Highly reviewed gear that was a big let down for you?

[ex brickie]

Disappointments:
Audiolab 8000A
Marantz CD players in the 90s that kept getting What Hifi awards but were ordinary sounding
ATC SCM50s (I’d owned 12s which were cracking little speakers, tried 40s which were decent and hoped the fuss about the 50s would convince me. They were mush - on the end of McIntosh amps)
Linn Isobariks (had to try them but left wondering what the fuss was about)

 

[TimF]

The Mana cult made all other Hifi cults look tame. Just a ridiculous construct.

True to a large degree, but wow, there was some fun to be had reading through some of the forums and all the flame wars etc. that went on about the stuff.

 

[Woodface]

True to a large degree, but wow, there was some fun to be had reading through some of the forums and all the flame wars etc. that went on about the stuff.

The answer was always, but more Mana, hilarious.

 

[quickie]

Acoustic Energy AE109

Dull, boring. Shame as looked good.

Marantz CD63 ki sig.

Bloody what hi/fi

 

[glenda]

The Mana cult made all other Hifi cults look tame. Just a ridiculous construct.

Yes, I only got to level 12 .Anything more made no difference so, luckily, I didn't fall for it.

 

[tones]

Yes, I only got to level 12 .Anything more made no difference so, luckily, I didn't fall for it.

As I wrote at the time...

This old Man(a)
On Phase 1
Things sound better, twice the fun
Textures from the mud come out clean and bright
This old Mana seen the light

This old Man(a)
On Phase 2
Adds Soundstage, adjusts the screws
Startling music gains, big Epiphany!
PRaTs and grooves more tunefully

This old Man(a)
Now Phase 3
Add and adjust carefully
Tunes are followed now like I’ve never heard
You should buy some, take my word!

This old Man(a)
At Phase 4
Ever further from the floor
Still it simply gets better all the time
Got no Manas? That’s a crime!

This old Man(a)
Hits Phase 5
Music seems much more alive
Ladder needed now, record for to change
I don’t care if wife estranged.

This old Man(a)
Stainless spikes
Musical’ty hits new heights
Crisp and clean and clear, more of everything
This tweak makes your music ring.

This old Man(a)
Logo’s new
You now need a gross or two
Smooth in, Gothic out, elegant new letters
I could swear it all sounds better

This old Man(a)
Stainless frame
Non-magnetic is the aim
Stunning looks and sounds better than before
Painful jaw from hitting floor

This old Man(a)
To phase 6
Music is my major fix
Room completely bare, furniture is sold
Buys more Mana, audio gold!

This old Man(a)
At Phase 7
Mana truly is from heaven!
Well, I’m almost there, why am I surprised?
Watson should be canonised!

This old Man(a)
Now Phase 8
Playing music dawn to late
Feet tap all the time, really it’s not fair
Costs a bomb in shoe repair

This old Man(a)
At Phase 9
Hard to breathe here, need air line
MoA demands flashing warning lights
To divert incoming flights

This old Man(a)
Reached Phase 10
‘Fraid I’ll have to start again
Slipped on permafrost, whole lot fell down too
Where’s my spanner? Lots to screw…

 

[booja30]

The Mana cult made all other Hifi cults look tame. Just a ridiculous construct.

Mana (and other hifi trophy shelves) remind me of The Princess and the Pea.

The Emperor’s New Clothes also comes to mind in a many hifi threads (cables and fuses as examples). Lots of parallels between hifi and Hans Christian Andersen I guess.

 

[martin clark]

I thought the Mana effect mostly ...came out of a paisley bong on Anglesey; no - let me now re-phrase in a manner to suit the time:

It was a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good sistem, must be in want of online strife.

 

[James]

The answer was always, but more Mana, hilarious.

Mana made a CDS2 sound somewhat broken; it sounded best sitting on a carpeted floor. Conversely, Mana makes my LP12 sing like its life depended on it. Mana does absolutely nothing for SS amplifiers and non-Naim CDPs.

I don't think my Mana stack (Phase 1 only) brings any visual attention to itself.

 

[TimF]

That looks good James, think like a lot of things, the Mana thing just got way too ridiculous and out of balance. Not to say other things that don’t need to be mentioned!

 

[Alex S]

Speakers, usually Briks or ATCs, wobbling 1.5m up in the air do sound ‘different’.

 

[S-Man]

Only ever "heard" Mana at hifi shows. The earthy smell in the room tended to prevent me from spending more than 30 seconds in their rooms.

 

[Alex S]

I’ve heard many of the big Mana systems: Pog, Bub, JW. Have to say I enjoyed all of them.

 

[edgreen]

Shahinian Compasses. Paid buttons for them (before the market went crazy) but they’re nowhere near worth £1k far less £3k+. I paid £300 which was fair for their performance. I would, however, love to reassess in case I got it totally wrong.

Listening to a Rega Isis/Osiris through a pair at the moment.
I have heard them sound completely gutless with (lesser powered) Naim amps, but this combination is very good indeed.

 

[crimsondonkey]

Two spring to mind.

VTL 7.5 preamp, big expensive two box affair that was quite meh.

Every Vitus amplifier I’ve heard. Look very stylish but didn’t really do anything for me to suggest that they were anything other than averagely competent amplifiers marked up like perfume.

 

[Toaster]

Only ever "heard" Mana at hifi shows. The earthy smell in the room tended to prevent me from spending more than 30 seconds in their rooms.

A little OT, but a long time ago I was completely put off ATCs after hearing them played very loudly and sounding vile at a couple of shows in the Mana room. A few years ago I heard a pair of SCM50As sounding very good at one of the Scalford shows in simple streaming system with a laptop and a DIY dac. Context is often very important! The Mana supports are obviously well-liked by many people, so I'm not rubbishing those, even if the big stacks of platforms are not the kind of direction I'd be inclined towards.

 

[tomek]

Benchmark DAC1 in 2001 ?
Dynavector P75 MKIV in 2021

 

[TheFlash]

Late to the party, sorry!

Boenicke W8. Expensive, and talk about overhyped...

I had been wowed by the looks, as many are, at shows. Was happy with the sound of my ProAcs or ATCs in my Kendal pad but wanted something more fitting aesthetically.

(a) You can't really tell anything about how stuff sounds at a show unless it's in an actual room-sized room
(b) I really really wanted to like them so I heard what I wanted to hear
(c) I spoke to a couple of existing owners who said nice things about their babies - talk about feeding your expectation bias, here I was...
(d) Made the mistake of confusing impressive-sound-for-their-size with impressive sound

Having placed my order, I went along to a Wam Show where I eagerly anticipated hearing the pair on one of the (normal-ish) rooms. After 30 seconds of hearing them I turned to my friend and said "OMG, what have I done?".

My pair arrived. Same result. I was encouraged on multiple calls to the dealer to let them burn in, settle in, etc etc. Oh and to spend another £1000 on "better" speaker cables! I didn't. The W8's didn't improve.

How can I describe the sound? Like a speaker with the drivers facing in different directions - perhaps because they are! Includes a backward firing tweeter and side-firing bass units. Lacking coherence, lacking focus. Treble shallow, fatiguing and tinny. "Wow, amazing soundstage, wider than the room!". Ah, you mean completely artificial, nothing like the artist/producer intended, unfocused with no positioning of instruments in a soundstage just a big wide noise with tinny stuff at the top end. That's not a soundstage.

Final exasperated call to the dealer who had encouraged aforementioned burn-in etc. "I need to return these". "Ah well, we forgot to mention that because you took our advice on letting them settle, burn-in, etc, you've gone beyond the 14-day refund period so all we can offer you is a credit note". Fuming. Speakers returned anyway because they were sh1t.

Credit note received. Sat on it for a good while as I was sulking and didn't fancy anything else on their books. Eventually... happy ending! Went for a humongous Audia Flight FLS10 integrated and still have one today. Amazing amp which I wouldn't have discovered if not forced to do so.

Happy New Year!

 

[AnilS]

Oh and Rega Kyte speakers.

Bland and flat.

 

[Alex S]

You can't really tell anything about how stuff sounds at a show

Almost everyone hates Zu Druids but I heard them at a show and they sounded great. They now sound great in my front room. Almost everyone still hates them.