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

[@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.

[@PhotogPhotog-sk4ip]

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

[@leegoodwin3466]

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

[@digggerrjones7345]

Can't wait for part 2!! 100% agree on the Bose 901s. I had a pair my freshman year of college and quickly got rid of them and went with stacked Advents!

[@MrRocktuga]

I knew them inside and out for professional reasons, and they were crap. I’m not a Bose hater, but it’s hard to find redeeming qualities on something that was wrong from the beginning.

[@JeffHopkins76]

sound everywhere, stereo nowhere. lol

[@michaellee4883]

BOSE = B uy O ther S ound E quipment

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

There's a reason for the canard "No highs, no lows, must be Bose."

[@scottstrang1583]

I’ve had Bose drivers in two different Chevy Tahoes and they sounded really good. It’s better than the B&O system in a Ford I have. Their headphones can be good but I’ve never liked their loudspeakers.

[@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 🇦🇺👌

[@MarkasTZM]

and that is why no one should watch the channel of someone who bought them in the 1980s.

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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... 😉

[@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.

[@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

[@jimdemetri8168]

I'm a, professional sound engineer. Ask anyone in my field about bose and they will laugh.

[@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.

[@TheKent2288]

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

[@davidnguyen5028]

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

[@gavinhadley7672]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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!

[@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!

[@petermartin9494]

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

[@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.

[@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 !

[@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.

[@mka4pol]

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

[@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.😂

[@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...

[@philipketchum1407]

I hate that eye contact myth.

[@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:)

[@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!

[@RoyFJ65]

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

[@DrMarkGlenn296]

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

[@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.

[@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. !!

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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)

[@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.

[@michaeldue1704]

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

[@BrokebackBob]

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

[@jayjordan3785]

Bose=Buy other stereo equipment

[@adrianlow2114]

Nice! lol

[@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

[@ponchantos]

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

[@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!

[@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

[@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).

[@wjekat]

Any man who loves McIntosh MC-30s is a friend of mine. IMHO they were and are the pinnacle of McIntosh amplifiers.

[@MrBonger88]

This was great. Can’t wait to hear more

[@dmark2639]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@ManfredAdloff]

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. 👍

[@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.

[@Synthematix]

Whenever i hear the words "audiophile equipment" i instantly think, Boring Sound.

[@dennisfrancis1126]

Our catchphrase at the audio store I worked at in the late 1970’s was “all highs no lows must be Bose”. They were absolutely the worst value for the money in loudspeakers and were considered the ‘McDonalds’ of the speaker manufacturers. Also interesting to note that they NEVER published their specs in any of the annual Stereo Review and Audio buyers guide - gee, I wonder why? Amazing what clever marketing could do to brainwash the general public to make Bose the ‘Kleenex’ of the speaker world…

[@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.

[@operafanatic971]

I had the monolith 3s were excellent, transparent, excellent bass. The amplifier was either threshold 100 watt class A or pass labs 100 watt class A. Maybe you didn't have enough power to drive them properly. I then got Soundlab A1PX and have loved those ever since, great transparency and good bass. Need lots of amplification. Now using PS Audio BHK 600. The Soundlabs shine.

[@klaymoon1]

Great video! Love the format.

[@markfischer3626]

It took me two tries, the first a failure, the second taking 4 years to re-engineer original Bose 901s to radically improve their performance without any sacrifice to the special effect they can create.

[@mikegemmati8658]

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

[@MichelLinschoten]

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

[@chrisantoniou4366]

Agree completely with the Bose 901 criticism... My "take" on them is that when they were being demonstrated, the room was quite "lively" in a sonic sense, but the recordings used to demonstrate them were recorded in a sonically "dead" room. Why is this important? Because they were direct/reflecting speakers and instead of smearing the sound of normal recordings and spreading them indiscriminately around the room making for a terrible sound (apart from their dreadful drivers), they re-created the sound of the music as if it was being played in the room they were being demonstrated in.

[@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.

[@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.

[@drewyoung2102]

I recall one of the last Tweeter stores. They had upstairs show rooms, and then usual range downstairs. The salesmen were comically rude. They would literally tell people to go to best buy. They had rolls of high thickness Monster Cable as the high margin add on and Macintosh was the premium brand then. When I exchanged an Ipod at end as defective it took 3 months. The end was near.

[@TemperTemper...]

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

[@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

[@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. 😊

[@johnwilliamson467]

Peter Moncref was the first to coin the blind effect from my memory in the early 80's causing the sweet spot to be very tight move your head a small amount was hell on the image.

[@kenjohnson961]

The Martin Logan original CLS I had for years, they were shockingly good speakers.

[@jamesm90]

To be fair to Bose 901's, at high SPL they have amazing dynamics, they just don't dynamically compress, they just play louder the more power you give them, with seemingly limitless headroom. They sound better the higher the power and hence SPL, which is very unusual for a speaker especially of diminutive size. They're great for a party or a noisy pub/club. The professional 802's were a similar product and were perfect for small venues.

[@tomprowda9581]

I completely agree about the Wilson WITT. I LOVED the WATT/Puppy 5.1 but was disappointed in the deep bass so the WITT was more attractively priced and was touted to have the deep bass extension that was missing from the W/P. Turned out the deep bass extension was about the same, but the driver integration was downright poor. The deep bass extension was greatly improved in the W/P6 which I used for about a year. In what seemed like a backward move I then went to the Sophia. For whatever reason the Sophia's locked with my room acoustics in a way the W/P never quite did and they just vanished, just you and a direct connection to the music. I went through several sets of high end electronics before finally acquiring Spectral, which were the most neutral sets I've experienced. I also completely agree on the Quad ESL57. I rebuilt a set that an owner had carelessly blown both tweeters and one bass panel. The transparency was breathtaking, if all I ever listened to was small scale music I'd still have them. They couldn't do Mahler and completely forget about live Grateful Dead (Wilson happens to be Supreme on both!).The day I sold them, the instant the buyer's car disappeared from view I thought "what the hell did just do, you idiot"...I agree on Martin Logans. I've never liked the integration between the woofers and the panels, though recent models have been better. I have little experience with Acoustat; I liked what I heard but had no extensive experience with them. I'm wondering if it was a source/headed gear issue. I have no experience with the Carver other than knowing they were wicked insensitive and I've always hated Bose, though their headphones and car systems I've thought were decent

[@obtugtxivtub]

Bose 901. A customer came over to buy my set. While he was auditioning them I did an A&B with my ADS L880. He said the ADS sound so much better, but all my friends have Bose and I’m here to buy them. He took the Bose.

[@theonl1128]

And that says enough. 😂

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@gtxguy]

I had a pair in the mid 70's and came to the same conclusion,you needed a different pair of speakers for rock.

[@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.

[@Nonsense62365]

I also owned a pair of Apogee Stages (Great loudspeaker) then in 2009, I bought a pair of Apogee Mini Grands it used the stages with a subwoofer box with Vifa woofer Drivers that had reliability issues. They required two separate amps to drive them one for the stages and one for the Vifa Subwoofer boxes. I had a ML 27 driving the subwoofers and tube amps driving the stages Vifa went out of business years later. And if was impossible to find a replacement drivers that matched the output of the Vifa’s. So when you had to replace one of the 2 drivers in each subwoofer Box, you had to replace all the drivers. It was a PIA!

[@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.

[@benjaminthomas8092]

One of the Greatest to hit in Rnb drumming ,funk

[@rhclark6530]

I had the same reaction to the Quads when I picked up a pair in the late 80s. I have to this day, never heard midrange reproduction that was so vividly alive and real. But I blew the pair up in short order. I don't recall why I didn't get them rebuilt. I should have.

[@geodog6854]

I remember listening to the Monoliths in a nice showroom and they sounded terrible.

[@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.

[@Wised1000]

I agree with all your choices. 901's were absolute trash. Regarding Wilson's, I'd go further, all Wilson's are meh speakers and for the price, they are actually less than mediocre, best example of an empty "Aramani suit". I'd buy a pair of Dutch and Dutch than ANY Wilson at any price.

[@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.

[@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.

[@crossoverchef]

thanks for honest reviews, owned /heard most of these speakers and agree with your analysis.

[@Jack96993]

My friend had the Bose 901 and thought they where the best speakers out their When he came to my house and listen to my stereo rig with Paradigm SE9's that I had at the time, he couldn't the smile off his face, but he would never admit my speakers were much better than his 901's My son still have my hand me down SE9's

[@MrTroutl]

The majority of speaker magazines and reviewers turn me off as after watching I'm left thinking...do you ever meet a pair of speakers you dont love? I like this dude.

[@davewin1792]

Thank you for this content Adrian. Me being a Parasound fanboy, I'm sure you'll cover this soon enough :)

[@adrianlow2114]

Parasound is easy. Virtually ALL GOOD, almost no BAD or UGLY, except we can't sell it anymore as there's no distribution in Canada

[@davewin1792]

True story :) Jc5 here with Magnepan. I'm batting a thousand Adrian.@@adrianlow2114

[@ac81017]

I bought a Audio research HD220 years ago, sounded amazing, loved it until it died, just went into safe mode. Turns out it could not be repaired. Audio research offered me a discount on a D200. My HD220 ended up at the junk yard.

[@larryblake3048]

Bose 901's very much over-hyped.....

[@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.

[@gavinhadley7672]

..I hated the Watt Puppy 8..impressive initially but bleeding ears after a few minutes

[@robertthomason8905]

CCR lp vibrating my old house foyer 901 series 2 ❤