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Kit you regretted buying

Audiomeca romance turntable with sumiko blue point
Pierre-ethienne leon speakers
rotel 930 amp
simaudio i-5
naim 102
 
Tannoy TD12. I am a great fan of Tannoys, owning more pairs than I dare to admit but....these £7K list price speakers (fortunately I didn't pay that for them!!) were the single most underwhelming speakers that I have heard. They lasted a week.
 
modelv said:
Do keep this Mana debate going. Every time I see a photo of the stuff, especially lots of it stacked up, I piss my self stupid. Funnier than the second funniest funny thing tbh. The fact that there are people out there who are still idiotic enough to buy into this nonsense amuses me even more. Especially when some of these people are supposedly, ahem, educated.
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only ever seen Mana in photos (and I readily concede it's not my style) and I've never knowingly heard it but, what point are you making about those for whom it presents a worthwhile upgrade in sound quality?
 
modelv said:
Do keep this Mana debate going. Every time I see a photo of the stuff, especially lots of it stacked up, I piss my self stupid. Funnier than the second funniest funny thing tbh. The fact that there are people out there who are still idiotic enough to buy into this nonsense amuses me even more. Especially when some of these people are supposedly, ahem, educated.
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This thread is about kit you regretted buying. Let others speak for themselves.

James (loves his Mana)
 
Replaced my Mission 770 mk 111 with Linn Kaber still regret it after 17 years. The Missions had all the Kaber failed to deliver like rythm speed and timing.
 
I think Kabers need BIG amplifiers. A mate has a pair and I don't like them, they are very bass light and tinny. I had Keilidhs and much preferred them. I housesitted for him for a while and had the opporinity to try box swapping - on any real world amps (Linn, Quad) the Keilidhs worked better.
 
I built a system with

Arcam CD73
Naim Nait 5 Amp
Quad 11L
Silver aniversary biwire cable

Each component is great, but stick them together and it was too bright.

Anyway, now moved to an all naim system but still have all the above and should really look to sell at some point.

Regards,

Nick
 
James said:
Some aspects might seem like a con, but that's because not every piece of kit benefits from the Mana Effect to the same degree.

James
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It also seems that more Mana is not always better. My LP12 was happy on phase 4, my P9 prefers a very well set up phase 1. I got to grips with the setup and find it is very critical. I wonder how people manage to set up a phase 7 (or 17!) properly.

Stuff I regret buying:
- Arcam Delta 290, slow and boring
- Nait 3 (in hindsight, because I far preferred it over the Arcam);
- LP12/ARO/Armageddon, slow and boring, in hindsight, bacause I used to love it to bits.

Regards, Klyde
 
Aesthetix Rhea Noisy, OK sound, had an occasional hum, absolutely terrible customer service, NEVER again anything Aesthetix. Moved to an Art Audio Vinyl Reference and not looking back, No comparison. I was warned about the Rhea prior to purchase, but the reviews were good. The reviews did not talk about how noisy it is...
 
ITL Pre - power combo from the 90's - (became the Aura range of amps when the original compnay went bust) - dreadful 'hidden harshness/hard to put finger on horribleness' grey tonally and replaced by a Cyrus 1 (much better but blew up on me!) then my Nait3 (much more reliable and superior). My word, what was I doing? Th ITL was from a 'proper' hifi dealer in the 90's FFS!
 
tones said:
Nope, perfectly set up. In my opinion, Mana is a con, but no more so than other allegedly miraculous racks.
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Mana Sound Frame: my experience: tried it on a Systemdek IIXe on top of a wall shelf. Result? It took the Systemdek to another level BUT at that time I was starting to see cd as the 'future' (I only buy cd now but don't download actually). It did work for me but I didn't buy it (it was on loan) as I was moving to cd so saw no point. I would have one for the right price now though....!:D
 
These speakers were bought new, around 2005 and a were a disappointment. They had an unacceptable mid-range suck-out that I couldn't live with. The kit consisted of a McIntosh MCD-205, C42 and MC252. I sold them, bought some Ohms which cost about half of what I paid for the Shahinians and they worked great.
 
iamjohnwayne said:
Now full blown active sbls but no more 'fun' than nait 2/Kans. Sometimes I wonder why I bothered. definitely regret getting rid of the Nait and buying just about everything else.
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This brings back some memories. I was in grad school back in '83 in the Chicago suburbs. I used to frequent local Linn/Naim dealer and have some LPs cleaned on his VPI machine. I forgot his name, but what a great guy! If it wasn't busy, we'd sit and listen to a Nait (orig), LP12/Ittok and Kans for long periods. What marvelous sound! Being a poor student, I had to live with my Denon 100 t-t, GAS Theobe/Son of Ampzilla and DCM Time Windows- not a bad rig, but the Nait/Kans had it all over my system.

When I finished school and has some $$$, I went back to tubes, but now am considering Naim again as I don't have the time to mess with tubes (tube rolling to be exact).
 
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