Top Ten "Reasons I Don't Like This Component"


Many of us have had the short term experience of demoing or acquiring a piece of gear that, when we installed it in our systems, we soon realized that it wasn’t going to work.

An example I recently cited was after home demoing a CJ 17LS preamp years ago. I couldn’t stand the banging sound of the volume relays while adjusting. The unit sounded fine enough musically but this particular feature was intolerable.

What other features or quirks of components have you had similar experiences with over the short term? I’m not talking about chronic upgraditis, which most of us are afllicted with, just short term experiences that make us say, "this does not work for me."

No need to list ten reasons, just one or two. I'll keep a tab on them and summarize later.
stevecham
After sound quality, the first make/break for me is ergonomics and fit/finish. That speaks volumes about how much the manufacturer thought about the end-user impression and experience. Manufacturers who place form over function don’t stand a chance with me. 
I think it’s interesting that Audio Research preamps are designed for left handed folks with the volume control being to the left of the selector switch and the furthest left dial on the face plate. Conrad-johnson being designed for right handed folks. 

My Naim amps have a quirk that dates back to their professional heritage. The right speaker cable attaches to the left most connectors on the back of the amp. The left speaker cable to the furthest right connectors. Should you site the amp between the speakers the speaker wires will cross.

I am not fond of controls to change gain and loading on a phono preamp requiring removal of the case. 

None of these ergonomic foibles are deal breakers though.
I had a good quality Class D amp for 14 months, I figured out it was musically non-involving to me because I was listening a lot less. However, the amp had high resolution and a wide but not deep soundstage. I just sounded artificial after a while.