Just for fun : Your biggest waste of money in audio ?

Paul

Paul

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Just for fun : Your biggest waste of money in audio ?


Mine is :

B&W 802D

Esoteric K05

Nottingham Space deck
 
Great thread Paul. Thank you.

For me:

Sonus Faber Aida

Raidho D3's and D3 v2 (maybe third time is the charm with D3.1, but I'm not going to pay to find out). Should have just stuck with a pair of C1.1's or my D1's. If I can find a pair of C1.1's for $3500-4K, I would be damn tempted!

Mc 1.2kws (you aren't your younger brother 601 or older brother 2Kw)

WW power cords. The gold/copper colored ones. Electra 6? Forget the name.

Musical Fidelity NuVista 800 (sibilant as heck...thought it needed break in. Wrong. Sssssssssoooooo. Ttttttttttteribly wrong)
 
For me it's probably the $$ spent trying to find reasonably good quality/sounding recordings.
 
Audio Research Ref 5se pre amp

Audiovalve Sunilda phono stage

Benz Ruby3 cartridge
 
Green Mountain Audio Calypso. Hahahaha! Great speakers with....about three recordings.
 
There are components I've purchased that, in retrospect, I could have skipped purchasing, but they were part of the learning curve about where my audio priorities were.

However the one purchase that stands out and still stings, is the Modwright modified Oppo BDP-105D. It was plain terrible. I sold it as fast as I could. I purchased a stock 105D from Oppo, and all was redeemed.
 
Wireworld Power Cables. So freakin hard to work with in my rack.
McIntosh MX-A70... first jump back into good audio after many years away... nice unit, thought it would be all I needed... boy was I wrong...
 
The plethora of absorption devices that make nominal difference (e.g. Stillpoints, pucks, cerapucs) when a good solid stand or rack is the main deal. And a atmasphere modded vintage empire table. New turntables from best mfgrs mop the floor with vintage tables.


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McIntosh MR7084 AM/FM Tuner. I bought this tuner new in 1995, kept it for 10 years and finally sold it. This is one of the poorest performing FM tuners I have ever owned. The radios in my vehicles all performed better at pulling in stations than this tuner did. The only reason I kept it as long as I did is because I was out of state about 85% of the time during those years and when I was home I avoided turning the MR7084 on. It looked good but that was about the extent of it.


897945-mcintosh-mr7084-amfm-tuner.jpg
 
Dynaudio C1 mk2. To my ears, they are shouty. Focal Electra 1008 monitors with Be tweeters sound much more relaxed. Could have been a system synergy thing, but not interested in finding out again.

On the other hand, Dynaudio powered monitors BM5A mk2 have been one of better purchases. Been using this as my desktop speakers for many years now.
 
ARC DAC-8 - sounded ok but at this point can't even give it away...I guess that's life with digital with the rapid development taking place in this space.
 
My biggest waste of money comes from my first Dynavector 20X2H phono cartridge....it lasted all of just a couple of album sides the first night playing it.

In my attempt to preserve this nice specimen, I went to place the stylus cover on it for protection, slipped and smacked the cantilever into a nice 90+ degree bend. I recall screaming, laying on the couch face down and feeling like I had to vomit.

After recovery, I sent the 20X2H off to Soundsmith for rebuild, purchased another one (now used as a spare) and sold the re-tipped one once it was returned.

Damn, I hate being a klutz.
 
Hegel H300 integrated - good specs, but listening to music was no fun. Too bright, too edgy.


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I don't remember the exact brand-model but it was definitely the first stereo component I bought 15 years ago. I'm wasting money since then.


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It is easy to waste money in this hobby. For me, the best guard against doing so has been to focus on getting the "cleanest" (PWK) signal by eliminating all unnecessary equipment and staying with reliable and proven technologies and brands.
 
I can't say the following was a waste of money. It was a learning experience.

The JC-1 mono blocks. I think that they have been on the Stereophile most recommended components list for, what 10 yr.s or a very long time.

But they were real room heaters with the class A bias switch flipped on.

They were good amps but not fast enough to keep up with the Raidho D2's I bought after I sold the B&W 802's.
 
Mike said:
Great thread Paul. Thank you.

For me:

Sonus Faber Aida

Raidho D3's and D3 v2 (maybe third time is the charm with D3.1, but I'm not going to pay to find out). Should have just stuck with a pair of C1.1's or my D1's. If I can find a pair of C1.1's for $3500-4K, I would be damn tempted!

Mc 1.2kws (you aren't your younger brother 601 or older brother 2Kw)

WW power cords. The gold/copper colored ones. Electra 6? Forget the name.

Musical Fidelity NuVista 800 (sibilant as heck...thought it needed break in. Wrong. Sssssssssoooooo. Ttttttttttteribly wrong)
Click to expand...

Real shame to see Raidho in this list. I think they really got it right with the C1.1 and D1. That bass overpowering in the D3 configuration?
 
Pass labs XA100. Turned my room into a sauna. Sounded slow enough to put me to sleep.


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