WORST Electronics I've Owned - Biggest Audio Regrets

Only horror stories are shared as Adrian dives into the details of the worst electronics he's owned these past decades in the audio industry. Do you agree with this round-up of products?
Please comment down your worst experiences with electronics and your thoughts on this video!
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Audio Excellence Inc. is a high-end audio/video store in Markham, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. We've been in business since 1991.
Check out our interviews with designers and audio luminaries like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus Faber, Wendell Diller of Magnepan, John Atkinson of Stereophile, Dan D'Agostino of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Nelson Pass of Pass Labs and others.
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[@groundandpoundperformancee4515]

You've been on a roll lately, Adrian. I enjoy your experiences and anecdotes in the audiophile world just as much as the product reviews. Keep up the excellent work. It is greatly appreciated.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks!

[@1999zrx1100]

I had the Musical Fidelity A1 as well back in the day, the only issue I had was the Volume pot started acting up within a few months because of the heat. On warranty they replaced the pot to a much better quality one. I used that amp for 20 years and sold it for what I paid. It sure got hot so it was never placed inside a cabinet. Love that thing. 👍

[@jameswarren1831]

When you run out of gear to talk about can we hear some crazy customers stories? Theses are so much fun, I love the energy when you tell these stories :)

[@adrianlow2114]

Good idea.

[@user-oz3dh7os7z]

BTW, thank you, Adrian, for these wonderful video's . . . I find your comments and observations very inciteful!

[@ronmurphy4234]

I'm a recovering audiophile, I had no issues with buying high-end products and still have some today, but what did it for me was the Krell 707, I was ready to spend the $18,000 US on this processor, but when it finally came out, they wanted over $32,000 US... that's when I started my recovery process... well until I purchased the McIntosh MA12000.

[@adrianlow2114]

Lol. Thanks for sharing

[@TheNaka9]

Hi Adrian, please keep doing this type of videos. Very fun to watch and it great to learn from your experience, good and bad :) Could you do a “inexpensive gear that was amazing”? Thanks

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

Great video. Makes me realize what a tough business this is to be in. I recall seeing all these glowing reviews for the amps you outline in this video. But in reality if you sell these you have to deal with the customer experience if they have the issues you experienced. I realize the amount of due dilligence you have to do before carrying a brand. Then you must have all these potential customers reading reviews and wanting to buy these products that are not reliable. Crazy cottage industry.

[@stephencallil6512]

Got a Musical Fidelity A1 and I LOVE IT. The sound is so sweet and I can listen to it all day .I only run it in the winter because of the heat problem [I live in Australia] Really enjoy your channel

[@adrianlow2114]

Many thanks

[@Vercus100]

One of the worst audio experiences I had was with a VTL TL-2.5 preamp. It was hooked up to a VTL ST-85 power amp, which was connected to a pair of LaScalas. While the power amp worked fine, the preamp was super noisy, and very hard on tubes. On top of that, the LaScalas were so efficient, they amplified the noise even more, making it sound like there was a hurricane in the room. The LaScalas were also too harsh in the midrange for me. I swapped the preamp out for a Denon PRA-1500 and everything was dead quiet. Swapped the LaScalas out for Cornwalls and the sound improved even more. I ran that Denon -> VTL ST-85 -> Cornwall config for a few years and enjoyed it a lot. The preamp got sold for a loss.

[@StealthParrot]

I really like this series, I don't think I've come across anyone else doing it. Thanks, please keep doing them.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks

[@DJWerkz]

Great once again! Here you touch on another issue some do not like to think about is that high end products are not always reliable, manufacturers stop supporting them and we the consumer end up with a very expensive door stop lol. I have been fortunate most of the time as a consumer, importer/distributor and dealer but do have a story. Had a pair of YBA Passion 1000 monoblocs that I got as ex-demo from another dealer friend. For me they worked absolutely fine, in fact they were glorious amps but the customer I sold them to kept having one of them trip his breaker. Had them checked out several times and no problem at all but he could not use them.

[@lwdp74]

I miss the yellow pages. Look for a number now and they want you to pay.

[@MrBonger88]

Loving these more personal videos you’ve been making. Please keep them coming

[@adrianlow2114]

Tha ks

[@liliabondarenko4497]

Great review! Tons of equipment with poor design/ technical issues.

[@dpwrightjr109]

I enjoy these videos- interesting to hear about older audio. My worst electronics was , and I hate to admit it but I was a poor college student, a Realistic 40 w per side receiver from Radio Shack from the early 70’s. The sound was horrible and fuzzy but worst of all I blew out a set of speakers while playing a Humble Pie album. After that I trashed it and bought a Marantz receiver which I had for a long time till I could afford a better set up.

[@adrianlow2114]

I had a Realistic receiver! It actually worked fine lol

[@brianforcelle7954]

Hi Adrian. I really enjoy these video’s with just you speaking honestly and openly. I think you are really onto something here. I’ll look forward to more :-).

[@davewin1792]

Great video topic Adrian. I haven't been in this hobby for long, maybe 5 years. My second amplifier that I bought to replace a couple hundred dollar Onkyo AM/FM receiver was the Nad 316BEE V2 integrated amp. Keep in mind this was only the second system that I have ever owned, and had little to no experience. The first day listening to it I loved the sound, and it was quite a bit better than the AM/FM receiver I was using. Literally on day two with no real experience I couldn't stand what I was hearing. The mid range was so prominent, that it killed what little detail the amp was capable of reproducing to begin with. I learned very quickly about how amplifiers are voiced, and still to this day believe the person responsible for voicing this amp should be in prison :) a least for a couple days. I used it for a year, and still have the amp. Once I went to Parasound (A21+) everything became beautiful in the world. Five years later and I have the JC5 and went from zero to hero.

[@adrianlow2114]

Happy for you. Parasound is fantastic

[@billbez7465]

I bought a Setton RS-220 new from the dealer. It worked great for about 6 years, then one of the channels kept dropping out. I figured the issue was with the volume knob: the resistive material inside the knob was wearing out or oxidizing. Took it in for repair a couple times, but that did not fix the problem. Finally gave up. Will never buy a piece of vintage audio gear that is dependent on a potentiometer-style volume knob.

[@MrRad21]

I really enjoy this series Adrian. Great job bringing back memories for me. Audible Illusions and Music Reference were great sounding but the Audible Illusions had a Power supply hum and ran through tubes while the Music Reference had constant lint shorts and fuses blowing

[@pcorf]

I threw a Cambridge 340 CD player in the rubbish once after it failed after 5 years of usage and they could not find the problem. Power supply was fine, but something else failed on the board. Biggest waste of money in my life.

[@Charles12509]

This is a great video, can you do the best amplifier both solid state and tube…

[@montycaps8235]

Keep up the great work!! Your content really leveled up big time these days.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks

[@JJ-no2ob]

Another great video Arian - thanks for sharing. I’m glad to hear the boys are busy . All the best to you & your business. When you find the time how about one about your favorite gear (past and present).

[@BootJamesOut]

Hello folks. Yes something to cheer us all up. I do remember your journey as I heard those times listing to them live 05' 2k era. James Ride Easy

[@RimfireAddicted70]

I'd like to see a video on what happened to Krell. I've looked and find various different articles claiming everything from the family head dying and the business just collapsing after to articles saying they still are around but only sell in overseas market. I remember going to my first audio electronics shows in Chicago back in the late 90's and early 2000's and hearing some setups with Krell electronics and feeling stunned. Anyways great channel great content !!!

[@mcmaestro9443]

Great video Adrian. A few future ideas would be the best system matching combinations such as Apogee speakers with Symo cable and Classe amps. Also what is the house sound of different brands such as Krell, Spectral, Rowland, Levinson etc…

[@adrianlow2114]

Good ideas

[@MsCorbacho]

Very Bad luck Adrian , I have had tube amps almost always since I have decent systems, and never had a problem with one whatsoever !

[@geraldmosley2195]

This is great because it informs of me of what to look for when I see these on the second hand market, please keep them coming.i too had a amp from hell called the golden tube audio.

[@adrianlow2114]

I remember the line.

[@uccelino]

Great series here, Adrian. Love these anecdotes. You’ve been through so much equipment, so these videos presents a wealth of experience and passion for our wonderful hobby! Keep it up 👍🏻🙂

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks

[@BA-ng7vt]

Great video. Very interesting topic. Many thanks.

[@danielzzz7232]

Thanks for the new video and nice topic. Had a very similar nightmare with my ML 20.5s... great stuff, only till it worked

[@8000audiolab]

i had a 333 for 5 years no issues driving revel studios at ridiculous volumes and now a 432 which i bought as un upgrade but to be fair i miss the 333 as i find the bass much much better

[@philiprichardson5645]

Adrian's equipment takes & experiences definitely chime with mine. Had CJ tube amps for years & loved the warmth, tone and golden glow. They also allowed even shrill & thin rock recordings to sound listenable - which is a massively underrated feat. Once had an audio buddy round for a listen & the first thing he said was "god, it sounds so slow...", which had the unfortunate effect of negatively biasing me against them😢. Great video, anyway, Adrian. Also great that you are most concerned with customer welfare, i.e., making sure the equipment is safe & won't blow up, or cause a fire👍

[@gitmobob6266]

Adrian you stirred such memories. I too owned the Bose 901 series 2 at the dawn of my audiophile hobbying. They played loud and were spacious sound with all that sound bouncing around but that was it. I can't believe you bought the 901's without listening to them. I had a friend in the business and for years he said the 2 dirtiest 4 letter words in audio were Bose and Sony. That was about the time I bought the original Ampzilla, enough said. After that I educated myself on what to listen for and made some good sounding choices but not the most reliable. The best speaker I ever owned was the Spica TC-50. The worst preamp I ever owned was a Counterpoint SA-10, I believe, that spent more time at the factory then in my system, but when it worked it was glorious. I also owned an SAE 100W amp, don't remember the model, that had a bad habit of sometimes producing 60 Hz noise. It was also very good sounding when it worked.

[@mladenbasic1]

Love this one on one format. The stories are always interesting!

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks

[@cklau8245]

very interesting and helpful. Thank you

[@user-mz6lt2pr9s]

Thanks for another video. Really like the series. To answer your question I bought a Yamaha AVR about 20 years ago for my home theater setup. It had a sound processor that could simulate different environments which was cool at the time. After a while it would not consistently power up. Sometimes it would and other times it wouldn’t no matter how many times I turned it on and off. Other times it would turn on for a second and then turn off. Wasn’t worth the money to try and fix it so I got rid of it and bought a Denon AVR that still works beautifully and I still have.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks for sharing

[@iloveaviation-burgerclub-a8145]

Hmy worst experience was seeing a friend dropping a bear into my Linn. Nice lightshow nomore music.

[@adrianlow2114]

What?? Now that’s a story

[@jackdale9249]

that amp ! why not modify it ! make it so it runs cooler! increase the heat sink size or add a damn fan ! amazing so many of you audio guys NEVER mod anything ! FIX THINGS W/ OBVIOUS FLAWS !

[@viggozing598]

I had the great sounding Antique Sound Lab The AQ1003 DT and sold it before any fire incidents 😊

[@stipeilic2611]

Worst? Cambridge audio, anything. A real nightmare 😢😢😢😢😢

[@TheNathanMChannel]

Speaking of stirring up memories, I totally forgot that I once owned two Antique Sound Lab amps until watching this video.

[@ulrikmortensen9426]

Used the Musical Fidelity A1 for like 8 years to drive my QUAD ESL57 set. It was magical. It died suddenly one day when it also drove a Gradient inspired passive dipole subwoofer with 2 12” woofers - I forgot to turn down the volume before pressing the on button: The resulting loud blob killed the amp. The replacement, the A100 had none of the A1 magic. 😢😢😢😢 Fun fact: in danish high fidelity magazine, the A1 was praised for a line stage with very low noise, low distortion and great linearity. It turned out there was no line stage in the A1: it had only a phone preamp section, a power amp section. The line section consisted of only a input selector and a volume pot meter. But the sound was sweet (AristonRD 40, Ortofon MC 30 super, DIY Kolibri air bearing linear tracker as source) 😊😊😊

[@jmccarty3]

For years I have used Quad ESL-63 USA Monitors in my system. I bought the Gradient dipole subwoofers that went with the Quads and also served as speaker stands. The woofer surrounds on the Gradients deteriorated and couldn't be easily fixed, so I bought a REL subwoofer, but I left the Gradients in place, since I get a much better soundstage with the Quads off the floor. Are you by any chance related to Lars Ulrick Mortensen, the well-known harpsichordist?

[@stevezodiac6025]

Great video and a topic for us all to discuss and commiserate about. I too have had a few clunkers, but mostly I think were just equipment that was a bad match for the rest of my system and/or tastes. My dad sold McIntosh gear when I was small, but take a guess what he personally had in our home: a Scott 290 and 122 set with Empire 9000M speakers and an LAB80 turntable. So I grew up a Scott kid. I wound up as a young adult going to electronics school at the local Jr college simply because I kept blowing the guts out of my Scott 299C and could no longer afford to pay folks who didn't know how to fix it anyway. Later on came BSEE and design work. I became a Frank Van Alstine acolyte in 1982 and built some really amazing PAS and ST-70 pieces. Then before returning to college I splurged for a new set of B&W 801ii speakers. At the time I was listening to ZZ Top, RObin Trower, Jeff Beck, Hot Tuna and the like, which the B&W does very well. Squeak, honk, and boom. Well enough of that. Before graduation I saved to trade my Thorens 320 for a VPI Mk IV with SAMA, TNT platter, and Audioquest PT6 arm. Soon after I traded my Grado Platinum for the new Blue Point Special HO. Definitely an improvement, but the Sumiko is slanted upward for sure. So I saved for a Shelter 501ii and the fellow at Morningside said the MiniMax phono was a great match. I soon got the upgrade bug again and found a Herron VTPH2. I had just listed the MiniMax phono on Audiogon when the Herron arrived and boy did it sound like my system had no bass (B&W 801's with no bass eh?) and the high end was ear piercing. I won't claim the thing is junk, it just didn't work on my system. I kept the MiniMax and opted for all Black Gates, Shinkoh resistors ,,and Mundorf SGO Mcaps with square getter Bugle Boys. The other real disappointment was after I got a Masters and was forced to live in a nice little duplex. I packed up my big system and used my (now) little Scott 299B with CDM1 speakers. I bought a Music Hall 5.1 with an Ortofon red and with that setup I wished I was deaf. The Ortofon sounded horrible compared to my Shelter, and the speed was off on the Music Hall. I called them up and they said it was impossible and I'm nuts. I wound up having to wrap 1/2" masking tape around the bottom of the platter to get the speed to 33 1/3. After moving and getting my set back together, I bought the 103 Denon cartridge and found no way to make it work with an SME IV arm so I got an AIRY iii copper and it sounded brittle as hell...so the new Shelter 901iii I love and is a keeper. pls excuse my rattling on. My hifi is a vehicle for music enjoyment, and upgrading/swapping is part of the journey my vehicle takes me on.

[@Jack96993]

I started out with Marantz 2265B in the early 80's then Nad, Denon and Yamaha Decided to up my game and bought VAC PA 100 100 tube amp and ARC LS15 tube pre amp back in 1995 I still have them to this day and are working flawlessly I've only replaced the tubes for both, once I still have a Spectron musical MK lll class D amp designed by John Ulrich Love the power/current this amp has and it weights 54 lbs!! But they are notorious for the right channel to stop working like mine 😢 i would love someone to look at but have no idea who to contact

[@craigaust3306]

Hi, Adrian. I enjoy your videos very much. Until today, I don’t recall you mentioning Cary Audio. I own one of their tube amps, and like it very much. I was wondering if you had any stories to tell regarding Cary.

[@mikejames-drummerreginacan1386]

Great video.

[@raspucin70]

On insane component heating up: I have two Technics GU-95 amps in my system (yes, cheap & powerful was the theme). I pretty much immediately noticed that they generate a lot of heat. What is baffling to me was that Technic did placed a cooling fan, but the trigger for the fan was tied to volume and not to *actual* heat. Even more baffling was that Technics sold these as a in-cabinet set-up, sandwiched between other components, with no air circulation whatsoever. So if you listen music on levels that were high but not high enough to have the fan turn on, within half an hour you couldnt touch the back of the amplifier. As soon as I noticed that, I bought couple of external $20 USB fans that now turn on when amp is on. Since then, they never go past luke-warm. Highly recommended.

[@adrianlow2114]

Lol. Thanks for sharing

[@robertmceuen3630]

Did the same thing. Works excellent. DC fans; they sold an adapter cord that plugged into the aux AC plug in on the back of my amp. Quiet and worked perfectly.

[@user-oz3dh7os7z]

....informative and candid reviews! Do any of you have time to give me your thoughts about how Mac's MS 500 Streamer matches up to Rose Audio's RS-150B streamer? I've read what I can, but am very confused. Thank you.

[@Reyfox1]

I love these videos! In the early days of "hi end", there was a lot of "flaky" equipment. Harry Pearson loved the Hurricanes. And for "hi end" they were really reasonably priced. I was contemplating the possibility, but all those tubes!!!! While tube rolling was fun, it was also very expensive.

[@enniol8043]

I remember back in the day, the Krell v Levinson was almost like a BMW v Mercedes debate. I do remember being a bit disappointed in hearing Levison and did love the big Krell Class A stuff. The D'Agostino products are so much better. Vintage audio reminds me somewhat of vintage cars, really nice to look at, brings back memories but the newer stuff is built better and sounds better.

[@stillastillsfan]

Not necessarily true. I use a 40-year old Luxman tube integrated amp that is better than anything I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot of amps. Built to last maybe 100 years!

[@user-jn9dl9px6r]

I still've the tva m200, I turned down the bias into class ab

[@dandinhofer9240]

I once had an antique FM Pedersen U.S. built (mono) tuner from the 50-60's that had a green magic eye tube. I loved the looks and the smooth sound. One day it overheated and almost burned down the house. Those things (tube components) are death traps. Neverrrrr again!!!

[@vendelius]

Great Insights.

[@colanitower]

I never heard of most of the gear before. I guess I'm lucky 😊

[@TomT-bn1lm]

Would have been interesting to get ahold of some of these in the early days, but I was a cheap-ish audiophile, always on the look out for a used or discount items. I did manage 20 years ago to aquire a Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 and a Museatex Melior 100 amp, but those separates were just not as good as the newer(used) gear. After 30years as an audiophile, I am at the point where I am willing and able to stretch the budget on used/new gear. This is the most fun time for me as an audiophile. Alot of your story is about OLD gear. How about a vid on newer gear that did not meet your expectations?

[@stevewoods8624]

Hi I had a CJ ET3 pre. Loved the sound but it was a tube eater. It had 1 tube and I was replacing it every 3 months. I moved to NOS tubes but still ate them . It could also be noisy. Like you say, love and hate relationship . Sold it to a collector and now have a Classé pre. So quite and I like the sound.

[@revo1336]

Same experience here. CT 3se burned through tubes . Will never buy CJ again.

[@gilbertwashburn7095]

Thanks for the great video I listen to music and repaired stereos for over 50 years and I agree with you a lot of that stuff was just not that great I had Conrad Johnson amplifiers and we used to kid around at the repair shop and called them time bombs cuz it just doesn't matter of when they would not work or blow up or crazy this sure sounded good when they worked have a great day keeps me inspired I still Tinker around

[@robertbubeck9194]

Owned a C-J Premier 3 and 4 about thirty years ago for a period of five years. They proved to be a dependable, "musical" pairing. However, I sold them when I switched speakers and the C-J dark colorations did not mate well with the new speakers. Connie-J units of the period were musical, but hardly neutral.

[@Thruxton88]

Integra. I had 2 of Integra Pre/Pro over the years, THX and great reviews. Both failed. Additionally, they didn't sound good. I realized they didn't sound good when I replace my last one with a NAD. What a difference in sound quality and it hasn't broken. I was very disappointed with the Integras. Thought I was buying something special and it wasn't.

[@wongwave7112]

You remain me the old days of Paragon, GAS Ampzilla, JBL 4000's, AR 11 & 10 pai, LST, Bose 901, Tandberg, Rogers LS35a, McIntosh XRT-20, Crown, SAE, Threshold, Marants 7 & 9, McIntosh 240 & 275, Gales, Quad, later on Philips CD100, ML20, Apogee, ARC M100, CJ Premier 1, Quick Silver, Counterpoint, VTL, Infiniti IRS, Celestion SL600, Theta, WA Watt/Entech, Snell Type AII, Mirage M1, SF Extrema, JA80 & 200, Krell KSA50, KSA100, KMA100, KRS100, Wadia 9...etc. I can fully agree with you on CJ Premier 1 and JA80 & 200. I eventually stopped tubes in the latest 90's and switched to class A mono blocks. You do refresh me with the days of the Excel and the Sound Chamber.

[@adrianlow2114]

Haha. Sounds like we’ve owned the same products

[@alpro3714]

As mentioned in a comment on your earlier video, I had the same experience with the A1. Mine had the "British Fidelity" label on it but I understand that they were the same amplifier... So sad because it sounded great. As mentioned, you should evaluate the new "reincarnated" version of the 2022-23 Musical Fidelity A1 .... If reliable, it would blow every other competitor in its price range (except for functionalities)

[@adrianlow2114]

Might just do that

[@user-jn9dl9px6r]

Turned down the bias.

[@VideoPLF]

Hi Adrian, what was your experience with Phase Linear 700, if any?

[@adrianlow2114]

I didn’t ever own any

[@ridirefain6606]

I currently use tube amps in my main system so my audio journey has been rife with a love-hate relationship towards them, to the point where I decided I would not use them ever again. Well, that recently change when I purchased the right brand known for their reliability and protective technologies. However, as stated in previous posts, in the late 90's I owned VTL MB-450's. No auto-bias back then and they were engineered with a sacrificial resistor. They were awful, and in constant need of repair, but I loved how they sounded. Also, I agree at that time getting reliable 6550c or KT88 tubes that had good quality control on them was pretty much non-existent. It has improved some, but the Russians really do not care if what they sold you is junk or not. I think what little quality assurance that exist today, is enforced by New Sensor's American owners and its customers, say like ARC. I do not find that pride in producing product of outstanding quality is built into their culture the same way it is in countries like, Switzerland, Japan, and/or Germany. I never heard of a rugged and reliable Russian made watch or car.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks for sharing and for the memories of earlyVTL and Manley.

[@simplereef4854]

My worst equipment is the Yamaha B-2. It sounds wonderful, but extremely nightmarish to fix.

[@stillastillsfan]

- Dynaco sca80q transistor integrated - transistors blew up yearly. Known design flaw. - Sun Audio 2a3 amplifier - horrendous sound quality - Magnepan 1.6qr - also awful sound

[@ptg01]

Like children, I am sure you love them all but they are most likely flawed ! :D Yes, Jadis are a royal pain... Gorgeous sounding and gorgeous to look at but so much trouble.

[@keithblume5159]

Most of the Jadis equipment that came in for service for me was equipment that had been modified. If I restored it to stock it was reliable.

[@ptg01]

@@keithblume5159 A buddy of mine has a super nice jadis amp (16 tubes?). Has to have a dealer bias it even though he is super proficient as it’s a very antiquated and dangerous) way of biasing. He is super frustrated but loves the sound.

[@keithblume5159]

@@ptg01 I would spend some money on a pair of the Defy7 Jadis if I had money to spend on amps

[@dan-qe1tb]

Local retailer got some Bose 901s. They want $800 for them. Salesman said I won't like them at all

[@robertpalawski208]

I miss my NAD 3020 but it made me so mad after it burned out it's 4th right channel I stuffed it in a garbage can. It sounded great when it worked, though.

[@CommanderGinyu]

Worst gear I’ve owned so far was a rotel ra-1572 mk2 integrated amp. Ugly looking black box with flimsy unsatisfying nobs and buttons. It sounded absolutely horrendous. No mids, no bass. Compressed and narrow soundstage, screaming obnoxious highs. I don’t know how on earth they could make an amp this bad. Only thing I know is that I will never ever own a rotel product again

[@richardgoldsmith8592]

Wow, that’s a current model that is heavily promoted. Sounds like one to avoid.

[@hansendy3708]

I had a CJ Premier 11a driving SF Electa Amator 2 for 7 years and Living Voice Obxr2 for 3 years. It was the most dependable amp Ive ever owned. At one point I went out of town and forgot to turn off the amp for a month and it did not go nuclear hehe. ARC Classic 60 otoh was horrible, blew resistors and tubes at a regular basis and after a while the sweet but monochromatic textureless sound also quickly lost appeal.

[@bmtdoc]

Ring Audio! I remember them, downtown To. Were the little speakers the LS3/5a?

[@adrianlow2114]

Yes

[@kreatorcuriosity232]

Audio research M300 mono, go into smoke!! When it works, sounds great

[@brown-eyedman4040]

Amazing how many of your worst products were highly rated in magazine reviews.

[@hangarsacto]

Wait a minute, what were the little speakers they blew you away at the start of this video??? You can’t leave is hanging!

[@adrianlow2114]

Roger’s LS 3/5A

[@dajikbatarang1]

All your stories about bad experience with tubes scare me from trying them.

[@douglasglanton4966]

I like this video do another one

[@user-jk5ek1fd8v]

I own a Premier Four and if you use the build-in red LED's to bias the tubes they will be destroyed in no time. Mine sounds very good with current Russian KT-77's, current EL-34's provide poor bass for my taste. Original Sovek's are a better EL-34 fit for added bass but still not as good as the KT-77's IMO. I keep the bias at 40ma (the auto bias runs at 55-60ma and sometimes beyond) and check them regularly. I sill get the most of the sound that you describe with longer tube life. Do not put NOS Mullard's ect. in this these amps, it's just not worth the risk.

[@adrianlow2114]

Thanks !!

[@bobr9605]

Being fairly new to HIFI, I was hoping someone could help clarify something for me. I have always loved listening to music and for most of my life was not in a position to spend the kind of money needed for truly good sound. To me, and hopefully it makes sense to you as well, is the fact that the absence of sound is what adds to the music. When there is a silent section of a song it should be silent. I don’t understand the concept that an amp can produce great anything, highs , mids, or lows if the amp has noise that has to be accepted. Am I just lucky and fortunate enough to get a class D amp that is quite to me? With a faint ground loop hum I was so annoyed I couldn’t enjoy anything until is was gone. I guess what I’m trying to say is clean sound seems to be a better goal then say a good bass sound. Thanks I’m just learning.

[@bobr9605]

Thank you, that kind of explains my theory. I’d did buy a high end class d and I guess some luck was had in getting what I really wanted out of it.

[@josenebrus8183]

Wonderful video Adrian 🎶💥🤪 I had more or less the same problem with 90 % of the gear mentioned. Sometimes it was a design flaw but most of the time it was just the way it was implemented (read: not taking time to finetune it at the factory). If I was in Canada or you in The Netherlands, I would be delighted to let you hear the difference between the original and one that is modified to your liking 😍 The bottom line is, always test what you're selling before it leaves your place. Make sure you test them at least 24 hours and be sure everything is okay at the owner's house before connecting anything! Thanks again for a wonderful video and have a wonderful weekend 👌🎶

[@volpedo2000]

Valve integrated Audio Innovation 500. Kept making funny noises, valve sockets were loose, cracks and pops. Repaired it three times and the layout was so bad it was a nightmare to repair. End up giving it away for free.

[@sevestan]

WTF Adrian....doesn't Canada have any UL listing? Love these little talks....."These are the Best" videos are such a bore.

[@MegaGronis]

an amplifier for 500 $ is good enough for me. i can't hear the difference between a 500 $ and a 50000 $ Amplifier

[@MegaGronis]

Better to spend 50000 $ on a car. I have spend 500 $ on Yamaha 5.1 home cinema facility. It sounds good.

[@alkiswood3586]

Back then i had A1and with an aluminum foil in top of it i made eggs,true

[@adrianlow2114]

Lol

[@tommyboy1628]

I think tube amps hate me

[@rtsfinest7301]

You couldn't give me a tube amplifier russian or chinese tubes 😂 it sounds like you're experiencing brown outs or tree branches on the line close to your property

[@larrymarcus7076]

why don't you sell audio research?

[@eugeneniemierzycki6490]

I can't beat this; Adrian, from Canada Audio Excellence sounds like bullshit? His guests do too.

[@JingoLoBa57]

Mate Drink water Use a jug and a glass

[@dennytsui7983]

All audio eqm will die soon or leter now japinese are selling there old stuff macintoch western electric 一new gen audio filery dont buy that stuff 二Rip all my antqut audio gem

[@cryptohonesty7662]

please take the gum out of your mouth next time.

[@f430ferrari5]

For the Mark Levinson issue, should have just returned to the seller. Not sure why you let him get away with it. The old I haven’t used it in a long time shouldn’t fly. Most of our own worst experiences are related to equipment which simply doesn’t work or stops working. Blown tweeter, bad tubes, degrading sound quality, no customer support. I never realized it at the time but my home audio equipment which I bought back in the late 90’s have lasted. Paradigm speakers use rubber surround and they have lasted all this time. Adcom and Acurus amps and pre-amps all working great. My only issue has been with M&K subwoofer. Foam surround just came apart. Same was the case for a pair of Rockford Fosgate subs. Pretty easy to replace though. The other issue with the M&K sub was the crossover knob and volume. Lots of distortion and crackling when adjusting. I actually got a hold of Mr Kreisel I believe and despite M&K no longer existing under original owners he was quite helpful. Gave me tips and pointers on how to fix issue. Just some electrical spray. First had to disconnect. But wasn’t that hard. After replacing the foam surround the sound did change. Overall system still sounds good. I’ve had more issues in the car stereo days. Nakamichi and Alpine had some issues. Sounded good but would have overheating issues and the tape deck for the Nak the door wouldn’t open at times.

[@TascamTascam]

I owned Jadis ja200s. Constant humming and buzzing for no apparent reasons. It sounded great most of the time, but it was an unreliable unstable piece of junk

[@Vercus100]

One of the worst audio experiences I had was with a VTL TL-2.5 preamp. It was hooked up to a VTL ST-85 power amp, which was connected to a pair of LaScalas. While the power amp worked fine, the preamp was super noisy, and very hard on tubes. On top of that, the LaScalas were so efficient, they amplified the noise even more, making it sound like there was a hurricane in the room. The LaScalas were also too harsh in the midrange for me. I swapped the preamp out for a Denon PRA-1500 and everything was dead quiet. Swapped the LaScalas out for Cornwalls and the sound improved even more. I ran that Denon -> VTL ST-85 -> Cornwall config for a few years and enjoyed it a lot. The preamp got sold for a loss.