What has been your costliest mistake in this hobby?

Buying gear based on reviews.

Choosing gear based on reviews and not my ears.  :8(

@glenr55,

'..and for some reason decided I just couldn’t be bothered with the remaining 70 to 80 of my albums still there. So I asked the teenage kid next door if he wanted them and after he looked at me like WTF?, he, of course, says - Sure!'


It's probably an all too common thing. Life changes happen and we're forced to prioritise. Sometimes we regret those decisions. 

After the birth of my daughter it soon became apparent that more living space would be required. That led to the decision to jettison my LP12 and the cabinet which housed several hundred carefully collected LPs (and a hundred or so 45s).

I can't even remember all the details but most of them were exchanged for some furniture, some given away to friends and a few sold off. There were about 30 that held special memories back then and I stored them somewhere in the loft.

Regrets? Not really, not as long as I don't feel compelled to try to replace them all. Impossibly expensive if not impossible in practice as well. In any case vinyl is still there to get back into whenever the time is right. Who knows, I might even enjoy it more second time round?


@mahgister,

'Reading and believing reviewers that affirm that Hi-Fi experience and S.Q. experience being related to electronic design quality and progress only is mainly for those who can pay for it...

Totally false, but when you enter in this course to upgrade the electronic design of any part in the audio system, you forgot the essentials : any relatively good system will give to you an extraordinary experience if you embed it correctly, even at a relatively low price...

All audio magazines are market conditioning mainly... They sell ready made branded products, they dont explain the basics and the methods to embed them, this will kill the urge to upgrade.... :)


Very costly for those customers who believes the gospel...'



Yes, my experience too.

Certain reviewers are at their most dangerous once they start to wax lyrical about products that cost more than your car, or even your house.

Give them a few months and they'll have revised their opinions and be singing the praises of the new upgraded, MK2 version etc etc etc 

The previous models will never be mentioned again. 

I have a little more trust in reviewers like StereoNETS David Price who's still regularly refers to classic vintage gear that he owns for comparison purposes.

I have burned two units while connecting a pre-amplifier output to the power amplifier input . Unfortunately the  pre was in standby mode but the amp was actually on. There was a short on the chassis of the amp. Of course with the best outcome none of them could have been damaged, or just one of them could have been damaged,  but in my case the worst scenario has happened. Be careful while connecting cables - assure  that everything is shut down before starting. 

I have a little more trust in reviewers like StereoNETS David Price who’s still regularly refers to classic vintage gear that he owns for comparison purposes.

First cd318 thanks for your interest in my post...

Second, i vouch for your impression and i concur...Reviewers who listen to mythical vintage are more believable and gives us tag and beacons... And a very good amplifier of 1978 like mine is good this year...

The evolution of electronic design has made progress,yes, in the last 60 years, tremendous one sometimes...But the electronic progress in design can in no way explain by itself the enormous disparate audio sound experience different for all of us with comparable products on the same rung of the 3 scales ladder of Quality/ Price....

Other conditions more impactful for the audible experience than only electronic generic design, is the always particular complex embeddings of these designs, in an audio system, in a room, in a house , mechanically, electrically and acoustically...

Many reviewers dont want to kill their product marketing and adding to the price paid the necessary advice and methods linked to a rightful embeddings of their product, these embeddings which alone by themselves can make any electronical device to reach his peak...




The customer:
--Do you said the amplifier i want to pay 10,000 dollars dont sound at his peak connected to the system right out of the box ?

The vendor:
--Yes, you must embed it... It takes some materials, some thinking and working and much time...

The customer:
-- I want a perfect ready made product, your own is not it seems, sorry... The reviewer wrote that it was perfect the first day, only connected to his audio system without necessitating any complex workings at all tough...

The Vendor:
-- Yes but his house , his room, his other audio elements are different than yours.... And the vibrations/resonance problems must be controlled by you and you must treat your house and room electrical grid for controlling the noise floor and the acoustic passive treatment and even active controls is mandatory to listen to this amplifier at his peak S.Q. rightly embed with the other parts of the system also acoustically mechanically and electrically...

The Customer:
-- i only want to listen to music....Audiophiles like you are complete fools sorry....
For me it is simple, i always buy the perfect product, if not, i upgrade it....My favorite reviewer did it and i will did it my way....



« If you want an audiophile experience, you must pay big money, only big money can give you that, everything else is an illusion»- a reviewer to Groucho Marx in an Audio Fiesta showroom or in an audio thread....

:)