What gear do you HATE?

[Cosmic]

To get the basics out of the way:

Bose (for their obscene marketing and pricing.)
Monster Cable (for their obscene marketing and pricing.)

Ok....

Bang and Olufsen (and I am Danish, grew up with their stuff in the 70es :sigh:
'Elegant' yet cheaply built and completely average-sounding. Sliding volume control 'bands' made from cheap rubber? Turntables that bounce like a Jack-in-a box? High-end? No, and no thanks.

Cerwin-Vega: between the chainsaw treble and the nauseating gobs of undampened lows, once was enough...

AKG headphones (this is a love/hate thing): I love the sound quality, and the wear comfort. I am on my third pair. And that is the problem: CONSTRUCTION!! The wire in the headband, the knuckle that holds the earcup...they don't LAST! I treat them gently; I only use them at home, and they still end up as if they have just been on tour....not good enough.

Teac X1000/2000 reel-to-reel machines. They are beautiful-looking, with nice features....why do they then have clunky servos and weak motors when they are supposed to be the 'statement models' in the line? I'll take an old Sony or Crown instead.

Other heavy dislikes:
Things that don't have pull-out boards for easy service.
Things that have black-on-black labeling in the back.
Things with menus for the most obvious daily functions.
Apart from a slab for the turntable, bizarre gizmos selling for a fortune that claim to 'improve sound.'

The fact that XLR connectors didn't become the standard for gear above a certain price point.

How well-made, small-scale, (sometimes hand-made) gear is now being scoffed at as 'elitist' when in fact it represents the last gasp of the days of really fine construction and reliability.

That's enough, don't want to get bitter now....

C

 

[Dwartz]

I wish I could meet whomever came up with the design of today's car audio: tiny buttons and stupid flashy displays. They're probably the children of those who designed Pyramid et al car amps with "1000 watts per channel."

#2 - It's a shame that so many brand names that are junk today were once (in most cases before we were born) quality brands: Fisher, Scott, Crosley, etc.

#3 - Pretty hard to find nowadays, but when I was a kid, it used to drive me crazy when some neighbor would show off his Zenith or Capehart or whatever console and tell me how great it sounded. Still makes me shudder. (hey, 2 more names that made good stuff - before I was born!)

 

[Mattwizz3]

I've already ranted about this in a few threads, but I should definately add it here.

STK's! No matter how good it is, I cant get into it. A discrete amp is like having a naked model, GREAT! An STK amp is like having a cardboard cutout of a naked model.. OK I guess but gets old pretty quick. Seriously though, havnt had one bit of gear with STK's that I've liked.

 

[Splatter Pak]

I hate any gear that I scrounge, only to find out when I get it home, that it is dead, dead, DEAD. Lesson learned - it it does not at least power up, I move on. That can be a problem at flea markets, but I manage somehow.

 

[stereorob]

its a yammy cr-2040, not a big yammy fan, but i like this one, i had a cr-2020 for awile too, not bad units! nice receiver bro!

 

[stereorob]

got a sansui 5000-a a few weeks back, it was fried.

 

[stereorob]

YES!! THE GOOD OLD CRAPPY STK AMPS THESE ARE ABOUT AS BAD AS THEY GET!!
can anyone say DARLINGTON POWER PACK LOL!

 

[klama2006]

Adcom amps, and pre amps.

and possibly Vandersteen twos.

 

[fneece]

It would be a boring world

It would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing.
Anything black and plastic. Also Pioneer I own a lot of it but it's a love hate relationship. Kind of like the girl who treated you like crap but you kept going back. Box systems whats then fun in that.

 

[mark kovach]

Anything from Sony that's newer than 1987. That's the year they decided to sell one product to everyone in the world. That's the year they stopped caring about the customer after they bought that one product. That was the year that Sony decided that they could live off of their reputation, and begin offering products that were no better than their competitors though claiming that they were. That's the year that I was reminded of a phrase that I heard as a kid back in the early 60's; "Cheap Japanese junk!"

 

[john_w]

Anything from Sony that's newer than 1987. That's the year they decided to sell one product to everyone in the world. That's the year they stopped caring about the customer after they bought that one product. That was the year that Sony decided that they could live off of their reputation, and begin offering products that were no better than their competitors though claiming that they were. That's the year that I was reminded of a phrase that I heard as a kid back in the early 60's; "Cheap Japanese junk!"

That kind of makes sense. I've wondered why a lot of people don't like Sony. The few Sony products I've owned are pre-1983, and they were great products. (2 of 3 are still running, with only a couple of quirks. The third I abused pretty badly but it still lasted quite a while.) Yet another cool company joined the BPC era, just maybe a little later than others.

 

[Goldstrat]

1. I hate Bose the most like many other people in this thread. My mom wants one of those Wave radios for Christmas. My best bud refinished his basement had a party and guess what Bose Wave with the expensive cd changer. He couldn't wait to show it to me. It really sounds like ass but I couldn't tell him that since he probably spent close to $1000 for a clock radio.

2. Klipsch speakers. I never heard a pair that didn't hurt my ears.
3. Infiniti - also too bright but not as bad as the Klipsch.
4. McIntosh - Looks cool and made well but always sounds very boring to me.
5. Cd Changers. I had an Adcom GCD-600 that sucked compared to the older
575 single cd player and I always have had problems with it. In fact I
think I will smash it tomorrow!

 

[donberry]

hate - never hated a piece of gear. had quite a few pieces that were disappointing, but could just be they did not fit into my system well.

 

[tredwards]

i don't like sony ,cheap-did i say cheap i ment cheap, i think music should sound full and powerful at low volume, i hate to hear it played to where all you can think of is "cut it down" i hhave a pair of bose 901 ser. 2 old school and drive them with a sansui au-719 they sound just as good as any think i heard, but thats opinoins for ya

 

[chef free]

AKG headphones are wimpy, they just don't hold up! Any over priced product from Monster Cable, just get some lamp cord! JVC = junk via China. Sony, poorly made sounds dull. Same for Yamaha!