What's the worst speaker or stereo set-up you've ever seen?


I used to do home delivery and installation work and had access to some pretty high-end homes. I was amazed at how few of these well-heeled owners had nice audio systems, although many had some nice home theaters. One home owner had a basement stereo with small Maggies hinged on a wall like cabinet doors so he could direct the sound and, I guess, tuck them away when not in use. I also saw a pair of Bose 901’s pointed the wrong way. What’s the worse set-up you’ve seen?
aewarren
At least a great number of audio systems are like mine 4 years ago, never mind their ratio price/quality....Not being rightfully embedded their sound is the shadow of what they would sound if they would have been rightfully embedded....

People often dont know what to do except upgrading... I repeat myself I know....But this upgrading myth is an illusion that push people to invest money at the wrong places most of the times....


The worst audio systems I listen to were mine before I have  discovered the 3 embeddings dimensions, the best were also mine, same electronic components, after my 2 years of continuous experiments in refining the sound.....The best in a relative way for sure, not in the absolute sense....My system is way cheaper than most here but the S.Q. is pretty high for this low cost audio system now.... :)


The concrete effect of a good audio system is: all files or cd sound good even the worst one....The music is sublime at nearfield position and very good at regular position filling the 3-d space of the room forward and in all the room, with a good imaging and natural timbre, and the sound is not mostly between the speakers ….It is impossible to change a files or a cd before his ending because it is so beautiful....You begins to love some music that you thought was poorly recorded and it is not at all.... You begins to love music out of your usual taste....You dont recognize any files or cd that you listened to in the past with your wrongly embedded audio system....You cannot pinpoint defects in sound even if they are there, because passed a certain threshold of quality, these alleged defects dont intrude between you and the music at all, these not so evident defects are only there to be refined in the continuous embedding process and listening experiments...But you are no more in the frustration and you relax with the music.... It takes me 2 continuous years of homemade low cost creations to go there.... You can also.... That cost nothing and this is easy.... You must only learn to listen to yourself mainly and stopping to read reviewers .... You must pay attention only to your ears, a new kind of attention to the sound to reach the music at the end of the embedding process... :)


I dont listen to my 6 pairs of headphones at all they are under par with my speakers now on ALL counts....This was not the case before the embeddings process....
Oh 20 years or so back I was doing some electrical work for multi billion $ car dealership owner in Reno,Nv...Stunning 2 million $ ranch,a dozen or so amazing muscle cars in the garage & a Yamaha rack system in the living room with huge tower speakers I could lift with 1 hand..Sounded like listening inside a wet cardboard box...
All one has to do is browse the speakers for sale ads here on Audiogon to see some of the worst set ups. Speakers against walls, in corners, three ft. apart, etc. There is even one member here who posts frequently that admits one of his speakers is 8 inches forward of the other one. That might be fine for the unwashed masses with big screen TVs and cheap HT speakers, but is unthinkable to the serious hobbyist. I just have to shake my head.........

Oz
One of  my speakers is in one corner(no other choice in my little  audio room) but it is possible to compensate that to a great degree with ACTIVE acoustics methods.... :)
Re Fabio’s system

MAIN SYSTEM
AmPro HD4600 video projector
Stewart custom 12-foot ElectriMask perforated screen
Faroudja VP 400 line quadrupler
Runco LJR 11 laserdisc player
Pioneer Elite LD-52 laserdisc player
Lexicon CP-3 surround processor
Krell KIS Reference A power amps (4)
Krell MDA-600S power arnps (2)
Krell KSA-100S power amps (2)
Krell KSA-300S power amps (2)
Krell KPS 20t CD player
Krell DT-10 CD player
Krell KRC-HR preamp
Krell Reference 64 digital processor/power supply
Martin Logan Statement speaker system (front left & right) w/custom Krell KBX crossovers (2)
Martin Logan Logos speaker (center)
Martin Logan Sequel II speakers (sides) (2)
Infinity IRS V speaker system (surrounds) w/custom Krell KBX crossovers (2)
Velodyne ULD18 powered subwoofers (2)
Grado HP 1000 headphones
Stax SR Lambda Pro headphones (2 pair)
Transparent Audio MusicLink Reference interconnects, MusicWave Reference speaker cables
Transparent PowerLink power cords and power-conditioning equipment
Transparent Audio video cables