived damaged, but I could still very much tell how the speakers sound. Perhaps my expectation and personal taste was way off.
    jrhymeammo, the HCA-2 isn't exactly a bright-sounding amp, so with the 8001, which I would also consider on the warm side, I can understand the dissapointment. Or was your experience with these in separate systems? Can you elaborate on what you didn't like?

  25. #25
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127

    Two equally bad

    There were two equally awful components the head my list -- the tradjedy is that I lived with both for over 20 years before I fully understood just how bad they were.
    • Phase Linear 400 amplfier, (original model). Exceedingly "solid state" sounding, painfully harsh treble, opaque with limited resolution.
    • B&W DM7 speakers. Typically "British" speaker of that time: recessed mid-range and incredibly limited microdynamics (i.e. PRaT).

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •