Hi Fi pet hates

[busb]

I'm going to home dem a Chord Hugo TT fairly soon so have been reading reviews. WHF & others mention the poor remote - this is my 1st HiFi pet hate - poor remotes especially with non-budget stuff.

The 2nd one is remotes with loads of buttons I never use because they are "system" remotes. Am I unsual in using remotes almost exclusively over the front panels directly?

As for my M-DAC, it may not hold up to some newer DAC's SQ but its range of inputs, remote & interface are still well ahead of the curve.

 

[tino]

I'm going to home dem a Chord Hugo TT fairly soon so have been reading reviews. WHF & others mention the poor remote - this is my 1st HiFi pet hate - poor remotes especially with non-budget stuff.

The 2nd one is remotes with loads of buttons I never use because they are "system" remotes. Am I unsual in using remotes almost exclusively over the front panels directly?

As for my M-DAC, it may not hold up to some newer DAC's SQ but its range of inputs, remote & interface are still well ahead of the curve.

Expensive remotes (unless they are really special like the Devialet ones) are a waste of money. I control all of my gear from a £20 learning remote with simple buttons and an LCD screen. It only has the functions I want to program, and all the buttons are consistently applied whichever kit I point it to e.g. the input button does exactly what it says on the tin (remote) regardless of whether I point it to my amp or a TV. And by using a cheap remote, if ever I sell any equipment, it's always in "as new/unused" condition

 

[busb]

I'm going to home dem a Chord Hugo TT fairly soon so have been reading reviews. WHF & others mention the poor remote - this is my 1st HiFi pet hate - poor remotes especially with non-budget stuff.

The 2nd one is remotes with loads of buttons I never use because they are "system" remotes. Am I unsual in using remotes almost exclusively over the front panels directly?

As for my M-DAC, it may not hold up to some newer DAC's SQ but its range of inputs, remote & interface are still well ahead of the curve.

Expensive remotes (unless they are really special like the Devialet ones) are a waste of money. I control all of my gear from a £20 learning remote with simple buttons and an LCD screen. It only has the functions I want to program, and all the buttons are consistently applied whichever kit I point it to e.g. the input button does exactly what it says on the tin (remote) regardless of whether I point it to my amp or a TV. And by using a cheap remote, if ever I sell any equipment, it's always in "as new/unused" condition

I bought 2nd hand a remote for my new pre-amp & put the original one aside. The 2nd hand one is no longer available from Primare & was £180! It's made from extruded aluminium but the buttons are cheap.

I has a One-for-All learning remote but it never worked well changing volume. I'll investigate learning remotes again. I also tried a plug-in IOS remote but the software was rubbish so took it back for a refund.

 

[jjbomber]

I'm going to home dem a Chord Hugo TT fairly soon so have been reading reviews. WHF & others mention the poor remote - this is my 1st HiFi pet hate - poor remotes especially with non-budget stuff.

Most manufacturers are moving towards apps rather than remote controls, so I would expect them to get worse over time, rather than better. Not exactly the viewpoint you were hoping to hear, but that is how I see the future. One step further will be that remotes are an optional extra. Then it may be a case of paying for quality.

 

[busb]

I'm going to home dem a Chord Hugo TT fairly soon so have been reading reviews. WHF & others mention the poor remote - this is my 1st HiFi pet hate - poor remotes especially with non-budget stuff.

Most manufacturers are moving towards apps rather than remote controls, so I would expect them to get worse over time, rather than better. Not exactly the viewpoint you were hoping to hear, but that is how I see the future. One step further will be that remotes are an optional extra. Then it may be a case of paying for quality.

Indeed but I'm not the 1st to moan about remote quality. If I was to buy the Primare plug-in for my preamp, It would be very nicely controlled over WiFi. Many TVs & DVDs that have WiFi also have apps.

The solution I returned to the Apple shop had a plug-in IR Xmitter but the software was terrible. Another way is to have a rechareable IR Xmitter that recieves commands over WiFi.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hate is too strong a word....but it's the fact that I seem to prefer Amps that are very heavy, get hot, use a lot of power and put out a couple of handful of Watts.

 

[TrevC]

My pet hate is my old black and white tom cat spraying my speakers. Before you ask, yes, he has been done.

 

[Infiniteloop]

Hate is too strong a word....but it's the fact that I seem to prefer Amps that are very heavy, get hot, use a lot of power and put out a couple of handful of Watts.

+1.

 

[plastic penguin]

Reviews that bare no relation to the item tested.

Best example was Usher S520 speakers. WHFI gave them 3 stars (can't remember the exact comments) but when I heard them with fairly modest amplification, Arcam A18, they sounded superb for the price.

 

[BigH]

Reviews that bare no relation to the item tested.

Best example was Usher S520 speakers. WHFI gave them 3 stars (can't remember the exact comments) but when I heard them with fairly modest amplification, Arcam A18, they sounded superb for the price.

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

 

[jjbomber]

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

Yes there are. However not as bad as WhatCar. The biggest selling cars in Britain have traditionally been the sales reps car and the small family hatchback. So WhatCar have always given their awards to the Ford Mondeo and Ford Fiesta. To balance it out, they give Ford bad reviews to markets with very limited appeal, such as people carriers. However, the market has now changed and SUVs are where the money is. Up to 25% of all new cars are now SUVs. Surprise, surprise, the Ford Kuga has suddenly leapt out of the pack to number 2, behind the Nissan cashcow, or however you spell it.

Same theory but use Mac, ipad and iphone, then poor reviews for Apple TV. Same horse, different jockey. Both owned by Lord Heseltine.

The big question is; would any of us do the same?

 

[TrevC]

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

Yes there are. However not as bad as WhatCar. The biggest selling cars in Britain have traditionally been the sales reps car and the small family hatchback. So WhatCar have always given their awards to the Ford Mondeo and Ford Fiesta. To balance it out, they give Ford bad reviews to markets with very limited appeal, such as people carriers. However, the market has now changed and SUVs are where the money is. Up to 25% of all new cars are now SUVs. Surprise, surprise, the Ford Kuga has suddenly leapt out of the pack to number 2, behind the Nissan cashcow, or however you spell it.

Same theory but use Mac, ipad and iphone, then poor reviews for Apple TV. Same horse, different jockey. Both owned by Lord Heseltine.

The big question is; would any of us do the same?

I don't think that What Car does any of that. The Kuga is relatively new and the Fiesta and Mondeo are top, or near the top, of the pile according to most car reviews.

 

[tino]

I bought 2nd hand a remote for my new pre-amp & put the original one aside. The 2nd hand one is no longer available from Primare & was £180! It's made from extruded aluminium but the buttons are cheap.

I has a One-for-All learning remote but it never worked well changing volume. I'll investigate learning remotes again. I also tried a plug-in IOS remote but the software was rubbish so took it back for a refund.

I use the One for All Xsight .... costing around £15. Actually 2 of them ... one doing TV / soundbar duties, the other dedicated for hifi ... assorted streamers and amps. Nice thing about them is that you can program 'activities' e.g. listen to music from device A on amplifier B, and assign the different remote keys across the different devices. I'm sure the Logitech Harmony remotes are even better but I couldn't justify their price.

 

[TrevC]

Reviews that bare no relation to the item tested.

Best example was Usher S520 speakers. WHFI gave them 3 stars (can't remember the exact comments) but when I heard them with fairly modest amplification, Arcam A18, they sounded superb for the price.

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

The mains lead reviews are hilariously ignorant.

 

[plastic penguin]

Reviews that bare no relation to the item tested.

Best example was Usher S520 speakers. WHFI gave them 3 stars (can't remember the exact comments) but when I heard them with fairly modest amplification, Arcam A18, they sounded superb for the price.

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

The mains lead reviews are hilariously ignorant.

Okay, so they're not infallible. In addition, they have purpose built dem rooms - no outside noises like lawnmowers/strimmers/cars or children running about the place. Nonetheless, I was surprised they were so downbeat with the said speakers.

 

[spiny norman]

Same theory but use Mac, ipad and iphone, then poor reviews for Apple TV.

Surely that's just a case of giving the odd less important product in a range a kicking just to show how independent you are, rather than just coming over as complete fanboys.

 

[jjbomber]

Same theory but use Mac, ipad and iphone, then poor reviews for Apple TV.

Surely that's just a case of giving the odd less important product in a range a kicking just to show how independent you are, rather than just coming over as complete fanboys.

That's exactly what it is. I'm glad someone else can see wht's happening.

 

[matthewpiano]

Remotes don't bother me much as I rarely use them. I exclusively listen to complete works or albums and I don't skip tracks. Remote volume rarely works well enough to make small adjustments and it's easier to get up and adjust it manually. For any streaming I just want a product with a good control app as a conventional remote doesn't cut the mustard.

My hifi pet dislike is glossy finishes like the shiny black fascia of my amp. Great sounding amp, but I wish it didn't look so cheap.

 

[jonathanRD]

My pet hate is hifi manufacturers that promote a new product before they have released it, then take a lifetime to actually bring it to market. There was a pair of active floorstanders I was genuinely interested in that were first promoted in the summer of 2014 but have still not made it to market. And there is an amp that has been in 'pre-production' for 6 months and was first promoted back in 2015. In both cases the product is still mentioned on their websites but with no insight or clue to when they will see the light of day.

 

[BigH]

Also seems to be some bias towards/against certain brands. I don't have much time for WHF reviews now, think they are very shallow.

Yes there are. However not as bad as WhatCar. The biggest selling cars in Britain have traditionally been the sales reps car and the small family hatchback. So WhatCar have always given their awards to the Ford Mondeo and Ford Fiesta. To balance it out, they give Ford bad reviews to markets with very limited appeal, such as people carriers. However, the market has now changed and SUVs are where the money is. Up to 25% of all new cars are now SUVs. Surprise, surprise, the Ford Kuga has suddenly leapt out of the pack to number 2, behind the Nissan cashcow, or however you spell it.

Same theory but use Mac, ipad and iphone, then poor reviews for Apple TV. Same horse, different jockey. Both owned by Lord Heseltine.

The big question is; would any of us do the same?

Interesting about WhatCar, its not something I read but had a quick look. At least they don't give out 4 and 5 stars to nearly everything. Not many 5 stars at all, only 1 in the top 10 small cars.

 

[busb]

My pet hate is hifi manufacturers that promote a new product before they have released it, then take a lifetime to actually bring it to market. There was a pair of active floorstanders I was genuinely interested in that were first promoted in the summer of 2014 but have still not made it to market. And there is an amp that has been in 'pre-production' for 6 months and was first promoted back in 2015. In both cases the product is still mentioned on their websites but with no insight or clue to when they will see the light of day.

"My pet hate is hifi" - classic!

PC Pro had a term for promised but late releases - Vapourware! Clive Sinclair was famous for supposedly anouncing stuff before it was even designed - to whip up interest.

 

[tino]

My hifi pet dislike is glossy finishes like the shiny black fascia of my amp. Great sounding amp, but I wish it didn't look so cheap.

Agree 100% ... I can't imagine a cheaper, nastier finish than gloss black plastic. Whether it's on hifi, or worse, a car interior. Yuk!

 

[Gazzip]

Dismissive customer service departments which refuse point-blank to acknowledge a fault. Devialet for example... Apparently the power supply on my £18K amp is supposed to hum/buzz and the phono stage should hiss so loud you can hear it from the listening position. *diablo*

 

[expat_mike]

Dismissive customer service departments which refuse point-blank to acknowledge a fault. Devialet for example... Apparently the power supply on my £18K amp is supposed to hum/buzz and the phono stage should hiss so loud you can hear it from the listening position. *diablo*

I had been thinking about auditioning a Devialet sometime, but you are not doing a good selling job there. *wink*

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Audio labs remote control never worked out of the box on a home demo audio lab website is not very good no info on the product that I was demoing the manual was very basic not explaining anything about the settings and how to get the best out of it . There online manual you have to download into a zip file to see it And I could not see were to update the dac unit if it needed an update I would say a bit old fashioned