The worst proper HIFI you have heared

I have been having a long hard think about this and I can't think of many HIFI equipment that has sound truly awful but here are some of the things I have heared and been very disappointed with:-

Technics 390/490 CD players (can't remember the exact model but they were around in the late 90) - But they sounded very very smooth but had no detail at all.

Sony STU300 tuner (early 2000's) - This tuner got lots of rave reviews but I found it sounded so dull but maybe it was the programmes rather than the tuner.

Ariston CDX700 - This probably not fair as it only cost £50 but I find they can't play music. Detail aplenty but where is the music? It can't even seem to follow a bass line.

I can't think of anything else I have heared which really disappointed me .

So what was your the bit of HIFI that disappointed you the most?

 

Any Wilson Audio speaker. Really!

 

I can't think of a single speaker that has really disappointed me other than anything made by Bose or B&O. All the 5.1 computer speakers always sound awful but this thread is not about cheapo products.

 

Disappointment really ties together with expectation if you ask me. I expect a lot from a Wilson Audio speakers, but they don't seem to be able to deliver. Horses for courses offcourse...

 

yawn

 

Hmm, here's a few:
- Every electrostatic I've heard trying to play rock music.
- Every B&W speaker with their completely overdone and poorly timed bass.
- The TACT dem I've been two a couple of times, which was incredibly impressive, had no life at all.
- A certain speaker brand that shall remain nameless but have massive claims and were at Heathrow in 2006.
- The £10k MF fronted system I heard a few years ago, which simply sent me to sleep.

Note that before you decide to argue the case, the above is just MY opinion, which may well differ from your own.

 

Most disappointing, particularly for the asking price...

MF Trivista CD player
MF Trivista Amp
B&W Nautilus 802 speakers

Absolutely uninvolving and dull.

 

back in the 80s:
linn index
magnum ia125

 

£3k+ Hyperion xxx speakers that are getting all the awards recently - at a dealer dem the sound was all over the place. I'd never heard such a poor sound - I'd rather listen to a £29.99 stack from Dixons. Really.

 

Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 £20,000 worth :yikes:
Trouser flapping.. (or should that be flabby) bass... and the most sucked out mid range/vocal I've heard... that any decent £300 stand mount could have pee'd all over !

 

Any Avalon speaker. Yaaaaaaaaawn.

 

Quad pre-amps. Talk about uninvolving ....

 

Quad 63 and their successors. I had the 63s for 7 years - but now realise how dull, clothy and boring they are .... the new Chinese ones don't sound much better either.

 

Mission - in the days they were considered a decent hi-fi brand - every speaker they made made my ears bleed.

 

The lp12 and top flight naim. Over priced underperforming garbage.

 

JM Labs speakers
Chord
B&W speakers since the Matrix series
Electrostatic speakers

 

buying my first upgraded system after my student gear, in the mid eighties, I asked to hear the dealer's best system, so as to understand what the achievable end game was.. he had an all Linn rig fronted by some LP12 ensemble which cost a packet - and I was hugely underwhelmed. on the up side it made me more than happy with my Arcam and Monitor Audio stuff at a tenth the price.

 

Second that. Full MF kW stack got my wote for worst sound of the show in two consecutive years !

 

Another vote for MF here. I listened to the full MF kW at a local dealer and it was pretty terrible.

 

At hifi shows..

Naim demo room with 552/500 and SL2
Tact demo room (can't remember the speakers)
Beauhorn room, showing B2's.