Your most disappointing purchase or audition?


I've had a few.

bought a Naim Nait 3. Loved it in the store. Returned it within a week- way forward at home

Brought home some CJ preamp to audition perhaps 22 years ago. Noisy as anything and a turn off transient destroyed a tweeter (though years later i bought a CJ 17LS2 which I thought was the finest preamp I ever heard in my home)

Auditioned a VPI table (HW19) in a store- the store just could not get the belt to stay on. Bought a Rega instead. This was in perhaps 1990.

Fortunately, I never really experienced buyers remorse say 6 months or more after settling on a piece of gear.

Finally, there have been too many speakers that got stellar write ups which I just didn't care for.
128x128zavato
I bought a pair of used ohm F's that sounded ok until you started to apply more power then the cone seemed to break into oscillation and really distort; this was when I first entered into audio in 1984ish and did not know this speaker was a rough load to handle and these problems seemed to be normal indication that a rebuild was in order. I wished I had knew more back then and had them rebuilt as I traded them in at Audio King.
"Magico Q5 (dead, lifeless, thin, analytic and far away from a reproduction of a real sounding tone)"

HA! Suck it ebm.....
08-26-14: Syntax
Magico Q5 (dead, lifeless, thin, analytic and far away from a reproduction of a real sounding tone)
Going by your extensive equipment list, I'm guessing you are a Dealer or Distributor who does not represent Magico. In any case, you either have a commercial bias or some bone to pick with Magico, as if you were evaluating their products objectively you would know that Magico speakers by their nature are transparent, highly resolving & neutral in tonal balance and reflect the character of upstream gear. Syntax error?
I have yet to hear a Magico speaker (and I've had a few auditions of different models) that draws me in to the music. Always sounds clinical to me. That doesn't mean it's not great gear and that it would suit others' tastes as it surely does.
Tubes108, Hey man, that was a great post, I fully understand you position, I also believe you, I do not believe any company can make every single product to be lemon free!, that would be impossible!, car manufactories cannot, audio is defiantly not an exception by no means!, cheers.