Your most disappointing purchase or audition?

"I have had junk audio in my life time that is more reliable than alot of today's High- End audio."

I think there is some truth to that.

Was it truly junk then if at least reliable?

Reliability is an often overlooked attribute when it comes to the quest for the "ultimate" sound. I would expect the good expensive stuff to also the the MOST reliable. Its worth nothing if it doesn't work, right?

Personally, I never drop big bucks out of the gate on one off boutique type brands. I do test the waters with less expensive product offerings from such companies though if justified. Problem with many boutique lines is cost of entry is always high so a significant "leap of faith" may well be needed.

Another problem is that once one drops big bucks on gear, in some cases to vendor that might mean deep pockets for service to keep things going as they should. Especially if the feeling is when working it will alternately also have to cost a fortune to replace

Krell kav 300i - just horrible.

Plinius 9200 - the mids were MIA.

Musical Fidelity A5 integrated and CDP - very unmusical and sterile.

Trelja, basically, what's been implied here by you in not politically-correct language is that Robert Lee doesn't know a thing about crossover design, and coated paper drivers qualify as plastic. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Parasound CD1. I had high expectation for the Parasound, but my cheaper Emotiva ERC-3 sounded better!

In the late 80's I was returning from a long overseas assignment and looking to re-enter the audio hobby. I visited a local dealer and heard a Krell 300 integrated with a Meridian CDP and Thiel CS1.5 (could have been 1.2's) speakers. I thought my ears would start to bleed. Just horrible

So far it appears that the Krell integrated may be winning on votes as the most hated audio purchase.