Hi-Fi Products that totally underwhelmed you
Discussion
As per the title.
It's natural to rave about stuff we like and it's nice to read about such stuff
I'm sure though that along the way individual items or even technologies have just left an "I don't get it" feeling.
Call them bad buys, mistakes or over hyped whatever you will.
My first one was the Musical Fidelity T1 Tuner (mark 2 version) as per the piccie below. It was a total dog of a tuner about as insensitive a tuner I ever owned. Just couldn't get on with it didn't like its sound at all
It's natural to rave about stuff we like and it's nice to read about such stuff
I'm sure though that along the way individual items or even technologies have just left an "I don't get it" feeling.
Call them bad buys, mistakes or over hyped whatever you will.
My first one was the Musical Fidelity T1 Tuner (mark 2 version) as per the piccie below. It was a total dog of a tuner about as insensitive a tuner I ever owned. Just couldn't get on with it didn't like its sound at all
Where do I start?!
- Mission 780 speakers (the later, tiny ones, not the Argonauts).
- Pioneer A-400 amplifier. Ths was a real fave of the 1980s. I've no idea why.
- Royd loudspeakers. Fans bang on about how 'musical' they are. Every pair I've heard has just been a shouty, horrible mess.
- Linn Sondek LP12. Yes it's good when it's set up perfectly. But it's not the greatest turntable ever, nor has it ever been.
- Goodmans Magister speakers. Goodmans made some surprisingly good speakers but, despite the allure of a 15" bass driver, the Magisters aren't one of them.
- REL Subwoofers. All of them. If you like boom, thump and appalling timing, they're great. If you like tuneful bass that plays along at the same time as the rest of the frequency range; forget it.
But the king of them all has to be:
- The original Audiolab 8000A amplifier. Life just doesn't seem worth living any more when listening to this dreary, grey miserable sounding device.
- Mission 780 speakers (the later, tiny ones, not the Argonauts).
- Pioneer A-400 amplifier. Ths was a real fave of the 1980s. I've no idea why.
- Royd loudspeakers. Fans bang on about how 'musical' they are. Every pair I've heard has just been a shouty, horrible mess.
- Linn Sondek LP12. Yes it's good when it's set up perfectly. But it's not the greatest turntable ever, nor has it ever been.
- Goodmans Magister speakers. Goodmans made some surprisingly good speakers but, despite the allure of a 15" bass driver, the Magisters aren't one of them.
- REL Subwoofers. All of them. If you like boom, thump and appalling timing, they're great. If you like tuneful bass that plays along at the same time as the rest of the frequency range; forget it.
But the king of them all has to be:
- The original Audiolab 8000A amplifier. Life just doesn't seem worth living any more when listening to this dreary, grey miserable sounding device.
Deranged Rover said:
- REL Subwoofers. All of them. If you like boom, thump and appalling timing, they're great. If you like tuneful bass that plays along at the same time as the rest of the frequency range; forget it.
I loved my REL Sub. Q100 I think it was. It totally brought alive the dubby ambient music I was listening to at the time. It may not have had good timing but it brought a lot of fun to the music.
Deranged Rover said:
Where do I start?!
- Pioneer A-400 amplifier. Ths was a real fave of the 1980s. I've no idea why.
- Linn Sondek LP12. Yes it's good when it's set up perfectly. But it's not the greatest turntable ever, nor has it ever been.
.
Ah yes the Pioneer that of the made in japan but designed by the British craze that took off. I agree I tried one myself and just didn't get it either- Pioneer A-400 amplifier. Ths was a real fave of the 1980s. I've no idea why.
- Linn Sondek LP12. Yes it's good when it's set up perfectly. But it's not the greatest turntable ever, nor has it ever been.
.
LP12 - I had the Linn Axis - loved it. It was better than my Dual 505-3 I just didn't go the whole hog on an LP12
Mission 700LE's - for a second system. innovative different design that just left me cold.
Marantz ST35 Tuner - shrill and tiring lasted 6 months. That's when the T1 came in that lasted a week. Fortunately my favourite dealer came up with a suggestion when they took the T1 back.
"it isn't really something we normally sell and to be honest we have taken it in as a part ex but do you want to try this Sony deposit us a £100 and try it for say 3 weeks ? "
A total winner that lasted with me for 23 years - Sony STS 700ES - heaven in a tuner
Linn pretek / powtek pre / power combo.
Exposure 28 power amp
Some TDL speakers from the 90's (might be 2000's??) (lots of boom and tizz)
Cambridge C500 / P500 pre / power combo (internally they were identical to the Cambridge 'A' series of the time - just in separate boxes)
Mordaunt Short speakers (900 series)
Several Mission speakers
Cyrus electronics in general
Aura electronics (PA200 power amp + others)
There's a bit of a theme here...
Technics pre / power combos (like the Cambridge, the cheaper ones were identical internally to the integrated amps of the time)
Exposure 28 power amp
Some TDL speakers from the 90's (might be 2000's??) (lots of boom and tizz)
Cambridge C500 / P500 pre / power combo (internally they were identical to the Cambridge 'A' series of the time - just in separate boxes)
Mordaunt Short speakers (900 series)
Several Mission speakers
Cyrus electronics in general
Aura electronics (PA200 power amp + others)
There's a bit of a theme here...
Technics pre / power combos (like the Cambridge, the cheaper ones were identical internally to the integrated amps of the time)
Oh yes. Some others
Marantz cd65 SE - the one that slew giants. It was good but in a direct comparison to my then Phillips CD473 it sounded so similar - not better. Funnily enough it was later realised my CD473 had the TD1541A chip in it -some did some didn't. That probably accounted for the not much difference. The 473 lasted around 18 months then the 2nd best CD Player I owned caught my eye, Philips CD880
Marantz cd65 SE - the one that slew giants. It was good but in a direct comparison to my then Phillips CD473 it sounded so similar - not better. Funnily enough it was later realised my CD473 had the TD1541A chip in it -some did some didn't. That probably accounted for the not much difference. The 473 lasted around 18 months then the 2nd best CD Player I owned caught my eye, Philips CD880
Sony minidisc players, I boought a walkman type and a component type for home.
A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
colin_p said:
Sony minidisc players, I boought a walkman type and a component type for home.
A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
This is going to sound me too but I did the same thing. I had a Sony deck cant remember the model and a Sony Portable.A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
I really liked the tech and the results were great. I could have a player and say 5 discs in the bag and it was great for the train
Blank mini discs dropped in price and I copied affair few CD's onto them.
But then I saw the I pod Nano and that took my breath away. Then I also got a bigger may have been 80gb I pod and that was awesome
The mini disc went It was probably the costliest short lived piece of tech I owned.after say S-VHS
techiedave said:
colin_p said:
Sony minidisc players, I boought a walkman type and a component type for home.
A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
This is going to sound me too but I did the same thing. I had a Sony deck cant remember the model and a Sony Portable.A right faff to fill with music which had to be done in real time with other kit I had. I do seem to remember a matched CD player being available that could do it quicker but still a right old faff doing a "mix" disc.
And also bought only a few years before MP3 arrived.
I really liked the tech and the results were great. I could have a player and say 5 discs in the bag and it was great for the train
Blank mini discs dropped in price and I copied affair few CD's onto them.
But then I saw the I pod Nano and that took my breath away. Then I also got a bigger may have been 80gb I pod and that was awesome
The mini disc went It was probably the costliest short lived piece of tech I owned.after say S-VHS
edit.... had a friend who went one further, he bought a minidisc headunit for his car, when CD multichangers were just starting to be all the rage.
Edited by colin_p on Friday 14th September 20:44
I have a Sony minidisc separate and whilst I haven't used it for a long time, I was always very impressed with it and also the portable sharp MD I used for years whilst commuting.
Of course the downside was real time recording and initially my CD player was analogue out only so no track breaks!
Of course the downside was real time recording and initially my CD player was analogue out only so no track breaks!
TonyRPH said:
techiedave said:
If I recall correctly mini disc was one such new recording system. At around the same time Phil;ips came up with DCC - Digital compact cassette
DAT was also around that time, although possibly aimed at the more professional end of the market.I always thought DAT had been around a good few years longer. I only thought that as I looked into getting a portable one a DAT Walkman to use instead of a standard Walkman and that was around 1992ish. From memory it was a lot dearer tan the mini disc portable and was dearer than the eventual purchase price of both the mini disc portable and home based player/ recorder.
I think what happened ish that mini disc got a big push in 1997/ 1998 and that's when I got into it.
This article was the one that surprised me:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/s...
These were the 2 items I had or as near to them as memory served.
techiedave said:
If I recall correctly mini disc was one such new recording system. At around the same time Phil;ips came up with DCC - Digital compact cassette
I had the choice of a Sony A6es and Nakamichi DR3 tape deck or the Technics rebadged Philips dcc deck.The Technics was huge, new and was DIGITAL !!
Press two buttons and it would sync with the CD player and copy, track list and finalise a whole disc automatically while you listened to another source.
AND it would play your existing analogue tapes too!
I actually used it to transfer 25% of my vinyl to DCC then lost the will to live, boxed it up and discovered MP3 and CD recorders.
Daft thing was the analogue decks (with good tapes) sounded quite a bit better when I demo’d them.
Youth, flashing leds and DIGITAL convinced me my ears weren’t working correctly that morning....
Still, it was a wise investment in a way - I moved on from everything I owned back then but still have the DCC deck in a box somewhere together with around 80 tapes full of what was classed as music back then.
The read/write heads in working condition are going for around the price I paid for the whole deck.
I might get it plugged in tomorrow and give it another listen - still got the original demo tape that came with it too - Scorpions, Dire Straits etc and with text displaying track details as they played.
I’ll post a pic if anyone is interested.
I have a Sony portable MD player, used up until 10 years ago when I was working in theatre etc.
MD is still popular in theatre and entertainment. Many variety acts still use MD because it's so easy to use, discs don't scratch, easy to change the track sequence etc. I was at a party the other week and the 'singer' was using MD for his tracks.
I still have a pack of unused discs in my draw.
MD is still popular in theatre and entertainment. Many variety acts still use MD because it's so easy to use, discs don't scratch, easy to change the track sequence etc. I was at a party the other week and the 'singer' was using MD for his tracks.
I still have a pack of unused discs in my draw.
Having first mentioned minidisc above, that wasn't my worse mistake, in fact upon reflection the minidisc wasn't too bad in terms of faffage.
Although it was not strictly hi-fi, sometime in 1997 I spent about £500 on a CD burner with the sole intention of being able to produce 'mix' or compilation cd's, mainly for the ten disc changer I had in the car at that time. For younger readers a ten disc changer system at that time was quite a high end and a very expensive thing. Most cars came with a radio cassette player.
The CD burner was a Hewlett Packard thing that had to be plugged into the PC parallel printer port, remember them, as USB had not even been thought of at that time. Regardless those printer ports or 'LPT1' were slow and it took about one hour to copy one track. The faff factor was just too much and I only ever did one mix cd and that wasn't full. I did use the thing for backing up though and it was crap even at doing that.
That HP disc burner thing has been in the loft in a carrier bag for fast approaching twenty years now. I know exactly where it is and whenever I go into the loft the sight of the carrier bag, let alone what is inside it, makes me feel a bit sick. Even thinking about it and wrtiting this posr does.
.....A fool and his money!
But I can safely say I never got hoodwinked by actual HI-FI BS.
I wonder if anyone is going to be brave enough to come on this thread and say they spent £100 on a power cable for their amp or £25 on a gold fuse for the plug on the end of that £100 power cable. Stupidly expensive interconnects (especially digital ones) and speaker cable are also the things of legend. Some people must buy that stuff though.
Although it was not strictly hi-fi, sometime in 1997 I spent about £500 on a CD burner with the sole intention of being able to produce 'mix' or compilation cd's, mainly for the ten disc changer I had in the car at that time. For younger readers a ten disc changer system at that time was quite a high end and a very expensive thing. Most cars came with a radio cassette player.
The CD burner was a Hewlett Packard thing that had to be plugged into the PC parallel printer port, remember them, as USB had not even been thought of at that time. Regardless those printer ports or 'LPT1' were slow and it took about one hour to copy one track. The faff factor was just too much and I only ever did one mix cd and that wasn't full. I did use the thing for backing up though and it was crap even at doing that.
That HP disc burner thing has been in the loft in a carrier bag for fast approaching twenty years now. I know exactly where it is and whenever I go into the loft the sight of the carrier bag, let alone what is inside it, makes me feel a bit sick. Even thinking about it and wrtiting this posr does.
.....A fool and his money!
But I can safely say I never got hoodwinked by actual HI-FI BS.
I wonder if anyone is going to be brave enough to come on this thread and say they spent £100 on a power cable for their amp or £25 on a gold fuse for the plug on the end of that £100 power cable. Stupidly expensive interconnects (especially digital ones) and speaker cable are also the things of legend. Some people must buy that stuff though.
Edited by colin_p on Saturday 15th September 12:03
There is / was a whole thread devoted to that kind of stuff (cables etc)
I'll admit I bought some QED interconnects for the seperates and they worked fine and I do have a Sony interconnect between the pre and power amp that is as thick as my wrist (ok exaggeration) and works fine
Thing was the QED's were all bought at ( half price as the place was closing and the sony was just £12 being end of range.
The speakers have all been wired in electric cable and sound just fine.
Another thing I purchased was a Denon DAB/FM tuner it was fine but purely by chance I saw a NAD C445 DAB/FM at a good price in a second hand shop. Pretty much on impulse I bought it and its a much better performer than the Denon was. Its very sensitive and detailed. its pulled in a lot more DAB stations
I'll admit I bought some QED interconnects for the seperates and they worked fine and I do have a Sony interconnect between the pre and power amp that is as thick as my wrist (ok exaggeration) and works fine
Thing was the QED's were all bought at ( half price as the place was closing and the sony was just £12 being end of range.
The speakers have all been wired in electric cable and sound just fine.
Another thing I purchased was a Denon DAB/FM tuner it was fine but purely by chance I saw a NAD C445 DAB/FM at a good price in a second hand shop. Pretty much on impulse I bought it and its a much better performer than the Denon was. Its very sensitive and detailed. its pulled in a lot more DAB stations
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 15th September 13:01
Re:MD. And feeling still feeling sick about the about if money I spent.
I bought a MD changer for my boot to match my fancy Pioneer head unit (display could show dolphins: take my money please).
Never knew anyone else to have a MD changer. Was pretty cool too be able to transfer tapes into MD.
I bought a MD changer for my boot to match my fancy Pioneer head unit (display could show dolphins: take my money please).
Never knew anyone else to have a MD changer. Was pretty cool too be able to transfer tapes into MD.
Hotel Indigo said:
Re:MD. And feeling still feeling sick about the about if money I spent.
I bought a MD changer for my boot to match my fancy Pioneer head unit (display could show dolphins: take my money please).
Never knew anyone else to have a MD changer. Was pretty cool too be able to transfer tapes into MD.
But I bet at the time having a MD changer was as cool as it was possible to be.I bought a MD changer for my boot to match my fancy Pioneer head unit (display could show dolphins: take my money please).
Never knew anyone else to have a MD changer. Was pretty cool too be able to transfer tapes into MD.
Re: the HI-FI BS thread, well aware of it, always a good read as and when it is updated. Point is; out of anywhere, PH is the type of place where you'd likely find someone who would splash out on the "Emperors new clothes" type HI-FI nonsense. Thing is, I don't think any would be brave enough to admit it.
I remember reading What HiFi in the 80's and back then I remember a turntable which was up for about £40,000.00! Someone must have bought at least one!
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