Hi Fi you REGRETTED buying!!!!!!!!!

[Fred24]

To some extent we have all in the past bought hifi items which we regretted investing money in. perhaps other will like to share their experience.

Mine will be the Arcam rpac. Bought it in 2012, return it because it was faulty. got a new one and the same thing occur: which is the ad hoc cut off whilst listening music. It was supposed to be a plug and play device. But the frequency of the device being cut off is unaccepted. Despite all the rave and faff about how great this product is; but no one had cared to mention this aspect in their review. The problem mentioned about this product is not unheard and uncommon on this forum. I will be understandable if one was using a foreign computer and software..but its only pc window 7 and foobar 2000 yet it cant deliver..now there is a new firmware to sort out issues with newer window 8 but again didn’t resolve the initial problem.

I hope other will share their experience with other products they have regretted buying perhaps others have had the same experience and managed to remedy it..

 

[El Hefe]

Arcam rDAC for me...

Bought in Oct 2010... Sold it off 2 months later...

cracking sound was produced when connected to CDP or iMac.

and no sound improvement was noticeable.

also monster dr. Dre Beat Studio headphones... Purchase in Dubai airport during my flight home to KL.. Faulty out of the box... Had to send it back to Netherlands... For them to send me a new one ... Had to cough up 50 quid for incoming customs tax.... Just to receive a broken piece as well...

sold it off cheap...

these are 2 regrets that made me never to purchase monster and arcam products again...

 

[drummerman]

Original 8000S when they first came out.

Wonder if they gotten any better?

regards

 

[richardw42]

I was going to say rdac too. But after first two posts feels like I'm putting the boot in.

First one was rattly inside, so had replacement. Didn't last long and replaced by a MF M1.

 

[chebby]

Nothing much really.

With hindsight a few unecessarily poncey cables over the years but nothing too expensive (by today's standards).

An Audio-Technica high-output MC cartridge back in the 1980s (that sounded like it used wet felt instead of a diamond) but I was shot of that very quickly and got an Ortofon high-output MC (I forget which) that sounded superb.

Oh yeah, some Kef Coda IIs that I owned for a couple of days before taking them back and exchanging for some speakers instead

 

[stevebrock]

yes expensive cables

NEVER again

 

[plastic penguin]

No. Even a product I didn't really gravitate to it all adds to the experience....

 

[whiskywheels]

Audiolab 8200CD.

Wasn't able to do a proper audition, but found the review descriptions enticing. Found it to be cold, clinical, uninvolving, unmusical, and quite a few other ill defined and subjective adjectives. It then broke, the dealer took it back, sent it to Audiolab, and weeks later I got it back. Happily by that time I'd replaced it with something else.

It's still in the loft.

 

[fr0g]

yes expensive cables

NEVER again

Agreed.

 

[atticus]

Tannoy DC8. Looked nice, sounded crap.

Should have stuck with my Monitor Audio GS10's.

 

[Cypher]

Arcam Rdac (most dacs will beat it)

Yamaha A-S500 (almost unlistenable)

Dynaudio Excite X 12 speakers (very, very overrated in my opinion)

 

[bluedroog]

Honestly nothing really. If pushed I'd say my Beresford dac but our key because shortly after I bought a squeezebox and the dac inside was comparable so money could've been better spent.

 

[ISAC69]

For me MISSION MX5 speakers bought it based on the excellent review in WHF here . replaced it after a year: the bass was too "boomy" ,

poor sound stage , no details, no separation between instruments and in general "muddy" sound .replaced them for the Proac Studio 140MK2 and absolutely happy with them .

 

[Bodfish]

Olive 4HD

 

[alchemist 1]

yes expensive cables

NEVER again

WHAT ! Nothing wobbly ?.................:silenced:

 

[stevebrock]

yes expensive cables

NEVER again

WHAT ! Nothing wobbly ?.................:silenced:

not wobbly now lol

 

[rrm]

Arcam A 60: not nearly enough power to control my spendor Bc1s so I sold the spendors . Big mistake plus they are now worth 2-3 times what I paid for them new!

Sumiko blue point special mc cartridge. much worse than the linn mm K 9 it replaced. But I had upgraditis.

All part of the learning curve......

 

[CnoEvil]

Audiotronic Cassette Deck in the 70s, that sounded good, but gave a lot of trouble.

I have been happy with all purchases since then.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Arcam Rdac (most dacs will beat it)

Yamaha A-S500 (almost unlistenable)

Dynaudio Excite X 12 speakers (very, very overrated in my opinion)

Yamaha A-S500 YES Totaly agreed with you!!! After the demo runed away from it!

But...

Can desagreed more with the Dynaudios Excite X12!

For me the best speakers I've demo in this budget!

5 stars What Hi-Fi Review

Product of the Year for Stereophile Magazine 2010

Sorry but I'm not the only one judging highly this set of speakers!

 

[ear]

What I really regret is my marantz pm4001 I once bought.Glad I was able to return it

 

[davidpr]

Yamaha A-S700. I was so wanting it to be great but it was dreadful. Sent it back.

 

[steve_1979]

The Q Acoustics 1010i centre speaker in their 5.1 surround system. The centre speaker didn't sound the same as the other four 1010i surround speakers. When I sold the centre speaker and replaced it with a fifth 1010i speaker to match the rest the overall sound was much better.

 

[davedotco]

Rega Planar 2, bought at the peak of the hype back in the early 80s.

Sounded significantly less good than my Dual 505/nagoyoka combo so I returned it and retrieved my Dual but this left me with a substantial credit with the dealer.

Used it to buy an Audiolab to replace my Nad 3020, you can probably guess how that worked out...... :wall:

 

[Diamond Joe]

I haven't regretted any of my HiFi purchases yet :cheer:

Although I was considering buying an Arcam irDAC, I'll have to carefully audition it* after some of the comments here.

*I was going to anyway

 

[ID.]

No. Even a product I didn't really gravitate to it all adds to the experience....

Exactly. Every piece of kit I've owned and auditioned has added to my education.