What Were Some Of The Worst Speakers You Have Owned ?

Hey, we have all made "mistakes" ?
My audio mentor used to say "there are no mistakes in life, only learning experiences"!

Here are some of my 'learning experiences" YMMV

Watkins WE 1 - bought based on Stereophile review, dull, no image, bland

Martin Logan Original Monoliths - spent over 10 grand on electronics, never worked out

Klipschorns - woody coloration in lower mids, no matter what

Belle Klipsch - Same woody sound, even worse

JBL L7 - Sounded like 4 separate drivers, no imaging, screechy titanium tweeter, hands cupped around the mouth coloration.

Athena FS 2 - ragged tweeter with excessive sibilance

B&W CDM 1 NT - Brightness unchained, as harsh as lifetime alimony

Kef 104 - I think that's the model ? small box with UNI Q and bass eq.
Very dull, almost muted sounding

Eminent Technology LFT 8a's - ungodly inefficient and dynamically limited, no bass impact, woofer constantly bottomed out, and zingy sounding with rolled off top end.
It did have some good moments though, and design has some promise.

Infinity Interlude 60's - Very dull, unmusical bland sound, so so imaging, absolutely tremendous bass though.

I have had some other "disappointments" that I cant remember right now.
Let's hear about your "learning experiences" ??

I bought a pair of Bose speakers once...

Scott

Plastic Yorx cones. About 4" deep and a foot high (all 20 grams of 'em).

Those were my first as a kid and I still see their brothers and sisters way too often!

For the money, Aerial 6s were the worst I ever owned. They sounded and looked great in the store. But once I got them home they simply never lived up to the cost. Bass was 'missing in action'. Was running a McIntosh MC-500 at the time, so wasn't a lack of power. After two years I gave up and moved on. A real loser (money and time).

Yamaha B-2 said:

For the money, Aerial 6s were the worst I ever owned. They sounded and looked great in the store. But once I got them home they simply never lived up to the cost. Bass was 'missing in action'. Was running a McIntosh MC-500 at the time, so wasn't a lack of power. After two years I gave up and moved on. A real loser (money and time).

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Did you know that Mike Kelly was once an ADS engineer ?
Mike left ADS and started Aerial Acoustics.
I stayed away from them for some reason, probably because they were so overpriced, in my opinion, for what you got.
They were as expensive as B&w 801's , the Aerial 10's were, and I didnt think they offered as much engineering, and still dont.

Recipe for instant buyers remorse

Sansui sp-x 9000. Not terrible, but for what I paid, not good enough.

Fortunately, people pay top dollar for them on ebay if they are in nice condition, so I got most of my money back.

I Forgot To ADD The Kenwood Speakers !

fropiler said:

Sansui sp-x 9000. Not terrible, but for what I paid, not good enough.

Fortunately, people pay top dollar for them on ebay if they are in nice condition, so I got most of my money back.

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I had high hopes for them!
They had the additional wires running back to the amps, to correct them.
They werent all that good either, I took them back, quick!
Never heard the Sansui's, but in all I have a lot of respect for old Sansui equipment, and some receivers too.
For some reason, when I hear people say "Sansewer" I get angry.
Maybe some later stuff, but Sansui once meant quality, and excellent sound!
I had an old Sansui integrated using x balanced topology, whatever that meant ?
It meant that it sounded sweet, and it was built like a brick out house.

I just picked up some old Pioneer speakers from Goodwill last month, and they are incredibly musical.
They are a 10 inch 3 way, all paper drivers, and 96 db efficient.
They sound like music.
A little colored on speech, but musical as hell.

Bose :thumbsdn:

The worst? I currently have a pair of Infinity RS-5000's that would have to qualify as the worst I've ever owned. They aren't terrible, they're just very predictable store-bought Best-Buy kinda speakers. Use 'em to test gear, and they do fine for that.

Not A Bose Basher Here

SPL db said:

I bought a pair of Bose speakers once...

Scott

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I know it is "politically correct" THESE days, to bash Bose.
But this is an old school audiophile here, and I have heard Bose 901's sound pleasant before.
Actually, on old Mercury recordings, using a simple crossed pair of stereo microphones, they can sound quite good.
Todays multi miked recordings, and home theatre environments are not kind to Professor Bose's creations.
They need an uninterrupted back wall, and need to be given the care in placement one would give a Magnepan or Electrostatic Dipole.
Sometimes re arranging furniture, or room treatments are in order.
But, they are not awful, properly set up. far from it, if you like what they do to the sound.
Much like the Ohm F's I owned, and loved for years, they are for everybody.
The Ohm F is an omnidirectional speaker, and the room p-lays an important role in it's sound.
As an American, it Kinda hurts to see Doctor Bose and MIT ridiculed, yet Floyd Toole and the Canadien NRC get praised like they have re invented the freaking wheel!
And, pray tell, have our Canadian friends "found out" about speakers.
Here is the jist of what they "discovered"
"a speaker of wide bandwidth, with low distortion and flat frequency response, and a uniform off axis response sounds best to most listeners in controlled, double blind experiments done at the NRC"

Gee, no kidding ?
Well sports fans, our good old Americans, and fellow Michiganders at Electrovoice "discovered" this in the freaking 70's!

I quote the Electrovoice Interface D's owners manual "" The Electrovoice Interface D is a speaker of unusual efficiency and bandwidth, offering response from 28hz to past 20khz + or - 3 db.
The midrange driver is vented to reduce cone excursion, and minimize distortion at critical midrange frequencies.
The polar response of Interface D is the most uniform ever measured in our full sized Anechoic Chamber at 45 degrees off axis in the horizontal plane, and 30 degrees vertically.

Have the Canadians really "discovered" anything we didnt already know ?

original mounted car speakers
this has to be changed

ka7niq, ease up on us Canadians would ya, lol!

Klipsch chorus 2's were a horrible dissapointment. I had a huge pair of coral bx1500's that looked like they would sound great and they almost sounded as bad as the klipsches. I had a pair of polk rt 1000's that never sounded right from day one. Play the game long enough and you end up with a sonic turd here and there.

All the Klipsch I ever heard, as well as the entire Pioneer CS series (let's throw all the Sansui's in for good measure). People actually pay good money for this stuff.

I had a nice pair of big, heavy quality vintage speakers on loan to a friend. i got them, and they went straight to the loft- spent a total of a few minutes with me. A nice, heavy big vintage model, either EPIs, KEFs, KLHs, cannot recall- got into a car accident , was layed up for months and months, then therapy, and never got to listen to 'em or see them again. I just recalled how nice and heavy they were, and was told how they filled this massive loft with sounds like angels singing.

My friend brought them back to me recently. Somehow they transformed into Fishers, the kind with built-in cord. I was able to lift 'em each with my pinky finger. Guess how bad they sounded? Seems my friend's roomate made a swap. That rotten SOB, he knew me, knew I was in an accident, and peddled some thrift-find Fishers in to replace my loaners.They sounded even worse knowing the roomate burned me intentionally, really kicked me when I was down.

The guy makes mucho bucks- a bachelor with a large 6-figure salary and wealthy family.

I don't normally like to wish anyone ill will, but in this case, may he develop ear hemmorhoids, and may his condoms turn to 80-grit sandpaper- rough side in.

My old Radio Shack Optimus 5b's. Even as a teenager in high school I did'nt like them.

So why did I buy them then? well, all those years ago back in 1977 my Uncle owned a Radio Shack franchise. He gave me a good deal...(It still took 2 Mcdonalds paychecks!)...maybe NOT so good a deal. Radio Shack sold 'em for 119.95 each. Ole Unc let me have them for $75.00 each, but I bought 'em "blind" over the phone. That was my very first lesson in life about audio.....ALWAYS hear a speaker before you buy it.


Russ

Bose 501's, by far. I got them in a trade 20-some years ago. I would rather have a box of 16-penny nails pounded into my skull than to have to listen to those abominations. I couldn't even give them away. I ended up leaving them in a friend's apartment and never coming back for them. He's actually still mad at me about that.

I had some ATL (atlantis?) speakers I bought when I was 13 or 14. they didnt sound horrible, but they were mediocre in every possible way. They were 3 ways with 10" woofers. The cabinets were light, the drivers cheap. At least they were fairly efficient. They were stolen out of storage while I was moving in the late 80's along with an Eico hf-81. I miss the Eico, but I dont miss those speakers at all. As 3-ways, they werent even good kabuki.

John

Even for free, the Kipsch Heresy was a stinker. Shrill, and middy; sounded appropriate for sound reinforcement in a school auditorium, but they were not hi-fi.

Next up is the Pioneer CS-88A. Having owned a pair of CS-99’s at one time, I was hoping for the same, but on a smaller scale. Virtually no bass, colored mids, but decent highs. I traded mine for Altecs. I know. I got the bad end of the deal there.

Bose 701 series ?. The one with the dual 8-inch drivers in a band pass enclosure. Very one note bass, virtually no lower mid-range, higher midrange, or highs. This speaker was epitome of the saying “No highs, no lows, gotta be Bose.”. Fortunately at a neighborhood wide rummage sale, the very name “Bose” put $400 in my pocket.

Optimus/RCA Pro LX 5. Now this was someone’s cruel joke. I remember Stereo Review (before it became Stereo Review’s iPod Home and Garden Tractor Trailer iPod Playstaion Computer Gaming Monthly Sound, Vision, iPod, and Smell) was proclaiming that this was the best “budget” speaker you could get. At an MRSP of $149/pr (or was that each?), it was anything but. Sure it had a downgraded Linaeum tweeter, but that was all it had. Meanwhile, there were really good budget speakers out there, such as the Wharfedale Diamond 6R that were much more worthy of attention. Mine ended up being canon fodder for testing amps until they finally died.

Some dishonorable mentions are the AR94 (lacked energy), the Wharfedale Modus Vivendi Line (if you’re going to build a sub-sat system, at least do it right), and a particular EV speaker, which I cannot recall the model number of, but it had a weak 8-inch woofer and a so-so dome tweeter.

Empire Grenaderes. 15" downward facing woofer. Muddy.

Bought to disturb the guy who lived in the apartment downstairs.

On that point, they didn't disappoint.