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

Philips SACD 1000. Endless repairs.

 

Brought a few Hifiman in-ear headphones several years ago that were so bad i was convinced they must be fake.Even though they were from reputable dealers.

 

I guess I would have to ask this;
Didn't you guys listen to these components before you bought them?

I understand that some are Internet only but they do have a return policy.

I can honestly say I never bought something that I didn't really like and do comparisons at the time.
Sure, upgrading to something better over time but nothing I hated.

 

Class d amps.Hated 2ith a vengeance.

 

A pair of Koss electrostatic headphones. Absolutely terrible sonically, mechanically and ergonomically.

 

I can feel the buttons and faders.

 

Pros: Making things louder; Some pieces are challenging to break; Difficult to discard/easy to gift

Cons: Too numerous to list

Didn't they trademark Better Sound through Marketing ?

 

I believe that was "Better sound through research."

 

Yes, Market Research!

 

Now I have to reply to your comment . Magnepans are for any price great speakers . Have you ever bought one ? Have you ever heard one in your personal system ?

 

Do people really buy audio equipment without evaluating them carefully . If something sounds good enough to spend your cash at the store unless its a damage piece it should sound good at your house too . And if it doesn't then it could be a incompatability problem .

Now to buisness , after having though it threw I would have to say a Ortofon Highoutput Moving Coil Cartridge I bought at Stereo Exchange many moons ago . It was bright , bright , bright . Breakin did not help . No manner of arm adjustment help either . Took it back to the store and exchanged it for a Grado MCZ . Now this one sounded very musical and nice . The Ortofon must have been defective as I don't think a company as Ortofon could sell such a hard bright sounding cartridge . I bought the Ortofon as I had bought Ortofon in the past and they all sounded great . Preamp was a PSAudio 5.0 which had a ton of cartridge setting to set up the cartridge .

 

I honestly can’t remember the model but it also had atrocious amounts of feedback through the deck. If you tapped the plinth, the woofers in my Cerwin Vega speakers jumped.

Oh, the next worse component were the terrible Cerwin Vega speakers that I bought. No damping of the woofers whatsoever!

 

Flat screen TV speakers.
Plug whatever receiver / speakers to your tv and you have a big upgrade in SQ.

 

I was ready to pile on until i read this post. I bought a component that’s often mentioned here and it was a real disappointment, but I’ll leave you guessin’

Thanks for talking me down....

 

Most don't have the luxury of auditioning gear in a brick and mortar these days. I'm very fortunate to have at least one local dealer that allows in-home auditions, which is the only way to really be sure of compatibility.

 

I love my JBL GO2 for what it is, but I shouldn't have bought that dog.

 

My wife's smartphone. Despite the fact that there are very decent audio devices all over our home (including an easy wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity to decent speakers, Spotify subscription etc.), I often hear the ghastly sound of her phone when she decides to listen to some of her favourite songs. She always listen from her phone speaker, usually using YouTube...

 

Bose 901's. The made good firewood though.

 

Totally agree. Wouldn't purchase a piece of gear without hearing it at home for a couple weeks. Still lots of audio salons in this area and lots of audiophiles.

 

Mid-‘90s Blaupunkt in-dash CD player. It would skip when just looking at a bump. I literally smashed it in over and over with my heel out of frustration when I was still driving. It was so satisfying to destroy it that it was worth the misery of using it.

 

Automatic or standard shift?

 

Standard. My right leg was pretty flexible back then.

 

A Majestic car stereo I had in my 69 Camaro back in the 80's. Should've waited to save more money and got a Pioneer. That being said, a few years later I got a Sony car CD player that was nothing but trouble too, so the name isn't everything.

Never really had a bad piece of home audio gear, but I had a pair of Grado headphones that sounded great but broke on me within a year. That was 20+ years ago and the design hasn't changed at all.

 

Not home audio, but rather, just like @Duke Fame , car stereo. I found a stock head unit for my '88 Ram in a junkyard, from a late 90s Ram. The head alignment has a mind of its own. It'll fluctuate with the temperature. Not that it even sounds bad, but sometimes I have to turn the balance almost all the way to the left. Sometimes barely left, sometimes it's perfect. Not to mention, it also will have some very minor wow and flutter, also depending on the temperature. Doesn't make sense. The colder the temperature, very annoying.

 

The original Sumiko blue point in it's p-mount configuration. Hearlded by TAS as "best cartridge under $400" It was so bright and irritating that it made me ill like a drill in my ears. I accidentally snapped the cantilever off of it!