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What component have you heard and straight away thought 'no way'

Rather sadly for I was expecting something rather special.....Allison 6 speakers.

I knew they would be different to the SARAs but I was not prepared for the coloration, and thats compared to SARAs, and the total lack of any kind of dynamic slam; dissapointed as they looked stunning!
 
Naim SBLs.

I've heard other Naim speakers and quite liked them (DBLs, NBLs and Allae), but not these. I tried again a couple of years later and was at least reassured that my first impression was correct.
 
Shure V15 Type III - superb trackability
Acoustic Research AR3a improved - fantastic frequency response hanging from a tree in open air, a photo was in the owner's manual. I kid you not.

Unfortunately I bought both new in the early 1970s based on magazine recommendations, scientifically/technically the bee's knees. In combination they killed any musical dynamics completely. Boring HiFi.
 
If "no way" means I don't like it or I would not want to own it, then there is very little as a percentage of what is available I actually really like.

Disturbing considering it is a hobby I am fond of but the above is absolutely true, I reckon. I can walk round huge shows e.g. Munich and not want or like 90% of it.
 
Spendor BC1
I had been convinced by reviews. They were probably more expensive than I could really stretch to as well. I found my local dealer and went for a demo.
They sounded lovely at low levels and on speech but had no dynamics whatever and for orchestral music at the levels I normally listened, I had Monitor Audio MA3s, they were nowhere.
I ended up buying Nightingale NM point 5s from the same dealer which, on direct comparison with the Spendors reproduced musical dynamics hugely better.
 
Naim CD 3.5. Loaned one from the dealer to match with my NAIT 1 and Index speakers - way too bright and harsh. Bought an Arcam Alpha which stayed until it broke down.
 
Linn Intek
naim CDX


Both the above stand out from the crowd imho as the worst examples of their kind with nothing positive to say about either


Naim DC1
Early LP12
Linn Karik Numerik
original CDS

And a few others too
Simon
 
Mostly speakers, I particularly remember hating Mission's speakers in the late 80s.

When I was younger I think I fell for a common fallacy in that I believed that different was wrong - if a component didn't sound how I expected, then obviously it was wrong, and not worth bothering with.

Now, being somewhat maturer, I understand that different is just that, different. To really 'get' a different sound takes a serious investment of time and effort, and once you become attuned to a different presentation, you may decide that this change is beneficial. Of course, you can also decide that the change is a complete dog and you have just wasted 3 months of your life listening to some duff amplifier/whatever ;-)

Biggest win in recent years following a 'different' presentation has been shahinian speakers. If i'd come across these in my 20s i'd have discounted them inside 2 minutes, and would never have tried them again.
 
The whole B & O range from a few years ago.

I walked into the shop and asked them to impress me.

Awful demos, idiot salesperson, dreadful sounds, hugely overpriced.

Made my modest lp12/ Akito/ atoc9 / 72 / 140 / mission 752 sound good.

However, I still have not heard them set up in a sensible way. I am certain that any of those systems could sound far better than in the sales room (that was NOT a showroom or audition room). The best sounding were the digital pen shaped speakers being played from a fine looking 'front end'

M
 
Naim Nait 3 Nasty little thing!

Krell KSA100MK2 Snooze machine!

Ovator S-600 strange "emotionally detached" Which reminds me!

KEF Ref105 MK3 Thought bass was good for bandpass, sound quality was good but music was terrible, just didn't gel or communicate. I really hated them.
 
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