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Every make a purchase you truly regret?

Look, we've all done it. We read about that special piece of equipment that catches our eye. Every review seems to be glowing--never a discouraging word. So, after several weeks of reading about it but with no real opportunity to hear it, we decide to "just do it," and buy it, probably selling a vital piece of equipment to afford the new piece.

So we buy the new gear, plug it into the system, and bamm! It just plain stinks! No matter what tweaking we try, we can't seem to grow to like it. Now we're stuck, feeling like a "Class A" chump, another victim of the audio press.

Question: If this situation has ever happened to you, did you try to go back to what you had originally, or did you press on, trying something else altogether? Anyone ever start over completely?

Me? I always seem to try something else altogether, and it's starting to get expensive. However, I'm considering starting over completely. I mean, get rid of EVERYTHING and start from scratch. Any thoughts?
crazy4blues
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Mostly wires. Never ever will be looking onto these fancy coating ever again. Pure BS.

Bought VanDenHul Mainstream Hybrid(unterminated wire leftover) lookeed under the snake and it's oxided. Hell with it! changed to homemade from home depot wires.

Boght JPS Labs Superconductor wires compared with Carol Command found no difference so why $300 JPS? Sold them with no regrets. Now speaker wires are $40 top notch great and enough!

Thx god I never got onto interconnect hassle after that. Plain and simple. Will even be simplier when I get MCM unterminated wire and sell base line of VanDenHul and AudioQuest that I currently use on some of components.
crazy4blues OP
243 posts
 
Thanks, all for the responses. I have recently "upgraded" from a simple ss integrated to separates, costing me four times as much (used). Is the sound 4 Xs better? Naw. Do I like the system? Yeah, it's nice, but I wonder if I would have been just as happy with my previous set up. I'm not going back, though. I am going to try a tube amp (I've an Aleph 30 now; VTL pre), and if that doesn't give me that audio nirvana we all so ardently seek, then I'll probably buy a used Jolida 102b with some mods and that'll be that.
wmcmanus's avatar
wmcmanus
171 posts
 
Bose Accustimass 10. After that, it has been uphill all the way!!!
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Fortunately mine was software. I bought a UHQR from a jerk in Chicago who totally misrepresented the LP. Rather than 'mint' it was fair/good. Box was beat up and LP had a skip. $100 was too much for this LP!
stuartbranson
183 posts
 
I started with a Rotel cdp and Grado headphones and went a winding route through to a Cary tube preamp, bi-amped active Linn speakers and two sources. 6 pieces of gear, 6 sets of cables. I tried at least a dozen varieties of cables (IC and sp) and tweaks for isolation, resonance, etc... Now I'm selling the whole lot, starting over with a tube integrated and some MM de Capos. I guess it's all part of the fun but when the music settles as the priority, it seems to me that a few quality pieces of gear (the fewer the better)will clean up the clutter (internally and externally). Subtraction rather than addition. Just my opinion.
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