The Worst Products I've Owned - A Glimpse in to an audiophile's nightmare purchases

[@PhotogPhotog-sk4ip]

You come across as one the most friendly and credible audio geeks on KZbin.

[@samuilc8000]

Whoever complained about the eye contact, they live in their own bubbles.

[@deputy3690]

Hopefully everyone comments about that.

[@jianhuang0124]

What kind of judgemental mind can complain that...

[@keithblume5159]

It's a camera anyway. Not a human to human contact. For sure

[@jscol34]

Love your content. Keep it up. There is always someone with an axe to grind.

[@scottstrang1583]

Who cares if he doesn’t make eye contact in the camera. I like watching this man. He’s terrific. I don’t live Canada so I’ll probably never buy anything from him.

[@thepracticalaudiophile]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I worked for Dow Stereo in San Diego. We sold the 901's. Nobody bought them because they were so bad. All of us salesmen hated them. My favorite that we sold were the Infinity Kappa 8's. Incredible speakers.

[@50jun]

I own some very nicely renovated Kappa 8s they're magnificent 🇦🇺👌

[@bunsw2070]

And he hates the ESL-57. I had a friend that owned them mated to custom tube electronics and placed in a small bedroom. Even the turntable was custom with an air bearing platter and Eminent Technology linear tracking tone arm. Awesome sound you can't buy retail.

[@terrywho22]

Which Dow did you work at?

[@thepracticalaudiophile]

El Cajon BLVD

[@rolandlickert2904]

Fully agree I own the Kappas way back still miss the speakers

[@leegoodwin3466]

The eye contact thing is nonsense…. Love your channel and your honesty and passion 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@dragonaudio2549]

Too funny. The Carver Amazing speakers in your picture were mine. They were horrible. That picture was in a friend's garage in the middle of winter in Alberta after they just died

[@adrianlow2114]

lol what a small world

[@TheKent2288]

Highly entertaining stories again Adrian. Looking forward to part 2!

[@cychen9528]

So good that finally someone is willing to talk about products that do not go well! People could learn a lot from that (what could go wrong with the products etc etc-), I wish more reviewers would be open to discuss products with this honesty! thumb up!

[@vincentrockel1149]

I wouldn't worry about or even explain the eye contact bs. Most people are uncomfortable looking into a camera lens.

[@moss8448]

when I speak usually I look to away to think about what I'm saying; looking at someone square in the eye, can be distracting to the thought process. it doesn't mean being deceitful generally. now when asked a direct question that feels like it IS questioning my veracity I will look (call it a cold cold stare) directly in the eye with no doubt about my intentions.

[@KneppaH]

I have trouble with keeping eye contact. For me it's very intense an normally I look away after a second. Maybe a autistic trait or something like that. Aside of that I am reasonably normal XD.

[@martytoo]

Great video. Your memories explaining the different issues was interesting and because you worded the deficiencies in easy to understand language, I could feel your frustrations relived. Thank you.

[@chrisball6900]

The BOSE 901 used very cheap drivers sourced from Auratone, and from memory USD4.95/each. That is one reason why they sounded so bad, even with the in-line electronic equalizer sold with every pair.

[@deputy3690]

Who ever made that comment is a total paranoid freak. Your sense of humor and explanation was pure class! As we both know there are many paranoid folks out there.

[@moss8448]

Mickey Mantle once said about Billy Martin (both baseball players) that Martin was so paranoid that he could HEAR someone give him the finger.

[@jadesystem]

Interesting commentary and video. Back in the day, this was the best era of a what is now vintage audio excellence. And I've seen these "rejects" in stereo stores and in stereo audiophile magazines. A lot of this is personal trial and error once hooked-up at home on your own sound system unless there's a listening room with multiple sets of speakers you can select before purchase. It is then can you discern what was pleasing to your ears and if a wise purchase. Most of these vintage speakers are high-end for the most discriminating tastes. And unaffordable to the masses in 70s-80s dollars. What was unaffordable back then, can now be purchased used at a fraction on resale websites such as eBay and FB Marketplace. Me....I'm happy with a pair of vintage Advent Heritage or Boston Acoustics T1030s at just a few hundred bucks if even that. Thank you for an interesting insight on your past audiophile purchases. Keep-up the great work.

[@novaguy5073]

Ahhh The Quads. My father had a pretty good stereo setup back in the 70s Marantz, Thorens, Kef. However, he had a friend that owned Quads. It was the first time something moved in me when I listened to recorded music. Once you hear them you can't get them out of your head!

[@veteq101]

Love these videos. My worse sounding piece of equipment was the Aragon 8008 of 7-8 years ago. I replaced it with the Mcintosh MC402. I posted the Aragon for sale, the buyer came over and listen to it; he was ok with the sound but then he asked me if I would plug in the Mac amp for comparison. He almost walked away from buying it, I had to explain that there was a significant difference in cost too.

[@jasonme3557]

That's funny.

[@santoriniblue8413]

That's the problem when you are selling and have other equipment around. I usually discourage them from even asking a test with the price issue.

[@Simon-oq6ds]

The Aragon is a bright sounding amp and needs to be matched up carefully. I have a friend who installed the 3 channel Aragon amp into his Martin Logan Sequel2 with silver interconnects and it was unlistenable due to the highs being so shrill! The amp sounded okay on a regular speaker (I forgot what brand and model) but it was a bad match to his system.

[@davidnguyen5028]

It would be awesome if you give us a tour of your collection.

[@mikegemmati8658]

Did you use the Bose equalizer with the 901s? It’s part of the design and needed for the speakers to sound right.

[@keithblume5159]

I heard the 24" Hartley on Quads and it did not disappoint. Quads are so fickle they don't even like humidity fluctuations hour to hour. But still worth the fussiness and rebuilds every five years

[@markfischer3626]

In 1970 I bought a pair of original Bose 901s and enjoyed them for several years. Then they got boxed up and put in storage. In the 1990s I took them out and didn't like them anymore. Being an engineer I decided to see what I could do to improve them. My first attempt was admittedly half hearted and failed. About 20 years ago I made a much more serious attempt. It took about 4 weeks to fix the two problems with the bass. It took 4 years to fix the treble. Before you can fix something you have to figure out what's wrong with it. It turned into an excellent speaker. Starting g with Series III there was a radical design change which IMO was a downgrade. I listened to it for quite a few years but haven't for 6 years. I invented my own sound system that is radically different and that's all I listen to. Two years ago I returned that system and wouldn't change a thing. It's now my Idea of perfection.

[@neilcoligan8621]

My love/hate was the NAD 3140 integrated. It was a great budget amplifier I purchased from Ring Audio when I was a university student living in Toronto in the 80s. When it worked it was a smart option for good listening on a budget, but I had it in various shops far too often, mostly a channel dropping out for whatever reason. The same happened much later with a used British Fidelity A-1 that was gob smacking at times, but also highly unreliable. I sold it to a friend who later found the same issues. I warned him about the issues and we're still friends. He eventually sold it as well.

[@DrMarkGlenn296]

Worst… in college some Cerwin Vegas powered with those Carver cubes…. Loud and horrible at every frequency.

[@dhpbear2]

0:44 - The problem with looking at the camera is that many look at the *display* on the camera and not the (admittedly tiny) *lens* itself!

[@SuperMcgenius]

Regarding Bose 901, I did a service job on a pair series 3, and I cannot believe how poorly they were put together, basic plastic and miss placed glue. Has one feature I like they are very good for background music.😂

[@johnmcclean7390]

Klipssh La cala speakers - power them up and they blow up - They were huge and had no quality at all. I also had a pair of speakers that mounted on a wall about 4" deep 2'x4' something like that, can't remember the name all mids base fell off as soon as you moved away from in front of them. 80's lots of bad stuff. I blew up Bryston amps (2) a Sansui 300 watt amp lasted a year.

[@tubical71]

Bose: Buy Other Sound Equipment. My uncle had the 901 with it's eq....8 and 2 4inch speakers... Doesn't work. Simple as that... Eq or not... 😉

[@theshootindutchman]

Haha that's really good😊!

[@stephensams709]

I have to agree about the original Carver Amazing design. I bought the AL-III loudspeakers back in "95" and I still use them to this day. It's not easy getting them set up correctly, but once you do, the sound is addicting. It does take a ton of power to make them sing. There are tons of speakers out there that are better than these, but mine have served me well.

[@adrianlow2114]

Wow, you still have the ones you bought! Good for you

[@guinnessharvey4476]

I love your content. . . .and I don’t look directly at you either sometimes:)

[@thegrimyeaper]

Worst I ever owned was a Harman/Kardon AVR 80 when I was a teenager. It kept turning the volume up to max by itself randomly, and literally caught on fire. Twice. Even after being repaired, it instantly caught on fire again when I turned it on. And every Marantz product I ever owned had issues.

[@davidkclayton]

A common issue for equipment that use rotary encoders for volume control

[@Sanslab-wu8tv]

I worked in sales at a high-end store that sold Bose along with other brands. The only time we sold Bose products was when customers came in with their minds made up and did not want to do comparison listening. We only sold one pair of 901s in the years I worked there since, for the same price, one could buy much better-sounding speakers.

[@JamesWilliams-gf8gm]

My worst speaker was B&W 703s. They were bright with massive cone breakup in the upper mids. They hurt my ears and left them ringing at moderate volume. My worst amp was Rotel Class D. Wow etched vocals. My best speakers were JBL 4367, best by a mile. My favorite but maybe not best amp is/was the MC462. It does nothing wrong with tons of power.

[@barney6888]

Bose AM 5s I can't put into words how ripped off I felt after buying those. I got suckered and was a fool. 30 years ago. I am desperate to upgrade as I listen to very large, orchestral music, but don't trust anything and it all just costs so much. 4000 cds, collecting dust, I'm getting old and fat and don't know what to do. Very saddening and frustrating for me.

[@Simon-oq6ds]

Don’t give up! With a vibrant used market, you should be able to find suitable speakers and system components.

[@johnpooley4848]

Hi Adrain. Thanks so much for your informative KZbin clips. Re the Quad 57s. Much of what you said it true enough, but you can't expect the 57s to play rock, or any of its bastard handmaidens. The 57s were designed to reproduce music played by acoustic instruments, but most of all for vocals. That wonderful midrange that you mentioned, is the source of so much pleasure for those of us who own these magic speakers. I owned a pair for 40 years and only gave them away when I moved into a retirement unit, so no room for them. The 57s need at least 2 metres behind them and plenty of room to breathe, all round. So many people try to cram them into inadequate listening spaces and they suffer accordingly. Also using a subwoofer with them, definitely improves things. Cheers, John.

[@osbert43]

I own a pair of the ESL 57’s…matched with the right amplifier they are unsurpassed in what they do well. Speakers in a box don’t cut it for me, unless they are ribbons.

[@adrianlow2114]

Agreed. !!

[@FeedScrn]

Insightful... Thank You. The one thing that I did not like was having a record turntable.... If I turned up the volume anything past medium,,... the speaker vibrations would affect it....

[@theclearsounds3911]

Right, I'm pretty sure you're talking about feedback. I bought an Akai turntable in 1980 that was bottom of the line, but it was all I could afford at the time. I thought it sounded good at the time, but as soon as I bought speakers that actually put out any serious bass, the feedback was impossible to deal with. I even put the turntable in the basement on the cement floor, and still got feedback from my speakers on the floor above! Certain turntables are MUCH more susceptible to feedback than others.

[@RoyFJ65]

Heard the Bose 901 Mk IV coupled with a Tandberg receiver, I still have trauma from the strange sound that I heard then. 😄

[@SliderLe]

Hi, Adrian - Dave from Winnipeg here. As you know, I’ve dealt with you for decades, ever since my several years living in Toronto in the 80s. You are the most trustworthy and honest person that I know in the industry. You have talked me out of and talked me into various products; all of which have proven so fruitful. I can’t think of a “worst” piece of equipment as I’ve always followed your sage advice. I suppose my only regret is the Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista as the units (integrated amp and CD player) eventually needed motherboard replacements and none were available worldwide so the units became junk.

[@brettclarke6798]

I made an awful purchase once and not so long ago, the B&W 702 s2, the tweeters could give you a migraine for nothing, the bass wasn’t there, I tried so many different amps to make them work, anyway moved them on but it taught me a valuable lesson in hifi, the only ears that matter are yours and never buy something unless you have home demo’s it

[@jboy55]

My first pair of speakers after getting my first career job was supposed to be B&W 305s. I had seen the Nautilus online and bought into B&W. However there was 2 top line stereo stores in my city, and the one that sold B&Ws wasn't open when I went to try them out. So I brought some CDs, to the other one, tried one out on a B&O Beosound (garbage), eventually went into the basement, tried a pair of Jamo 803s, played everything I could put at it, sounded awesome and the pretty much the cheapest thing you could buy at the store. So even though I didn't research them, I bought them. The next day, I had major regret, I went into buying my speakers having researched the 305s, and I didn't even listen to them. I kicked myself for not trying them, but I thought I'd go out and try them out. Went to the B&W store, put my CDs on to the 305s... wow. Felt like I was listening to something through 5 inches of foam. Salesman asked what I thought, said, "Where's the base? the mids are even muted?". He's like, its a 305, just two speakers, you a Sub for these. Still have my Jamos 25 years later. One benefit, the salesguy played my test CDs on the B&W 801 setup (the one with the single 15"). Wow...

[@Nonsense62365]

I owned a pair of golden tube Audio amps @ 40WPC bridged to mono at 80WPC driving a pair of Dunleavy SC-III’s! They used a cheap sand cast resistor that blew and caused the KT88 tubes to catch on fire! I had the resistors and the two blown tubes replaced and sold them immediately after that issue! The company went BK shorty later in 1997?

[@rogersharpe2490]

Hi, I was very interested in your comments about the Quad ESL 57 electrostatic loudspeakers. In their day in the 60’s the Quads were hard to beat even though they had all the shortcomings you mentioned. In British hi fi circles at the time these unique speakers were very much to the forefront among hi fi enthusiasts. I followed a different route to my system preferring Lowther Acousta PM6 horn loaded speakers that were incredibly sensitive and only needed quite low powered tube amps that were the norm in the day. Quad produced extremely good valve amps, but my preference was for a product manufacturer that has long since gone; Radford Electronics. regards, Roger

[@GiguereSylvain]

Oh boy.. you're dusting off old memories! I owned Lowther pm4 and was lent pm6a in Acousta cabinets. A friend built Huge rear horn loaded cabinets for them. Whatever we tried.. and how impressive, 3D and dynamic, sensitive.. none of my audio friends nor me, were able to live with them. Talk about a temperamental driver..

[@sylviarienzo6955]

Oh boy, my first speakers were home made Bose 901s! I joined a project at work where we built these speakers from engineering drawings made by a high level executive at my company and including the equalizers. Wow! What fun! But I was finally able to replaced them with Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers in 1985. Finally some great speakers and I’m planning to be buried with them. Yes, I’m joking, but I’m still in love with them.

[@TemperTemper...]

I had Bose series 5 901s...They sounded great when used with the equalizer...Maybe you didn't use the equalizer???

[@trucchuong1726]

Please keep other parts coming! Can't wait to see them, thanks for sharing your opinion and have a great day.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks

[@Tsxtasy1]

For me it was a NAD M10 integrated. Bought it used in like new condition. Never sounded great, around a year later some board went out and it’s been at the repair shop for 5 months now… no clue when I’ll get it back. Emailed NAD and they said sucks to be you. 😔 It was literally my first hifi purchase.

[@thomasperina2990]

Another great video sir. While I was on a business trip my wife was in the mall, walked into tha Bose Store & purchased that 901 garbage. When I finally got home she surprised me all right. Not only didn't she know what she was buying but she swallowed the salesmans line of BS hook line & sinker. After trying to tolerate them for 6 months I couldn't take it anymore. Took them out in the backyard & chopped them up with an axe & in the garbage they went. Needless to say my wife never went behind my back to purchase high-end items without my ok.

[@adrianlow2114]

LOL! No THAT'S a story worth telling

[@thomasperina2990]

@@adrianlow2114 Hello Adrian: Thank you for your most kind words 😊. Have a great weekend 😀. TMP from N.J.

[@erwinvanhulten9561]

There's a story that never happened.

[@abboberg]

​@@erwinvanhulten9561Why - because he's alive to tell about it? Perhaps he found his wife in the east. It's a big world out there.

[@gavinhadley7672]

..the 901s are an icon for awful..that’s a slam dunk

[@BrokebackBob]

The Bose 901 needs an entire power substation to feed a 2000 watt amp to make that bad sound.

[@ronmurphy4234]

Did you have the Bose 901 Equalizer attached to the speaker, it made a world of difference.

[@Mac-t4y]

Bose is an inferior product.

[@SantanKGhey1234]

If you have to EQ a speaker or system, it's a fail

[@RennieAsh]

​@@SantanKGhey1234no, the Bose 901 was an active speaker setup in a way. Also, what do you think passive crossovers do? The same thing EQ does, but on individual drivers. What does putting a speaker in a room do? EQs the sound because now you have bass peaks and nulls, and mid treble reflections. EQ being "a fail" is audiophile nonsense.

[@RennieAsh]

The 901 requires the equaliser. Not using it is like removing the crossovers from other speakers. Is it the best speaker in the world? No, but it's not the worst either

[@walterpen371]

Try hooking them up to the very rare and never mentioned BOSE RECEIVER. 100 watts+ 100 watts with the SPATIAL CONTROL FEATURE which made the sound stage amazing. Only one catch...the listening room must have solid side and rear walls for best performance. Also they must be on top of their pedestals.

[@wayman10]

The worst audio product I've own is the JBL L300. They had a 15 inch woofer and compression horn tweeter and midrange. They had no imaging and no clearity. They had pretty good bass. There was always this horn coloration on everything I've played. This speaker was junk. I sold it after a month.

[@MrRocktuga]

Relatively speaking, my worst regret was with a pair of TDL RTL-3. I heard them at a dealer when I wasn’t thinking about auditioning loudspeakers, so I heard the demo with music that I didn’t knew, and I really loved the sound. I waited anxiously for the delivery of my brand new pair, and the first impressions were bad. I left them playing pink noise and music for several days, expecting them to get better. I ended up selling them a few months later (I was lucky on finding a buyer), and never accepted any loudspeaker demo without the recordings that I’m very familiar with.

[@adrianlow2114]

Never had a pair of TDL although I always wanted to hear a pair

[@johnr6168]

Their RTL range was a huge step down from their earlier Studio series which were genuine transmission line designs and better in other respects too. The RTL series were reflex transmission lines which was really an economy version of a TL. The Studio range, Monitor and Reference Standard were very fine speakers. Many years later, Richer Sounds (UK) bought the name and had some own brand speakers labelled TDL but were nowhere near the quality of the original TDL designs.

[@RennieAsh]

I don't get the Bose comments; unless you don't use the equaliser on 901, they've always had enough bass and treble for their size. It's a diffuse sound though due to the reflections. You get a big scale, more created by the speaker than recording however. They aren't usually as precise as other speakers owing to using reflections and paper full range/tweeter drivers.

[@tombrennan8912]

And once you put them on better stands their focus is way better. Bose tulips are way too light to secure properly. No modern stand mount speaker would be sold on a stand this light. Also get the 20 + year old EQ’s updated .. They are way out of spec at that age.. If you have a late pair the EQ should be fine until it’s 15 birthday or so.. Make sure the you can hear EQ changes if you can’t it likely not connected properly.

[@slam854]

I started audio with Heathkit then to Dynaco. 1st good speakers were Dyna A-25's. Bose had just been introduced (1970) My dealer had Phase Linear amps to power his show room. Bose rocked the place thru there EQ. A-25's sounded amazing with that horse power. Wilson audio is down the road and Zu Audio is up the road. Out of college I performed visual art concerts using early Bose turned with 8 speakers to audience and Crown DC300 providing the power. Filled an auditorium with sound well. Teac reel to reel was soundtrack.

[@rolandlickert2904]

Fully agree with the Bose speakers got them on loan they lasted only one week and got another speaker agreed with the "worst speakers" I listen to and I did have quite a few during my 55-year HiFi journey!

[@anthonylawrence4621]

I love the show. Your discussion of the Quads brought back my memory of my first true magical listening experience. It was with the Quad 63s being driven by Audio Research tube amps and preamp playing John Klemmer’s album Touch. I bought the system new in the 60s and had it for many years.

[@happygil4698]

esl63 weren't introduced until the 80s. I've owned a half dozen pairs with various mods through the years.

[@anthonylawrence4621]

@happygil4698 you are correct, when I thought about it some more I bought them in 1988. Thanks for the correction.

[@normansteinbach2007]

One of the best speakers!!!❤❤

[@vicg5323]

Yes Bose are a mixed bag. Had a set of 601 and 201 and they sucked but the accustimass home theatre and sound canceling headset rocked

[@frankgolder6044]

I am not from an Asian or Chinese culture and I have found you very believable for many years.

[@dmark2639]

I liked hearing your stories and I am old enough to remember some of those products from the '80's!

[@Audiorevue]

I will say in my opinion that I agree with most of what you said with the exception of the Bose. I have never owned a pair of Bose 901 however I have heard them properly set up, and I think that's the key. I'm not insinuating what you heard or had or what have you was not properly done but in my recollection of hearing them properly set up and you've got to properly tweak them with the EQ, they have a particular sound. They have this big wall of sound type sound and it's definitely not to everybody's taste and I can understand that, but I think that for certain types of music particularly where mid-range timbre is important, they excelled and that coupled with that big wall of sound was actually quite pleasurable. Anyway keep up the videos and always love your opinion and your style, and forget the haters that might nitpick you with certain things, be honest they're probably just jealous.

[@mariomanus3176]

After owning a quad amped plus sub system with linear response from 20Hz to 20kHz that can be adjusted to accommodate your mood (at times I like orchestra and at times rock), I can never go back to 1 amped systems. The clarity, imaging and bandwidth can never be achieved by these 1 amped passive crossed over speaker systems.

[@Pksparty2112]

I hate that eye contact myth.

[@Mac-t4y]

In Lexicon listening room at Bedford, MA, one will be kicked out of the room if mentions Bose.

[@p1k1w17]

😢 I loved my Amazing Loudspeakers and AL-IIIs, but always augmented them with subwoofers. PS But my biggest purchase regret was Velodyne's flagship subwoofer ULD-18 for $2k back in '92. It sucked!

[@davidperry4013]

I went from mom’s Bose model 601s to Q Acoustics 3020is during COVID lockdowns and did my vintage pioneer A-9 more justice and see it currently as a stepping stone to eventually own Q Acoustics Concept 500s. Those affordable speaker real do blow Bose out of the water.

[@jeffreylehman1159]

Haven’t heard them, but Q’s are highly reviewed and have interesting cabinet construction to dampen resonances. I’ll probably consider them if/ when I upgrade from my Emotiva T1+ towers( which I love)

[@dennisheadley4408]

Wow--I didn't think you were old enough to remember "Stereo Review" and "High Fidelity." They seemed at times to promote products rather than present objective reviews, but they were still fun reads. "Audio" may have been the best of the three. RIP Julian Hirsch and all those reviewers who are no longer with us.

[@adrianlow2114]

Yes, I am THAT old

[@Reyfox1]

@@adrianlow2114 so am I! I looked forward to reading Stereo Review to see that if it measured the same, it sounded the same. High Fidelity and Audio too. But then the products that they did review did basically all sound the same.

[@v8beamer]

Audio Magazine's yearly product specifications publication was such a great purchasing tool.

[@dennisheadley4408]

It alone was worth the subscription price. I still have the last issue.@@v8beamer

[@Reyfox1]

@@v8beamer yes it was!

[@smaarch1]

Found your channel only recently and much enjoy your insight and knowledge - thanks for the videos and I'll keep following

[@adrianlow2114]

Thank you

[@zogzog1063]

My worst bit of kit was an Origin Live Conqueror tonearm. I wanted an upgrade to my Technics SL1200 turntable. The Origin Live was no improvement - a downgrade in fact as it lost the ease of use the stock tonearm. I now keep the stock Technics tonearm on one TT and a Jelco 750 on the other.

[@klaymoon1]

Great video! Love the format.

[@willbrink]

I'd read nothing but raves about the Carver sunfire sub and never heard anything so bad when I went to listen to it at the store. I found most Carver gear to sound bad in one way or another. I was lucky over the decades in that speakers I ended up with were all pretty good to great for the $. Had a Sony receiver back in the 80s that sounded pretty bad, but it was not expensive nor reviewed as some great gear anyway.

[@lucashinch]

Did I notice a "901" in the thumbnail I had the very same experience with Bose 901s'. I even had the stands ,EQ, plenty of power on hand and they were terrible. I tried and tried to convince myself I'd made a smart choice...lost them in a divorce. Best thing ever!

[@theonl1128]

What...the divorce or ...😂

[@lucashinch]

@@theonl1128 BOTH! haha !

[@darrelgustafson2507]

Decca Ribbon tweeters. My buddy had the super tweeters, the aluminum cube ones. They sounded great when they weren't blown, which happened a lot. Why they blew so often? Well, we were younger then, he possibly didn't have quite good enough power feeding them. Great sounding tweeter, just a little delicate.

[@montycaps8235]

Keep up the great job with the recent videos. Really enjoying them. I had a Clearaudio Performance DC years ago I couldn’t stand. One of my worst purchases ever.

[@MrBonger88]

This was great. Can’t wait to hear more

[@albiepalbie5040]

Bought a pair of Quad 57s in 1974 Still use them with updated Musical Fidelity A1 plus small RELs in my kitchen- luxury indeed Certainly blew them up a few times But live in UK so have got them repaired ok I only play now at low levels - No Bruckner or head banging rock All vocals are magic and remind me what’s beautiful tonality every day

[@adrianlow2114]

Your Musical Fideiity A1 never blew up?

[@albiepalbie5040]

Not yet It’s the 2023 one

[@EmilioGarcia-fr5po]

What is a great amp for rock 70s stuff, some metal, jazz fusion? I'm into krell

[@ΝικόλαοςΤσιφόρος]

Adrian nice retrospective, I like to ask what is your opinion about WILSON AUDIO WATTseries2/Puppy1?

[@M.Adloff]

Great vid! Yes pIease, more of them 😀. I also owned the Quad ESL "57". Loved them to death. Used the Quad II mono amps as well as the Quad 2 preamp with them as it was originaly intended and could play any kind of music on them, medium loud, for years, without having any problem ever. 👍

[@marcuswilson007]

A very interesting video. I have almost the same list as you! I did not succumb to the Bose hype, so was spared there. I did, however, try the Carver Amazing speakers. Yes, the ribbons sounded so bad I thought they were broken. I also owned Quad 57s at the time and by using two small chokes to feed the bass only into the Carvers as well as full range to the Quads, I had one of the best sounds I have had. The bass was increassed and extended but the character of the sound didn't change as it does if you use normal woofers with Quads. I agree about the Martin Logans, the CLS is an excellent listening experience, I was the local service agent for Martin Logan for 10 years or so but I don't like the sound of electrostatic speakers crossed over to woofers. The only Wilson speakers I have heard were Witts owned by a friend and I thought them unnatural and unpleasant. I sold the owner a pair of JBL 4350 (double 15", one 12", horn and tweeter) studio monitors to replace them. I am a sound engineer and electronic technician and I work on a lot of high end HIFi. Most of the valve amplifiers I see, including Audio Reserch, overdrive the valves. This was not a big problem with US and European made valves (Toobs if you're in North America.) but is a major issue with current valves. I modify the amplifiers slightly which reduces the output power about 5% and extends the valve life 3 fold with no obvious change in the sound. A 5% reduction in output power is basically un-noticeable. I had an AR D-150 amplifier which fried resistors and charred the PC board when valves failed. I consider the construction of that amp poorly implimented.

[@Simon-oq6ds]

YES!! 100% agree about the hybrid Martin Logans. Their lack of mid bass is an absolute deal breaker for me. If all I ever listened to were female vocals or acoustic guitar, then they would be great for that type of music. Otherwise they are horrible as even a baritone does not sound chesty enough. Last time I auditioned the Montis and the characteristic weakness of ML was gone. I think it’s because they x-overed at higher frequency, allowing the pistonic woofer to handle the mid bass.

[@colanitower]

In 1990 I bought a new Pioneer A-656 amplifier and Infinity RS4001 speakers. Nice system, great sound, but not for long: the popular Pioneer got stolen 3 weeks later. It was an out-of-production sale, insurance money wasn't enough to replace it with another one and it wasn't available anymore. Best I could do was a Denon PMA-725 but it never did as well with the Infinitys as the Pioneer did. 5 years later the Infinitys gave up. I didn't do much with HiFi for 25 years, then I stumbled upon a refurbished Pioneer A-757 amplifier in perfect condition and I couldn't resist. Paired to refurbished Dutch Translator Impact4 speakers (comparable to Wharfedale Linton Heritage) the good sound is finally back again.

[@mbrusso01]

This video is fun. My worst product ever owned was my first Integrated amp. A yamaha AX 592 integrated. It had no bass at all and could not play loud enough for me and I hated the pure direct - It made the bass even thinner! Yet all the reviews raved about the "high current" design and power it had. This was back in university days and I had a hall mate who had an NAD powered system that absolutely pounded!

[@MichelLinschoten]

I had the quads.... I couldn't stand them overrated

[@mka4pol]

I was selling mid-level audio in the early '70s; we knew back then that Bose was crap.

[@BobbyBass-x6i]

Appreciate these honest reviews you’re doing. Very revealing and entertaining. Please keep them coming. By the way your eye contact is fine. You can’t please everybody. Don’t let the turkeys get you down. My biggest regret was a DIY project with a friend. He talked me into getting speaker components from France and we had to build the cabinets from scratch. I’m talking getting the particle board from the lumberyard and cutting it up with hand tools and I’m not a carpenter. It was a nightmare I Would never do again. Will leave speaker building to the experts.

[@tomehCanada]

You have to be kidding. Eye contact.... Find something productive to do. Your goal can be to be as productive as Adrian. Keep up the great videos Adrian. Thank you.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks!

[@DJWerkz]

I am sure we have all purchased products we simply could not enjoy, usually when they are offered at a great price. My list includes; JBL L300 Summit speakers, Threshold A400 power amp, Ortofon MC3000 MK II cartridge, Audio Research SP-10 preamp, and Martin Logan (can’t remember the model but close to their most expensive).

[@FSR-v9c]

I took my esl's and paired them with a Genelec two-way and just tapped the bas driver and its passive Xover and they were such a dream, I would use them for mid-fields in the studio back in the day, and finally an engineer popped the tweets and I was moving to a new room anyway about that time, and just got rid of it all by parting it all out.

[@danielgeiger7739]

Thorens TD203, based on recommendation of a local high end store. Motor is so weak you cannot use a record brush. Arm arrest rattles the entire bearing assembly. HATED the thing, did not play vinyl just because I did not like it. Worse than useless. Now have a VPI, quite nice, looking for a 2 arm option.

[@renehollan7695]

I owned a pair of Carver Amazings. I fell in love with the ribbon midrange and highs, but (a) they did require substantial power, (b) as dipoles, they were critical to place, and (c) given the linear falloff of the ribbons and the quadratic falloff of the woofers, we're a pain to match highs and lows. Did I mention they were very (d) directional? But, when positioned just right. And sitting on the sweet spot, they were, well, amazing! They weren't bad as much as difficult.

[@lesirephilippe8041]

Great video again and thanks for it ! I've a remark what concern electrostatic loudspeakers. I own final 1000i for a couple of years and these are full range loudspeakers. Maybe the problems you noticed does'nt exist with full range ones. No filter, only one speaker to reproduce all the range of music, but the problem of a narrow stage does remains. In my case, I'm using diffusion panels in my room (front wall, back wall and ceiling) and it's quite different to get a wider stage. No love and hate relationship for me ! Thanks again for this !

[@adrianlow2114]

The issue I had with Acoustat also extended to their electrostatc models. They always sounded veiled and dull at the highs. And not particularly dynamic (contrast) though they could play loud.

[@annenominous7220]

I came up in the 1970s and 1980s for HiFI. I loved the sound of the bose in the store, but didn't buy them, going with AR instead. Recently some people have measured the old Bose and remarkably, they are very flat speakers... the magic was in the selection of the drivers and crossovers that sum to an almost perfect speaker, using state-of-the-art tools (Klippel)... I remember them fondly but never owned them... it is too bad you had a terrible experience with them. Love the channel.

[@MarkMiller-i8q]

I owned a pair of Quads for about two years. It had 3 great things going for it - midrange, midrange, midrange. Other than that, the shortcomings (beaming, lack of slam, roll-off in the bass and treble) prompted me to sell them and buy a pair of ADS 810s.

[@CanadianPonchman]

I don't really stair in the eye too especially as im thinking while talking. I understand that. Nothing wrong with it sir Many of us see your sincerity

[@ewhite5381]

You are truly blessed with an amazing ability to convey information in an entertaining way. Love the video.

[@adrianlow2114]

You're too kind, thanks

[@michaeldue1704]

I agree. People are so ignorant and should know Adrian is a very courteous and speaks from the heart type person!!

[@user-bc6ok1yh4s]

LOL... when you mentioned a pair of speakers I once owned that made your list. Great context!

[@alpro3714]

My love/hate amplifier was the British Fidelity A1 Class A 20 watts per channel (also sold under the label Musical Fidelity) "A1". At the time, I was shopping for a Rotel or Denon and when I compared the A1 to a Denon, no matter what the model, I was blown away by the warmth and beautiful sound of the A1. Unfortunately, the A1 ran hot, or should I say very hot, and it fried before the end of its expected life (a few years). Probably one of the reason I still stay away from Tube amps and...reasonably priced Class A amps. I understand that there is a revival of this amp; if it's reliable, it was literally the best sounding, affordable "bang for the buck" amp. You may want to test it out...

[@nickolaymiltenov]

Sorry i didn't understand which amplifier sounded better Denon or Musical Fidelity?

[@alpro3714]

@@nickolaymiltenov The A1. Sorry for my poor sentence structure

[@petermartin9494]

I love this type of video. The honesty is unusual and refreshing.

[@slam854]

Atma-sphere M60's are amazing but very hard on tubes when played aggressively. This is an OTL amp which is so fluid and musical you can see and feel the notes. I still have them but my Prima Luna HP has taken over never damaging a tube. 6AS7G's are great but EL34's are rugged, musical and powerful. That is why Fender & Marshall use them.

[@DriverDude100]

Years ago, I got a too-good-to-pass-up price on a Mark Levinson No. 38 preamp from my local dealer. The preamp was functionally beautiful but sonically a dog. I sold it after owning it only a few months.

[@bryantaylor2946]

Very well done, Adrian - not what I expected. I might have called the video - 'the products which fell very far short of the hype'.

[@adrianlow2114]

LOL, yes you are more precise

[@charlesmanneschmidt7587]

Agree about Acoustat (I believed pronounced like acoustic and not like accu-stat). I had Model 3s first, which for all their other faults could sound very full and coherent. It was nice to hear electrostatic speakers play fairly loud too and they didn't really need a subwoofer. Then I got 2+2s. I don't know why, but I stuck with them for years, while they always sounded mostly dreadful! Venetian blind effect, weak and erratic bass, not fast... At best they could sound neutral in mids.

[@jhousekey100]

I'm going to disagree with Adrian and a lot of posters here regarding the 901s. I got them with the first system I could spend some real money on. Paired with the Bose receiver and the correct type of room they were absolutely spectacular. At the time I lived in a dorm-type room with cinder block walls, and it was the perfect setting for the 901s. There is just nothing like the wall of sound that they provide in the correct environment. Yes, they struggled in reproducing the high-highs and the low-lows. But for me the trade off was rather worth it. Now when I had to move, the walls in the room I had them in were not much thicker than cardboard. In that setting, the 901s simply sent the sound right through the wall instead of reflecting off of it, making them mostly useless. So I get why they are dissed. But in the right setting they are really something.

[@theonl1128]

It depends all on the hearing. 😊

[@vendelius]

I actually enjoyed listening to the Carver Amazing speakers in a showroom.... but chose not to purchase... I think you are right on with your list.. thanks and enjoy

[@louisperlman8030]

Since misery apparently likes company, I’m adding my SACD years to the list. As the Sony 777ES was very underwhelming in two Wilson Audio Sophia systems, I went for the Phillips SA-1000. It sounded OK, but that was it. Bass was good, but there was a lack of low level resolution with either format. It died just before the warranty ran out, and Phillips replaced it with a SA-963. That one had ade more resolution than the SA-1000, but lighter bass. It too died after about two years, and I gave up on SACD.

[@msderay]

I have a pair of Spectra 1100s still in my garage. I don't agree with all Adrian stated. Compared to a loaner pair of ML Aerius 1s, I actually found the Spectras more open, quicker, and generally more articulate. I do agree with any complaints about *some* veiling, but what I did discover, after talking to a former Acoustat salescritter, was that they are very narrow in their workable soundstage and image; very very directional: "beamy" is a fair descriptor. Good news: you can still find these for under $500, and if you can tolerate a microscopic sweet spot, they're good. Bad news: you may spend well over $500 getting enough power to them to do anything lively. 100w of high-current power recommended.