Ever feel snookered? 'fess up!

So, there's that never-ending thread about "audiophile" fuses. It got me to thinking: I wonder how many of us have purchased something that did absolutely nothing to influence the sound of our systems and then were, at least temporarily, too proud to admit it?

I'll start. In a late-night 'vid-lockdown-induced spending spree, I drunkenly purchased a used Shunyata Hydra V-Ray. I don't know why; just did. It didn't take long to realize this thing does absolutely zilch for SQ and I've regretted it since the day it arrived. Maybe it hasn't had sufficient burn-in time. Anyway, it's still here, serving as a cool-looking power strip and a reminder to be less impulsive with equipment purchases.

To my further regret and abject embarrassment, I doubled down with a requisite 20-amp power cord. Not just any cord though, mine actually has a battery attached that traps noise! Seems legit. You can probably guess which brand. In my (sadly weak) defense, this was the only cable immediately available to me. I've since authorized my wife to beat me about the head and neck with it but thus far she has shown inexplicable mercy. It's been for sale for months, but no one else has shown equal gullibility.

Whew. Feels good to get that off my chest. Anyone else want to admit to poor decision making skills?

 

uptone audio JS-2
spent $1k making my system sound worse yay!

 

Ah, I do wonder every time I hit the 'purchase' button ... most recently Topping D90SE DAC, which of course I then "needed" a better PC for (and a new IC for the components I will be swapping around). Just bought a Shunyata Venom 14 PC and SR Core UEF Level 2 IC (since hey, having nanomaterials on the wires too has to be better than only the ends, right?). At least I stay in the lower dregs of these companies' offerings ...

Initial comparisons to my 12 year old Cambridge 840C CD player (with external DAC inputs) is ... questionable. Yeah, MAYBE there's a slight difference. Hoping extended listening proves I was right in 'upgrading'. Getting an Innuos ZENmini (WITH LPSU of course, it CAN'T sound its best with the lousy wall wart) soon ... Ah, then I'll need a new PC for the PS.

It never ends, but fortunately I still have a high paying job to pay for it all, so I'm taking advantage while I can. May end up selling for cents on the dollar to get my next meal sometime, but WTH it's only money.

 

Bought those little green circles for the edge of CDs about 20 years ago or so. That was a fail.

 

I did buy some silver fuses, first for the mains on my then McIntosh C220 preamp, which needed a little boost in clarity. Yep, that did seem to nudge it a little in that direction (after swapping a couple times). So I bought 3 more for the internal fuses. Nope, nada, not an iota of difference ... but the damn things were so tight in the clips that I was afraid to take them out (and they probably weren't returnable anyway). So the new owner got $200 worth of fuses when I sold it.

I did just get one for my A 21 amp, can't say it sounded better ... but hey at least now I can relax knowing it's there. OH but it isn't the latest BLUE one from SR or whatever ... so there's that anxiety. Not really.

I also recently upgraded IC from pre to amp, explained in the XLR IC thread. Yep, $600 vs. $330 IC seems to make a difference ... at least my brain tells me so. Sometimes we do seem to be in The Matrix.

 

Bought a lot of NOS Russian power tubes that were generally not stable. I didn't feel snookered, but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

 

About 30 years ago I bought one of those stickers that looked like a circuit board that you put inside the battery compartment of your cell phone. It was supposed to increase your cell reception. It didn't. Like I said -- it was basically a sticker...

More recently, a Funk Firm Achromat. A lot of people swear by them, which is why I took the $100 plunge. Didn't do diddly squat for me. And I could have gone to Walmart, bought some 3mm foam board and made the darn thing myself...

 

@jupiterboy , Russian power tubes, hah. I owned a Fisher KX-90 which was sounding fine with the original Allied output tubes. Seemed like it would be a good idea to give the old tubes a rest so I bought a quad of Russian tubes. Insert the new tubes and let her run. Everything was fine for about a week until one night while listening one of the new tubes red plated. Scared the crap out of me. Put the old timers back to work and all was fine again.

 

A Yaqin tube buffer did absolutely nothing for my rig. Thankfully I was able to sell it for what I paid for it to the next curious George.

 

Not exactly snookered, but this product was not compatible with my system. Screwed up my amp. Should have asked manufacturer before buying.

DC Offset Blocker/killer.

 

It was cheap but the Schitt Mani made me feel snookered. The amount of audible hiss was astounding.

 

Border Patrol SE-i DAC. The SQ improvement is negligible at best compared to the on board DAC's in my Cambridge CXN V2, Rotel CD11 Tribute and Vincent SV237 MK amp. A couple of times I have removed it from the system for convenience sake as I have to flip a switch on the back to change inputs. Without it in the system I can switch between all sources with the remotes.

 

the Topping is better 'on better', but at this level beyond audibility imo.
On top of that you CA is an exceptional unit, really good DAC, even by today's standards.
imo

I've made mistakes, knowingly.
That may be worse!

 

Heres mine. I think I got a sample.
But it was these little pieces of like reflection type adhesive on back. Then stick on a cd. Didnt make a bit of difference. I'm guessing about same results as magic rocks.
Anyone remember those?

 

Sure do. When CD took over I was all in hook, line and sinker. That was a 22, or so, year rat hole.

 

I’ve been really curious about the ESS DACs for years, with the 15% off sale I had to jump. We’ll see … I’m hopeful at this point when I use its balanced outputs (my pre only has one balanced input) it’ll best the CA to some extent.

PS: really funny, when I bought the CA ($1500 retail, I think I got a sale price) I couldn’t barely hardly if I squinted hear a difference between it and my $169 Oppo DV whatever player.

So now I’ve been doubly snookered? That Oppo is a real giant killer …

 

Guilty. Not only did I purchase something that did zilch for improving my audio system, it made it worse. You guessed it...Bose 901 speakers. It was hard to admit to my 'stereo buddies' that I had made a mistake. It was painfully obvious to them. Bass from 20-20k Hz. Lol.

M. M.

 

What a great thread... Bravo!

Trying to think of the worst example of money I've wasted over the years out of pure obsession or just compulsive upgrading for upgrading sake... can't think of one that's succinct enough to share but there'd be quite a few examples... I've managed to commit similar feats of unrivaled stupidity with camera gear too. Perhaps I should start spending all this (apparently disposable?) cash on therapy instead and get to the bottom of whatever "hole" i think I can fill with more gear

 

Could have been worse right... Like a 1st generation CD-Rom for $675

 

I can't help but feel snookered when I buy a new Blue Note album based on the performing members and it turns out to be a dud. Too squawky and/or ridiculously lacking in rhythm or harmony. Comes with the genre I suppose.
Guess who's impressed that you can play out of sync and/or key on purpose? Not me!

 

Black CDs. Had to have black CDs, they sound better.
Years later, I have around 200 black CD-Rs and well, maybe.

 

Unfortunately yes, just once luckily.
I bought an AudioQuest Big Sur RCA cable.
Wasted 120 bucks on a ****** cable that doesn't even have electrical specs published (probably because it's so ****ty).
Took some time to admit it, but eventually I managed to do so (along with a lot of frustration lol).
I sold it to someone who sent me a message a few days after purchase saying he was happy with it, despite my own experience with it.
One man's trash is another man's treasure I suppose...

At least I learned from it to always fact check the cable performance by carefully reading the datasheet.

 

Green marker on CD edge and the CD rubber rings you stuck on.....

 

A little bit but no big deal.

1. Audiophile fuse in the phono pre. Should have known this one going in.
2. Power cords. In the end I have some nice looking larger gage cords, so no big deal.
3. IC's. Yes I can change the sound with material and construction, but I don't need to give someone a bunch of money to do this.