What Gear Has Disappointed You?

CAMBRIDGE AV equipment

- (1);the very top model CAMBRIDGE AVR (model number escapes me for the moment ….)

It suddenly and catastrophically failed twice in the reported faulty P,O.S HDMI board ,..,it suddenly crapped out TOTALLY TWICE during its three-year warranty period. The entire HDMI motherboard was replaced each time.

The first FUHBAR was a failed HDMI Motherboard case that was only 13 months out from new; and it was thankfully covered by warranty,

The second catastrophic HDMI board FUHBAR was only 27 months out from new after very light use,…and the distributor now fought me and refused to honour the warranty. It was their BS argument that it was somehow now my fault that created fatal damage to the hdmi connectors from my alleged repeated swap-in and swap-out of HDMI cable connectors . (Hint: there were repeated no swap-ins or swap-outs ,,,,once only to set it up …)

(2) The stablemate top model CAMBRIDGE Blu-Ray player.

It suddenly and catastrophically ALSO failed totally some 28 months out from new. Because it had only a two year warranty, I was SOL. The cost to repair exceeded its FMV, so I passed on it. .

MY TAKEAWAY

I immediately sold the AVR and grudgingly rendered the stablemate Blu-ray player to a boat anchor status.
I replaced the AVR with three discrete high-end YBA power amps and a standalone 7.1AV preamp/ AV processor.
The BluRay player was Aldine upgraded to an ARCAM that has been flawless.

MY TAKEAWAY

CAMBRIDGE AV equipment is very good WHEN IT WORKS ….but otherwise is a must-to-avoid IMO.

Focal 806 monitors. Just a dry and lifeless sound. Didn't work for me and I sold them pretty quickly to someone who appreciated them. 

One of the biggest audio disappointments of all time (I’m sure I’m not the only one)

The “Olive 4HD”  (pretty much all Olive products)

@mceljo  I think you are asking what equipment has not prespecteformed to our expectations, given the money paid, as in better sound?  So far, I am reading about failures in equipment, which is not really the same thing.  More bad luck than musical performance?  It might have been better to ask what if any equipment you've paid more for, surprised to the upside in musical performance?   My experience in almost all upgrades has been disappointment in the sound improvement.  Not to say there wasn't any, but the cost/benefit relationship really falls off when you have any kind of decent system to start with.  By example, I had a $600 Audiolab 6000 CDT in my system.  I now have an Esoteric K-03XD.  Yes, I did hear an improvement in sound.  Did it justify the obscene increase in system cost?  No.  I can say the same with moving from a $10K Triton Reference to a $25K Acoustic Zen Crescendo Mark ll, or $25K Focal Sopra 2. (Canadian dollars)  It was splitting hairs between the three sets of speakers.  It would be a wonderful world if spending twice as much on any piece of equipment brought huge improvement to the overall sound of my system, but sadly, for me anyway, this has never been the case.  Well, there was that one 3 foot power cord that blew my mind with the increase to sound stage, more air between the instruments, a nearly 3 dimensional aspect to the performance and don’t get me started on how tight the bass was or the incredible improvement to the midrange and highs……..  Sorry but I couldn’t resist. 🤣

@bigtwin 

Your onto something- a thread about expensive cables that didn’t deliver would definitely be entertaining!