It's October I want to hear horror stories about equipment.

I once bought a $5000 amplifier [the brand will remain nameless] that blew up (smoked) when I turned it on the first time. Luckily the warranty covered the repairs.

I also had an amp that (when I first hooked it up) osilated, and it ended up blowin some of the drivers on my right channel.

Anyway, after both incidents, I was pretty upset. These are the risks you run when you buy used gear. Luckily the above two incidents only cost me about $200 total for shipping and repairs.

Peace.

Keith

How about a horror story with a happy ending? I purchased a used Music Reference RM5 III preamp through an online auction. Corresponding before bidding, the owner was well spoken and articulate, offering no overt reason to be wary. When the pre arrived, it was DOA, only a slight line level signal squeaking through. Off it went to Music Reference, where Roger Modjeski quickly repaired an open circuit in the transformer. It comes back, makes glorious music for about two weeks and then goes dead again! I was very frustrated at this point, needless to say. Back it goes again, only to arrive at Roger's shop alive and well. Roger has to play it several day to get it to act up again. When it did, he discovered there was another intermittent open circuit deeper in the windings of the dual voltage stock transformer. He replaced the part with a new single voltage unit, and then shipped it back to me at no charge. I wasn't upset with Roger, as these things do occasionally happen with electronics. All's well now, it's been trouble free, and Music Reference has a loyal customer in the future.

I bought someone else's horror story once. A pair of Thiel CS3.0's a while ago. Bought 'em for $300. Seems the wife was not happy when she discovered how much hubby had paid, and took a small axe to the side of one speaker. In my room I was able to place these so the damage was not visible. I actually sold them for $500! The new owner was happy, he got great speakers with a history to tell! Be careful guys, you never know what honey might do whilst you are sleeping!

Paul

Worst product design...Sylvania receiver (circa late 1972). My dad worked for them, and higher power receivers (50 wpc) were starting to be introduced due to transistor cicuitry. Employee discounts were HUGE, I was a freshman at U. Miami (Fla.) and I wanted to rock the dorm! When the FM multiplex IC went bad, a buddy and I replaced it. Disassembly proceedure: remove several mounting screws from both front and back panels, disconnect and remove the front (control) and back (input/output rca jacks) panels connected via MUTIPLE JUMPER CABLES, remove the power transformer WHICH WAS BOLTED DIRECTLY TO THE WOOD CABINET (I kid you not!...more jumper cables!) Slide the circuit board (only one HUGE flimsy board...no sub boards) out of either end of the now hollow (open ended) wood cabinet! This board was also not mounted on any kind of metal chasis! Disassemble/reassemble time 1 hour plus! And this from a company that built electronics for the defense industry!