Your most disappointing purchase or audition?


I've had a few.

bought a Naim Nait 3. Loved it in the store. Returned it within a week- way forward at home

Brought home some CJ preamp to audition perhaps 22 years ago. Noisy as anything and a turn off transient destroyed a tweeter (though years later i bought a CJ 17LS2 which I thought was the finest preamp I ever heard in my home)

Auditioned a VPI table (HW19) in a store- the store just could not get the belt to stay on. Bought a Rega instead. This was in perhaps 1990.

Fortunately, I never really experienced buyers remorse say 6 months or more after settling on a piece of gear.

Finally, there have been too many speakers that got stellar write ups which I just didn't care for.
128x128zavato
Jwm,
I think that part of the point that Tubes108 was trying to make was that he was not so much "upset" with Atmasphere, but like everyone else on this thread, was relaying what he considered his most disappointing purchase.
Congrats guys for coming about and giving Tubes 108 a fair shake. I heard of this particular set of amps. Problematic indeed.
I guess synergy has everything (or at a lot) to do with it.
I've had several vpi tables, incl. 3 different types of TNT, Lenco mod rim drives, (some over $4K) Technics 10, yada, yada, yada, but the rim drive TT Gem has been stable, reliable and quiet and I've trusted Larry on motor/controller upgrade and newer platter and each did exactly what he said it would. It's the best table I've had in 40 years and I trade a lot.

I've also liked every Nelson Pass amp and design I've heard or owned. They would sound threadbare in some systems/with some listening bias unlike mine.

VAC 30/30, Rowland 301s, various digital amps (including Rowland), every Onyx amp I ever tried, even some ARC's just didn't work out at all, but some of those sounded good in some friends systems.

I don't work for TT Weights or have any relationship with their products, just hate to see a product that I've used and liked for several years, with fantastic customer service, singled out as a "bad piece" without some context or explanation.

Your mileage may differ/always trust your ears.
Kiddman, Is it the atmasphere amps you speak of being problematic or a particular model atmasphere amps problematic?
Tubes108, my apologies. I lost sight you were just participating in the thread.