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

Well, some possible minefields here, but just so as not to ruffle any feathers, let me say (with all sincerity)...

nothing bought from Mike!
 
I'm too new to have made a serious purchase I already regret, but I'm buying and discarding isolation boards like nobody's business. A few more and I'll be ready to open my own restaurant supply warehouse. The Boos Block was amazing, of course, but it was an imperfect fit for the AudioShield cover on my Prime and made the whole arrangement less than perfectly cat-proof.
 
My biggest waste of time and money was the purchase of a McIntosh MC 275 Mark V.
 
When my Non- Audiophile friend come to my home and have listened and he compare my system to his $399 Yamaha Receiver sounds with his HT speakers.

I fell like what the heck !?!?!? ( with still smile on face to my friend )


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Paul said:
When my Non- Audiophile friend come to my home and have listened and he compare my system to his $399 Yamaha Receiver sounds with his HT speakers.

I fell like what the heck !?!?!? ( with still smile on face to my friend )


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Time for new friends.


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Dpod4 said:
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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I've found the Stillpoints Ultra 6's with Ultra bases have made a nice improvement in sound with my Vitus gear even with Taoc racks. Though I know it is system dependent. When I one day upgrade to reference level racks, it is quite possible I will prefer the sound sans Stillpoints? We'll see :audiophile:.
 
Audiophilehi said:
HI Dan,

What didn't you like about the MC 275 Mark V?
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SQ
Build Quality
No bias adjustments or test points

I returned the unit for a partial refund, but was out hundreds of dollars in shipping expense.

I would never buy any McIntosh gear again.
 
mauidan said:
SQ
Build Quality
No bias adjustments or test points

I returned the unit for a partial refund, but was out hundreds of dollars in shipping expense.

I would never buy any McIntosh gear again.
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did you roll the tubes? I found Mac stock tubes quite awful at least on the preamps.
 
See, this is an issue that I have with tube equipment. I understand rolling tubes to change the sound, but at the price that companies like McIntosh and many others charge, the tubes included should be what they consider the absolute best for their gear.
 
Randy Myers said:
See, this is an issue that I have with tube equipment. I understand rolling tubes to change the sound, but at the price that companies like McIntosh and many others charge, the tubes included should be what they consider the absolute best for their gear.
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Totally agree. The comeback is "it's subjective". There's nothing subjective about putting sub par tubes in to save costs & everyone knows this.
 
KeithR said:
did you roll the tubes? I found Mac stock tubes quite awful at least on the preamps.
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I tried some different output tubes, because one of the stock tube was running hot.

The replacement tube in that same position did the same thing.

Since you can't check or adjust the bias, I assumed something was wrong with the auto bias circuit and asked for a refund.

BTW, this experience hasn't turned me off to tube gear.
 
my biggest waste of money: buying a Wombat from Kev (bzr) from Australia. paid $9500 to ship it, and it ate all my cables.

best

bob
 
Sunfire (Carver) Cinema Grand Amplifier - Stereo version. Plenty of balls, no subtly or nuance.
Doubled up on Speaker wire in an attempt to tame biting treble.

Purchased a used Pass Aleph 3 (Borg Cube) and was amazed at how much more musical my system became. Less Slam - better overall.

Never should have sold the Aleph 3.
 
Old Bob said:
my biggest waste of money: buying a Wombat from Kev (bzr) from Australia. paid $9500 to ship it, and it ate all my cables.

best

bob
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Bob, that was my best one too. He had expensive tastes!
 
My biggest waste of money was this Auralic Aries. It has been a constant PITA ever since I got it. No matter what firmware is used, what app version is used, how many times I kill the power to it (letting it sit 2 minutes, an hour, a day unplugged), how many times I hit the reset button on it, it still just stops playing, or repeats a track over and over at various points throughout the track. It doesn't matter if I'm streaming from my NAS or streaming from Tidal. It doesn't matter if I have a CAT6 cable running to it or wifi.

Today is the worst! Damn thing keeps stopping randomly, probably about two dozen times now since this morning. In fact, it just stopped again, for no freakin' reason.

And since it stopped, it has stopped briefly and replayed the same track over 4 times! This is absolute BS.

Though the stupid thing plays internet radio for days on end without a glitch. Even then, it will crap out from time to time causing me to have to reboot it or kill the power to it.

I've emailed Auralic several times over the past year, and have yet to get a single reply from them...
 
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