Has anyone else auditioned something that really was terrible?

Oh yeah:  Any early CD player.

Someone noted that he was surprised by the fact one of us did not like a KEF LS50 speakers.  After all, reviewer Steve Gutenberg uses them as a reference.  In a YouTube video. Nelson Pass shows his reference speakers, stating that they are not his best speakers, but are the best he has to show the differences between electronics.  Steve G did not say they are great.  He said that with the right sub, someone might be happy with them.  That is not a great endorsement.  

The worst system I ever heard was at a friends house. Before I tell the story, I'm a firm believer that we all hear things differently. Because I don't like it doesn't mean it's a bad product or that I'm right and others with differing opinions are wrong. I think that if you had 3  people in front of a system there's a good chance that you will get some differing opinions among the group.

My friend had been going through equipment trying to find the best fit for him and spending a lot of money churning gear. He acquired a very highly reviewed system and invited me over to hear it. Well I spent 20 minutes squirming in his listening chair and he finally asked me what was wrong. I reluctantly explained to that for me the sound was so harsh and in your face that I couldn't listen to it. That's a hard thing to tell a friend. In any case he ended up selling the system a few weeks later and downsized quite a bit to a system that sounded much better to everyone who heard it including his wife.  He has had the same system for the last 9 years. I won't name the products because I am sure to get flamed. My friend started a discussion on this when he sold the gear and the distributor had AGON take the thread down. 

The lesson I learned is not to buy anything that you haven't heard in your own listening room, if possible.

Well... I lusted after the original Revel Ultima Salon’s for years - highly reviewed and rated as A+ . Heard them many times at dealers and shows and dismissed the dull sound as associated equipment or room. Finally against what my ears were telling me I purchased my Salon’s... three amps, four pre-amps, and two different rooms later I sold them.

I do have a friend that own’s a pair plus the new Salon2’s as well and likes them very much. So hold your flames, clearly my ears are broken hence the name tinear123

I dropped by a local audio boutique a few years ago and they were demonstrating the then-new Wilson Duette stand-mount speakers. I don't remember the electronics they were connected to, but they were decent, but the sound was bad - flat and no decent treble. Then I looked closer and saw that the source material was from a laptop computer. I think they were using the audio straight out of the laptop's sound card, though I can't be sure. To be fair, it may have belonged to a customer who brought it in for a demo, but it did the Wilsons no favors.