The most overrated kit?

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by Gromit, Jun 7, 2004.

  1. Gromit

    Gromit Buffet-blower

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    What piece of hi-fi has just left you gobsmacked at its mediocrity - this is especially if it has had praise heaped upon it by the press??

    For me, it'd be the original Mission Cyrus 2 amplifier. I owned one for 3 weeks, thinking I was upgrading from a Creek 4040. The little Creek bit the Mission's head off, chewed it up and spat it out. Fortunately some fool bought the Cyrus off me for a not-much-less-than-I-paid for it price.

    A lucky escape. :)
     
    Gromit, Jun 7, 2004
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  2. Gromit

    penance Arrogant Cock

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    Audiolab 8000A - Dire, IMO
     
    penance, Jun 7, 2004
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  3. Gromit

    Gromit Buffet-blower

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    That good eh?? :D
     
    Gromit, Jun 7, 2004
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  4. Gromit

    penance Arrogant Cock

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    yep

    MF interconnect also ranks quite high up there, its a very good cable, for someone who wants muffled lows and cut off highs with no depth or stereo seperation.
     
    penance, Jun 7, 2004
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  5. Gromit

    Hodgesaargh

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    Is that the one that had the ferrite rings on it? If so I'm not surprised.
     
    Hodgesaargh, Jun 7, 2004
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  6. Gromit

    julian2002 Muper Soderator

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    Tube technology cd 64. pretty much everything about this player was offensive to me. from the cheap buttons to the wobbly cd drawer. sonically it amazingly managed to be both warm and harsh at the same time pandering to the worst stereotypes of valves and the dac 64 upon which it is based. truly an awful bit of kit.
    second in line would have to be the ayre pre/power never has a more lifeless piece of junk been foisted upon my ears. construction was of the brick sh*t house school but that's all it would be good for.
    there are other bits of kit both cheap and stunningly expensive that have done things very badly too. however all of these have had some redeaming features, the above 2 have none at all.
    cheers


    julian
     
    julian2002, Jun 7, 2004
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  7. Gromit

    technobear Ursine Audiophile

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    The NAD C370 :mad: Utterly uninvolving, dull, boring, lifeless. And it had a captive mains lead that looked like it wouldn't power a table lamp so no scope to tweak it up a bit. The Arcam Alpha 8R showed it a clean pair of heels in every department including loudness :rolleyes:
     
    technobear, Jun 7, 2004
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  8. Gromit

    Lt Cdr Data om

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    michell gyrodek, ditto most of the above, totally mechanical and lifeless.
    audionote kit 1, too. pretty uninspiring.
    musical fidelity a1001, big brute, outshone by a pioneer a400 totally , how many more replies will have MF in it?:D
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 7, 2004
    Lt Cdr Data, Jun 7, 2004
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  9. Gromit

    Philip King Enlightened User

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    The culprit for most overrated/disappointing kit tried at home is tied between the Pass Labs Aleph 3 amp and Musical Fidelity A324 DAC.

    The dac, loaned out by Sevenoaks, failed comprehensively to improve the sonic performance of my system, in any shape or form.

    While the Pass Labs was out classed by a couple of Rotel RB-03. No bass, no imaging and all in all a rather uninvolving listen. Unfortunately the amp was purchased blind, (or should that be deaf?) and therefore required me sell it on. Still at least it enabled me to discover what I wanted from an amp, and the subsequent purchase has sat happily in my system for 18 months now. :D
     
    Philip King, Jun 7, 2004
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  10. Gromit

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    Mine was the Pioneer A400 amp.... fizzy, spitty, harsh, over bright bleached out sound. I cannot understand the reputation of this amp... I bought it in 1991 on the strength of reviews, could have had a NAD 3040 for much less. Due to the Pioneer A400 I am now biased very much to warm and smooth and allergic to anything with least hint of brightness. Which probably means I am missing out on some good kit.

    MF Trivista 21 DAC was a big disappointment, luckily was able to sell it on with little pain.
     
    alanbeeb, Jun 7, 2004
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  11. Gromit

    PBirkett VTEC Addict

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    I've not had that much experience with hifi kit, but I have a few nominations. The Sennheiser HD650 is one such nomination. Not particularly bad in any area, but not particularly great either. Hardly justifies its price either. I guess the CD3000 also hits that akward nomination too, although it at least sounds better on mid-fi kit, but neither is really worth the money.

    The Quad 11L is another such product. How can these speakers be so highly rated is beyond me. They totally lack bass and drive, and sound as small as they look. The bigger Quad speakers are much better IMO.
     
    PBirkett, Jun 7, 2004
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  12. Gromit

    racey

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    The Tag DAC20 was much hyped at one time. It made absolutely zero difference to the sound on my system. I tried it with alternative amps but the result was the same - nothing.
     
    racey, Jun 7, 2004
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  13. Gromit

    Hodgesaargh

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    Yeah, I was considering buying one when the bargain price was first posted here, but I decided to wait and see what people thought of it, and nobody's review really made me want to try it.
     
    Hodgesaargh, Jun 7, 2004
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  14. Gromit

    Robbo

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    Here's a few to be getting on with (just IMO) :-

    Krell,
    Levinson,
    Wilson Audio,
    Tag Dac 20,
    MF Trivista kit
    Audiodrab
     
    Robbo, Jun 7, 2004
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  15. Gromit

    adam

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    Marantz CD 63SE,really overhyped,flat and dull.
    Arcam Alpha 5 and 6 amps,again flat and dull.
     
    adam, Jun 7, 2004
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  16. Gromit

    merlin

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    You're becoming an Audio cynic Robbo:(

    Surprised to see that ugly two box CD spinner disn't make your select list ;)
     
    merlin, Jun 7, 2004
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  17. Gromit

    bottleneck talks a load of rubbish

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    overated kit?..all IMO

    Castle Harlech - zzzzz
    Audiolab 8000a - no better than any budget amp
    Spendor 7s - lifeless
    interconnects - anything over 20 quid
    power cables - any!
    Tact - from one show only - transistor radioey.
    Rega arms above 250/300 - competition betters
     
    bottleneck, Jun 7, 2004
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  18. Gromit

    lowrider Live music is surround

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    He is just hanging too much with audiphiles, many of the usual pet hates there... :rolleyes:

    For me the ones I remember most are JMLabs Utopia, from the micro to the largest BE playing with an all Chord setup in an audishow...
     
    lowrider, Jun 7, 2004
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  19. Gromit

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

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    Agree with racey dac 20 totaly underwhelming
    Boulder mono's major hype & then some.
    M/F 308 power amp "Turdgid"
    Krell
    Harmonix, underperformers
    Wadia 302 :D
    Yammamuria cables :(
    Splendor S8's
    LP12
    Nait 3 (the 2, I quite like though)
    Ayre CX7 cdp, takes boredom to another level.
    LV speakers, good but not in the
    :mana:


    Chord gear, being my early aspiration, then owning it, and having to fork out for the therapy after the depression set in.
    Worst culprit being the 1200 C, closely followed by the D64.
    Oh and AudioDrab (well put) drier than bediwin's throat during a sandstorm.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 7, 2004
    wadia-miester, Jun 7, 2004
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  20. Gromit

    merlin

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    Care to complete that WM:confused:

    For me only general rules. Overrated?

    Any emasculated, domestically acceptable, puny loudspeaker without a decent bass unit

    Any amplifier incapable of driving a real man's bass unit

    Any CD player

    Oh and Nordost.
     
    merlin, Jun 7, 2004
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