What's the Single Worst Piece of Audio Equipment You've Ever Experienced?

The Crosley Cruiser (and its gazillion suitcase and mini-stereo variants from countless cheapo brands).

 

Very true. Though I think having to listen to a Crosley for the rest of my life might make me wish it had killed me.

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I had purchased some Polk RT55s, they were so flat and lifeless that I still use Polk as a pejorative for bad speakers.

 

I was mindful of that when I submitted my entry. But I'm pretty sure there are no Bose Lifestyle 30s left alive and functioning. Although there are plenty of eBay ads for places that will refurbish them and add Bluetooth.

 

For me, it was the Creative Zen Xtra 30gb digital audio player (DAP). It was for one main reason: The loosely mounted semi-wheel used to choose next/previous item and select (was basically a thumb wheel like that used on the old AM type radios but only a small part of the wheel was visible on the player). You had to very gently move the wheel up/down (to select an item) while also not pushing it in at the same time (to select the item) until you had the item you wanted. What made it very difficult to use was that it was very easy to push the wheel in when you didn't intend to (it was almost impossible not to do). Due to my experience with this control, I automatically reject any player with the same type of control. Added to this was the software supplied with the player, which I found very difficult to use.

It might have only been a small issue, but that control made the player almost unusable. My experience with this player was so bad that I went to using a CD/MP3 player and, fortunately, found an outstanding one, the first Sony CD/MP3 player which I think is one of the best portable CD players Sony ever released. It delayed me considering another DAP for years.

 

Thought about that but i call 'em as i hear them- at the time.
The other thing is that there are so many variables (room, supporting system synergy or lack thereof, state of burn in, recording, bad ears day, etc.) you can actually hear the same component much differently at another time. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
In fact the speakers and amplifier I know own and love did not give favorable first impressions!

 

Thats easy ......the "Big" Advent Speakers from the early 70s. Quite possibly the worst speakers ever produced from a name audio manufacturer....Woolly bass, harsh midrange, icy highs. No finness whatsoever.

 

It's hard to remember all the stuff I've had over the years but the Spatializer 3D Stereo thing I picked up early 90s? was pretty useless.

 

Yup! My single worst piece of gear which almost made me give up the hobby completely is often highly praised on this very forum so I’m keeping that to myself!

However, after many years of trial and error, I now blame poor synergy for the bad result more than the individual piece of equipment.

 

My white-van speakers. Total waste of money. Live and learn

 

I had an Aphex Exciter Type C. One of those products where you would vacillate between "this is much better" and "it's just stepping on everything". To be fair it is really intended for the studio where you can be much more granular in its use.

 

Some of the iHome stuff I've bought over the years has been really mediocre build quality.

 

Klipsch Heresys. They sound good with acoustic guitar if you like the sound of acoustic guitars coming from your floor.

 

A radio for my pickup truck in the 70s. It was awful! Ironically someone broke in to my truck and stole it. They didn’t break anything. I only realized it when I noticed a neat pile of screws on the hump. I had a good laugh imagining them installing it and turning it on as I drove away. I’ve had 40 years of satisfaction remembering it from time to time. it’s the little things in life

 

ELAC BS182
Like nails on a chalkboard.

 

I think you way of providing an answer is a better way.

It is not saying that any particular piece of gear is necessarily bad as @Kyhl has pointed out, which disparages equipment that other's might happen to own and cherish.

There is often well reviewed gear that works great for the reviewer, but not in our own systems necessarily speaking.

In my case, there has been many issues with tubes amps, hum being a primary concern.

In the early days of tube integrated's, the preamp section was separate from the power amp section and the two sections were connected at the rear of the amplifier by a jumper. This allowed you to connect the preamp to another power amp or connect another preamp to the power amp section.

With modern tube integrated's, this is not possible. The only integrated that allows this, is the Line Magnetic 518iA, which you have an input selector switch, which allows for a bypass of the preamp section. Since I have a decent external preamp, this is a nice and IMO, a quite welcomed and necessary feature.

I have a few of an older Emotiva UMC-1 processor's, that I went through due to (I think) voltage spikes taking out channels, overly voltage sensitivity.

A pair of Zu, Omen Definitions, which are efficient and dynamic sounding speakers. I am now running these with a KT88 based PrimaLuna power amplifier, but still, it is difficult to tame the harshness.

Hum issues that have since been addressed with a vintage Thorens turntable and a modern Rega RP6, that were attributable to Rega and their unconventional way of grounding, which eliminated the additional and conventional third grounding wire.

A Western Digital streaming box that claimed to handle all formats, but would not play files that I could play in my old Sony that I bought back in 2011.

Things like this.

 

Of course I am a firm Elys2 basher, so it wins hands down, but if I have to pick another, I think it would be the Philips 877 table. It's not that it was bad, but I "upgraded" from the GA312 and the newer one was just not nearly as good as the old 312. Add that the capacitive switches were squirrelly as hell. Maybe, a second place would go to the TEAC V9 cassette deck. Again, it was not that it was awful, just a big step down from my A550RX that it replaced.

Of course there the old stuff from my youth that was really junk, stuff life the old BSR table, but I'm only considering gear that was designed to be real audio gear.

 

Those white van sellers were very common a while ago here in the UK, they were very persistent and gave the hard sell, haven't come across any in a while, thank goodness.

 

The worst piece I owned was a Mapenoll turntable. It had an air bearing tangential tracking tonearm and a platter that floated on air. The problem was that the air for the tonearm and the platter was supplied by an ultra-cheap dual piston fish tank air pump. This did not provide enough air, was extremely noisy in operation, and would overheat. When the air supply became too low (usually from overheating) the arm would suddenly freeze in place (probably not good for the record or the cartridge). But, apart from operational issues, the table really sounded quite good--the bass response was particularly good. My guess is that high lateral mass of the tonearm contributed to the good bass.

 

I was relieved the day mine died. No need for repairs or fixes, just tossed it.

 

That phono preamp sounds like it has an immunity issue to outside interference. That is not always easy to fix and it adds cost to the product.

I would be curious to know if they CE Mark their product they sell in Europe as they must pass EU EMC Directive Immunity test requirements.

 

I feel your pain.

 

By far this Plastic-ugly junk. Purchased new. Had a very faint ticking/staticky noise that never went away when you were playing or monitoring while recording. Blank tape or no tape same thing. After head cleaning, full demag..still there .very irritating. Of course I took it to a repair place where old TV repairman said he could not hear anything. I had to go over and crank his amplifier so he could hear it. After 6 weeks, called and said was ready. Replaced some pulley motor. Got home.....same thing!!!I finally called Pioneer...they told me to take deck to another authorized repair and they would send it in. Finally, after another month, Pioneer ok'd the original store to exchange the deck. When I went back to store they allowed a full credit toward another brand. I purchased a TEAC and it was fantastic!!


PURE JUNK. The most flimsy door and panel I have ever seen on a mid priced deck. I did have an Emerson cheapo deck in my dad's workshop (Garage sale find) that was built better

 

On top of the hassle, that is about the fugliest tape deck I have ever seen.

It's like they were trying to imitate a Nakamichi Dragon, but instead drank a whole bucket of fail.
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HA!
I was just about to mention my old Pioneer CT-5 cassette deck (circa 1982?)...a cheaper, junkier, relative to this beast. Major sound downgrade from an Akai and always felt like it was about to disintegrate.
Replaced it with a TEAC (model?), which sounded fine, but failed solenoid(s) didn't allow it to be kept. Then splurged (for high school me) for a beautiful 3-head Akai. I miss it.