Topic: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only) (Read 30464 times)

DefQon · « **Reply #180 on:** March 28, 2015, 11:08:57 AM »

Quote from: takato14 on February 17, 2015, 06:15:30 AM

Bang & Olufsen U70: Irredeemable mess of ortho fart. Compressed. Distorted. Grainy. Ugh.

Audatron SH-608R: You think Grados have problems with resonances? Try this fucker.

*Audio-Technica ATH-6: Electret. This was probably broken; nothing but distortion.

LOL. The way you described these two, gave me a good laugh. I'd say the ATH-6 has lost most of it's sensitivity due to increased resistance across the "dormant" electret film most likely stored away for too long or in poor conditions, leading to distortion. Got a well taken care of Numark ES-701 that does the same thing, just collapse as soon as sub bass kicks in, had my Sony ECR-400 and 500's do the same shit except I've converted them to full blown stats now.

x838nwy · « **Reply #181 on:** March 28, 2015, 04:35:40 PM »

Cannot think of 5, but my Sony XBA-40's simply sound wrong. Truly cannot see how Sony can consider selling these.

gogogasgas · « **Reply #182 on:** April 08, 2015, 12:29:45 AM »

I might be struggling here, in part because I rather praise the good than criticise what I consider, er, not good.

Audeze LCD 2 and 3 - I got very excited about these...twice as you can see. HF is partly to blame, but I accept 98% for the rest. I thought that the amp was the problem (all that praise in reviews, so it must be something wrong with the rest of my rig, right?). I tried them with three amps - a Violectric V200 (hey, this amp is not bad at all IMHO), DAC/amp separates from Audio GD's top end and a Lehmann HP amp. I had some very nice pure silver cables made for them, and that did add some sparkle and speed, but...
What can I say? Firstly, they sound muddy across the frequency range (although through the veil I think they had an extended FR). Secondly, they seem to squash dynamics a tad and suck a bit of life out of music, especially rock and dance. Poor PRaT? The bass (lower and upper) is fulsome but without enough zing or definition. The highs are there, but they are veiled without much sparkle. Thirdly, these cans are very uncomfortable - heavy, hot and awkward to wear. Lastly, from memory and it was a while ago, I think the sound staging and channel separation were just average.

Over the years, there have been other pieces of kit that have dissappointed:
Paradigm studio monitors - I bought a model from the basic line, thought the studio series would be better...I was wrong.
Sennheiser HD280 - I bought these to monitor while I edited video. Like listening to 'sound' using two paper cups.
And other gear that I am trying to forget...Spendor loudspeakers, single ended valve power amps, valve pre-amps, multi-channel/surround amps, Rega turntables and so on.

DGCFAD · « **Reply #183 on:** April 10, 2015, 01:34:25 AM »

Over the last 50 years I've heard a lot of bad, very bad, most of it I have forgotten, because it was bad! I will probably get into trouble for posting here, so forgive me for not mentioning a lot of the obvious.
1. Monster Cable speaker wire, being someone with an electronics background, I was very hard to sell on the idea that speaker cable (given sufficient current capabilities) could possibly make any difference, but a friend lent me his Monster Cable to replace my 14 gauge with the assurance that I would hear a difference, and I was completely blown away by the result. It sounded worse, much worse! The bass was tubby and undefined, and all the detail had vanished. The sound field collapsed entirely. So I was forced to research, and do a lot of listening, and finally come up with my own cables that I use to this day (this was sometime in the early 80's).
2 & 3. The worst "A" rated speakers I ever heard were the Infinity Betas (the high frequencies are so harsh that they give me headaches after only a few minutes listening) until I heard the Watts, which have the same issue only to a greater extreme, actually I have a problem with a lot of High-end gear that mistakes over emphasized high frequencies for greater detail.
4. Most car audio, especially supposed high end rigs, or factory set ups.
5. Having just dipped my toe into this new world of high-end headphones, IEMs, DACs and Amps and this complex market of "objective" vs "subjective" sound, I am sure the worst is yet to come.

smitty1110 · « **Reply #184 on:** April 10, 2015, 02:10:52 AM »

1-5 for me were all various motherboard onboard audio solutions, including several that were "audiophile" oriented. Pro tip - if one of the major selling points is that it uses audiophile caps, then they're overcharging you. A lot. Nothing bothers me like the noise a gaming graphics card makes when it fires up and wrecks havoc on the audio chipset right next to it. Try it sometime, it will make you cry a little.

Thad E Ginathom · « **Reply #185 on:** April 10, 2015, 06:36:56 AM »

Quote from: DGCFAD on April 10, 2015, 01:34:25 AM

I was very hard to sell on the idea that speaker cable (given sufficient current capabilities) could possibly make any difference ...

Yeah, me too. Although without the electronics education to back it up, I am now convinced that 99% of the audiophile cable stuff is absolute bullshit. However, it seems that there was a speaker cable that had electrical characteristics that tended to blow up some amplifiers. That's a pretty blunt way to prove that cables can make a difference!

.

I think it might have been called cobra, but if I am wrong, and thus maligning some cable that may be innocent of everything other than being overpriced, then I apologize.

No idea what it sounded like before the explosion, but I guess it was pretty bad during ...and afterwards

DaveBSC · « **Reply #186 on:** April 10, 2015, 06:59:55 PM »

Quote from: Thad E Ginathom on April 10, 2015, 06:36:56 AM

Yeah, me too. Although without the electronics education to back it up, I am now convinced that 99% of the audiophile cable stuff is absolute bullshit. However, it seems that there was a speaker cable that had electrical characteristics that tended to blow up some amplifiers. That's a pretty blunt way to prove that cables can make a difference! .

I think it might have been called cobra, but if I am wrong, and thus maligning some cable that may be innocent of everything other than being overpriced, then I apologize.

No idea what it sounded like before the explosion, but I guess it was pretty bad during ...and afterwards

It's actually pretty easy to blow up a Naim amplifier - don't use Naim NACA5 speaker cable. Naim builds its amps without a zobel network on the output, they think it sounds better that way. The downside is that the amp must see a low capacitance load from the connected speaker cable, or it can become unstable. NACA5 is 16pF per meter, and you must use at least a 3.5 meter run of it, even if your speakers are two feet from the amp. From what I've read you can use a similarly low capacitance cable and probably get away with it, but if you use a high capacitance cable, you'll very likely kill the amp.

I remember reading about a test done between a heavy gauge, zip cord style speaker cable and a higher end type that showed around 0.4dB of difference in response in the mid-treble region, which is nothing to sneeze at. Does that mean you should go out and spend $1K on speaker cables? Perhaps not, but it does suggest that the idea that there is NO difference between ALL speaker cables is untrue.

Chris F · « **Reply #187 on:** April 10, 2015, 07:50:05 PM »

Last weekend I had the distinct displeasure of having to play a DJ set using some Behringer Eurolive (model??? I think 1220) active PA speakers. They had possibly the most offensive high mids/treble I have ever heard from a speaker system. Even with heavy handed EQ to drop the treble down it was still piercing, grainy, rough.... just about every negative attribute you could possibly attribute to sound reproduction. Literally headache inducing. I realize the retail on these is sub $200 but man..... I beg anyone considering these as a budget PA to stay the F away and buy some used entry level EV or Yorkville for very slightly more. ANYTHING else really.

Armaegis · « **Reply #188 on:** April 10, 2015, 08:40:51 PM »

Ugh, I'd rather DJ off a guitar amp than a Behringer. For $250 a pop you can get some dinky Mackie SRM150's that'll sound better. Into $300-ish and you'll find a couple ok Yamaha or Peavey cabs, skip the Mackie Thump and Yorkville Pulse range stuff here, but heck at this price range just rent your gear. At $400 you can get the entry Mackie SRM350, Yamaha DRXsomething, JBL EONsomething which should be your bare minimum, maybe luck out on a sale and get the one step up in the line. I like Yorkville stuff and have used their NX and Elite line, but their prices aren't cheap anymore, and they're not really popular outside of Canada. Once you're into that price range then you've got QSC and the higher range Yammies, JBLs, etc.

takato14 · « **Reply #189 on:** May 14, 2015, 07:16:37 PM »

Think it's about time I updated this...

In no particular order:

Audez'e LCD-1: Stock HD800? Nope. Grados? Nuh-uh. These take the cake. The cold, shrill, piercing, shrieking cake. Think TH600, tilted up, plus peaks, without a single iota of warmth or bass emphasis.

Sony MDR-SA3000: Lowest fidelity known to man. Grainier than fucking sandpaper. Bass and treble have been lopped off with a machete. Distant, cupped presentation only makes it worse.

Pioneer SE-700: Place a headphone inside a C clamp and attach it to your head, and you have the general idea. No padding, no bass, no treble. Headstage has been smashed into skull with a jackhammer. Less efficient than the HE-6.

Bang & Olufsen U70: Just tried this one again yesterday. Nothing but huge low quality bass. Ortho Beats. Except I'd take the old Studios over these based on sound alone. Factor in comfort, and I'd rather be deaf.

BEYER DT48S 5 ohm: PFFFFF. This? Are you fucking kidding me? THIS is the crown jewel of vintage DT48s? I mean, if you listen to nothing but transients, this would be perfect... Oh wait.

Author Topic: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only) (Read 30464 times)

DefQon

Re: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only)

x838nwy

Re: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only)

gogogasgas

Re: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only)

DGCFAD

Re: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only)

smitty1110

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Thad E Ginathom

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DaveBSC

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Chris F

Re: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only)

Armaegis

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takato14

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Author Topic: Five Worst Pieces of Audio Gear You've Heard (Members Only) (Read 30464 times)