What's the worst bit of hifi kit you have purchased

[brandontheblack]

I purchased a set of Ascend bookshelf speakers based on internet recommendations. I hooked up these ugly plasticky boxes, excited and hoping for the best, and then...
They chewed up my music and vomited it out, dead and lifeless, from 100 yards away.
I couldn't return them fast enough.

 

[nads]

DAC Magic.

 

[Deleted member 196519]

So what did they do with the mark ii that they are so universally liked while the original was so universally hated?

The first pair sounded muffled whereas the second pair I understand they sound clear, but I haven’t heard the second pair it’s just what I read.

 

[RoA]

Just thought of another 2 in addition to the Audiolab 8000S already mentioned. ( I obviously tried to block out from memory because I am still traumatised, 30 years after in one case ... .)

That would have been a pair of RTL TDL 3's. The biggest waste of MDF ever made? Huge, cheap and as far from a proper Transmission Line as it gets. It was sold cheap through RS. - Bad, low cost drivers in huge expanse of thin, Vinyl covered MDF. The tweeter was like a cheese grater, bass ... horrible.

The other (really) bad purchase, although not purely HIFI, was a Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV, purchased largely on the basis of WHS&V and others waxing lyrically about it at the time.

I could never get a picture I liked and the thing buzzed like hell whenever brightness increased. Speaking of which, the picture dimmed like crazy every time there was a large amount of bright screen content.

Sold it after 6 months at a considerable loss.

Far from the worst purchase ever but nevertheless something I'd rather not have bought ... a pair of B&W Formation Duo's Active Speakers, just recently.

Fantastic in some ways, bass, power and dynamics ... not so in others. Largely the usual B&W sound of bright upper mids and lower treble with boosted bass. There was a constant deviation from neutrality which imparted itself on everything and which started to grate after a while. Some of the traits were likely due to the class D amplification not helping.

Some Kef LS50 Wireless Meta's were superior in certain areas and I preferred them. However, they too had a signature which was ever present and did not conform to neutrality. Again, Class D powered to the mid/woofer ... .

 

[MrSinghsStereo]

custom modded Nordost Heimdahl 2 power cable for my Pioneer Kuro, and Nordost Heimdahl 2 2.5mm RCA to connect my AKSP1000 to my pre amp.
Did absolutely nothing for the sound/picture.
Monumental waste of money but managed to get around 85% of the cost back with a trade in

 

[Gray]

custom modded Nordost Heimdahl 2 power cable for my Pioneer Kuro, and Nordost Heimdahl 2 2.5mm RCA to connect my AKSP1000 to my pre amp.
Did absolutely nothing for the sound/picture.
Monumental waste of money but managed to get around 85% of the cost back with a trade in

I will make sure to avoid those cables 👍

 

[MrSinghsStereo]

i spent almost £20k on various cables , power conditioners, supports from Nordost. I would say the Frey 2 range, QB8 and QX4 make a difference. The Heimdahl, Purple Flare and sort cones hardly any noticeable change.

 

[MrSinghsStereo]

Just thought of another 2 in addition to the Audiolab 8000S already mentioned. ( I obviously tried to block out from memory because I am still traumatised, 30 years after in one case ... .)

That would have been a pair of RTL TDL 3's. The biggest waste of MDF ever made? Huge, cheap and as far from a proper Transmission Line as it gets. It was sold cheap through RS. - Bad, low cost drivers in huge expanse of thin, Vinyl covered MDF. The tweeter was like a cheese grater, bass ... horrible.

The other (really) bad purchase, although not purely HIFI, was a Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV, purchased largely on the basis of WHS&V and others waxing lyrically about it at the time.

I could never get a picture I liked and the thing buzzed like hell whenever brightness increased. Speaking of which, the picture dimmed like crazy every time there was a large amount of bright screen content.

Sold it after 6 months at a considerable loss.

Far from the worst purchase ever but nevertheless something I'd rather not have bought ... a pair of B&W Formation Duo's Active Speakers, just recently.

Fantastic in some ways, bass, power and dynamics ... not so in others. Largely the usual B&W sound of bright upper mids and lower treble with boosted bass. There was a constant deviation from neutrality which imparted itself on everything and which started to grate after a while. Some of the traits were likely due to the class D amplification not helping.

Some Kef LS50 Wireless Meta's were superior in certain areas and I preferred them. However, they too had a signature which was ever present and did not conform to neutrality. Again, Class D powered to the mid/woofer ... .

I bought a Kuro KRP500 A in 2008 and it was still in use until 2021. Absolutely brillant picture . which model did you own?

 

[Friesiansam]

A few years ago, some like @Al ears will probably remember, I purchased an Electrocompaniet PC-1 CD player. Technically it was fine: Good detail retrieval, bass was quite well defined and tonal qualities was no issue. However, after a couple of weeks of getting used to the sound, it was really boring. I persevered with it for another couple of weeks... it was dreadfully unexciting, yet I couldn't pin-point why. After about a month I boxed it back up and replaced my cheaper Arcam CD73, which sounded more involving.

I had a similar experience with Beyerdynamic T5P Gen2s. Technically very good but, to my ears far to clinical and, a bit dull when listening to prog rock. The Focal Elegias solved that problem.

 

[twinkletoes]

I'm not going to be a popular boy, but for me and my room ATC scm19's. went straight back after 3days lifeless lumps in my room.

 

[Al ears]

I'm not going to be a popular boy, but for me and my room ATC scm19's. went straight back after 3days lifeless lumps in my room.

what were you driving them with?

 

[plastic penguin]

I had a similar experience with Beyerdynamic T5P Gen2s. Technically very good but, to my ears far to clinical and, a bit dull when listening to prog rock. The Focal Elegias solved that problem.

Strange how something can be good but also bad.

When I purchased the Exposure CD 2010 it really showed how lacking the Electro was. Yet the new price of the Exposure was half that of the Electro.

 

[twinkletoes]

what were you driving them with?

Naim 200dr and tried a 250dr. But I couldn’t try there own amp at the time and that might have produced better resaults. But doubt it. Just not dynamic enough for me. In my room I just didn’t get what other people where hearing. It’s a shame I really wanted to like them.

PMC 2023 where a very similar case for me just

 

[Fahad]

My recent purchase - power conditioner (Eve 3 Polaris)....bought it at a discount and can't return it. The sound of my power amp became very "thin" after being plugged into the conditioner.
Previously I had everything plugged into a belkin surge strip and there was no problem. Now I have the power amp plugged in to the wall and the rest of the gear plugged into the conditioner. No improvement...just more mess.

 

[britain4]

My recent purchase - power conditioner (Eve 3 Polaris)....bought it at a discount and can't return it. The sound of my power amp became very "thin" after being plugged into the conditioner.
Previously I had everything plugged into a belkin surge strip and there was no problem. Now I have the power amp plugged in to the wall and the rest of the gear plugged into the conditioner. No improvement...just more mess.

Got 2 power strips in my setup at the moment, a Clearer Audio filter for everything but the power amp, which is plugged into an unfiltered strip with an Isoplug in it

Works nicely, small perceived improvements without the loss of dynamics it suffered with when all plugged into the Clearer Audio block

 

[Ivabigun]

My wife? Sometimes I hear her in both ears but sometimes only one.

My ex cost me fifty grand to leave , money well spent , no arguments about nothing , eat / drink what and when I like , go where I like with who I like for as long as I like , my friends said it was nice to have the old me back again .
Do It .

 

[Cass]

Cambridge A5 amp. My very first amp was a Rotel RA-820 and when that gave up the ghost after many years' service, I needed a replacement and was short of funds at the time. The A5 had a 5-star WHF review and was only £120. It seemed too good to be true, and it was. It just sounded...weak. 60 WPC? Really??

I wasted about three years with it at the heart of my system before replacing it with a NAD C326BEE. The difference was night and day. I sat for days listening afresh to most of my CD collection using the NAD. with a big smile on my face. With the Cambridge, it had been a grimace.

 

[idc]

There was a fad for a cable, "Silver High Breed" or something similar. As it was not too expensive, I got the interconnects to go between my headphone amp and DAC. But the cable was so thick and curved and the DAC (Firestone Fubar) so small, it was lifted off the ground and would not sit flat.

 

[splasher]

Marantz NA7004. All I wanted was to stream FLACs from a NAS over ethernet but it wouldn't do it reliably. Swapped it for a Cambridge 851N which worked beatifully. I've gone back to Marantz in the last 3 months and they seem to have it covered now.