I bartered with a very well regarded local dealer. Made the mistake of thinking we were friends. Traded a very large, very expensive oriental rug without agreeing on what I was to receive in exchange - we agreed that he would have rug valued. Took a long time - months? - but eventually we agreed on a value, $10k. With that, he was supposed to source a Garrard 401, build a plinth, and also I was going to get a new DAC. He never delivered on anything - I would nicely remind him, and he’d make some encouraging noises, but 3 years later I sent an annoyed note and he freaked out. Said I was being unreasonable, we didn’t have a deal, blah, blah, blah. Eventually, he had a guy from his shop dump the rug on my driveway when I wasn’t home. Had a new stain on it too. Obviously haven’t talked to him since. Oh well. Found my own 401 in U.K., shipped it directly to Woodsong Audio (Chris Harban), who restored it and created a gorgeous plinth for me, color matched to my italian tube amp (purchased from the a-hole). Still haven’t replaced my DAC or sold the rug, but got a beautiful tt!
What has been your costliest mistake in this hobby?
For example :I recently learned a hard lesson- I accidentally ran voltage thru my $3000 MC cartridge (kiseki purple heart). I have a TT with 5 prong connector and a phono cable with a 5 prong connector. I accidentally swapped where they plugged into and ran electric thru the tonearm into the cartridge. It was a stupid - not thinking- hasty mistake. When I corrected the problem the cartridge was fried. An avalanche of four letter words followed!
So what has been your biggest and/or costliest mistake?
So what has been your biggest and/or costliest mistake?
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- 188 posts total
- 188 posts total