catman Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) G'day all, just speculating on this. I don't think that I've seriously hated any bits of audio gear, but I've certainly had love/hate relationships with some! Having said that though I never use my old (and still working perfectly) NAD 5420 CD player from the mid 1980's. Thankfully D/A converters have vastly improved since then. My present and much more recent NAD CD player sounds wonderful, but I just can't stand to listen to the 'old' NAD CD player anymore. It just sounds so 'hard' to my ears. Any others' experiences? Regards, Felix. Edited May 16, 2017 by catman
audiofeline Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 Well, a dry solder joint that causes intermittent operation does nothing for my love of a device! Same with a device blowing up a component and not working. Then have the service-person take months to fix the said broken device. Other than that, I have generally loved all my hifi gear. Loved it less when I've upgraded to something better which I love more. I have been disappointed with some gear I've bought (usually cheap stuff), but I more accept its' been made to a price-point that is under my current standards than to hate the item. 2
eman Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 20 minutes ago, catman said: G'day all, just speculating on this. I don't think that I've seriously hated any bits of audio gear, but I've certainly had love/hate relationships with some! Having said that though I never use my old (and still working perfectly) NAD 5420 CD player from the mid 1980's. Thankfully D/A converters have vastly improved since then. My present and much more recent NAD CD player sounds wonderful, but I just can't stand to listen to the 'old' NAD CD player anymore. It just sounds so 'hard' to my ears. Any others' experiences? Regards, Felix. Is NAD 5420 CD too early to have a Digital Out on the back ? I know the early 4 digit NAD CDs lacked that. At some point it came in and they sound fine with an outboard DAC. Doesn't really matter if your newer one works fine anyway. 1
Jventer Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 I had a dac once that was unlistenable on my main system, but nice on headphone system. I think it depends on expectations. I do have stuff that I don't use, because the sound irritates me - a bit hard to explain, but the sound just does not sound right and that irritates me so much that I have to switch it off. 1
Wimbo Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, catman said: G'day all, just speculating on this. I don't think that I've seriously hated any bits of audio gear, but I've certainly had love/hate relationships with some! Having said that though I never use my old (and still working perfectly) NAD 5420 CD player from the mid 1980's. Thankfully D/A converters have vastly improved since then. My present and much more recent NAD CD player sounds wonderful, but I just can't stand to listen to the 'old' NAD CD player anymore. It just sounds so 'hard' to my ears. Any others' experiences? Regards, Felix. Thats strange. The 5420 was the best affordable CD player I've heard. Far better then the early "5" series Meridians. Edited May 16, 2017 by Wimbo
Wimbo Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 1 hour ago, eman said: Is NAD 5420 CD too early to have a Digital Out on the back ? I know the early 4 digit NAD CDs lacked that. At some point it came in and they sound fine with an outboard DAC. Doesn't really matter if your newer one works fine anyway. The 5420 came out in 89. No digital out from what I remember. 1
catman Posted May 16, 2017 Author Posted May 16, 2017 G'day all, that's interesting! I seem to recall buying the 5420 a little earlier than '89, and yes it had only back panel analog outputs. It was impressive when first purchased at that time, but it sounds like a dog to me now, especially compared to present day standards. Regards, Felix.
Wimbo Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 35 minutes ago, catman said: G'day all, that's interesting! I seem to recall buying the 5420 a little earlier than '89, and yes it had only back panel analog outputs. It was impressive when first purchased at that time, but it sounds like a dog to me now, especially compared to present day standards. Regards, Felix. I never liked the earlier NAD's. Sounded like the Yamahas. I prefered the Marantz Mid 80's. The 5320 was boring.
Nigel Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 I've hated NAD ever since I came home early one day........ 1
powerav Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 4 hours ago, Jventer said: I had a dac once that was unlistenable on my main system, but nice on headphone system I found the NAD 1050 to be exactly like that.
GregWormald Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 A fair few years ago I brought 3 pre/amps home for a trial. One was OK but didn't seem to be a significant upgrade on what I had--despite the very significant upgrade in the cost. The second (ME 15/850) was MUCH better and took such a firm grip on the speakers that I felt they were being pushed and pulled by steel rods rather than "al dente" spaghetti. The third (which shall remain nameless) made the music sound so bad I felt physically ill after less than 30 seconds. I didn't believe this but over the course of the weekend I confirmed it a number of times. Greg 1
catman Posted May 16, 2017 Author Posted May 16, 2017 G'day mate, interesting. I wonder if it was that company's 'house' sound, or just seriously bad? Regards, Felix.
LogicprObe Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 Well............I plugged an external hard drive into my main computer and it blew up the motherboard! (a very expensive motherboard too) So..........tonight is garbage night and the external hard drive is in it! (the motherboard I might try and repair when I get time)
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted May 16, 2017 Volunteer Posted May 16, 2017 There's plenty of gear that I don't like. To be clear though, "not liking" is very different from 'disliking'. Even for gear that doesn't float my boat I can almost always understand what it is that other people see in it. 4
rantan Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 I once had a highly regarded pair of speakers ( known and adored here also ) that gave me a painful headache every time I listened to them and despite various placement and cable options I could never even get close to liking them. I tried them with 4 different amplifiers, 3 sets of cables and moved them around as much as was possible in the room, which is very forgiving and I had/have never had problems with any other speakers in that room However even though I am in a very small minority, I detest them 1
catman Posted May 16, 2017 Author Posted May 16, 2017 G'day all, speaking of speakers I did buy a set of pre built kit speakers that were assembled properly (I hope), and should of been excellent quality yet for some reason caused my amplifier to go into near destructive oscillation! They're now in a corner just gathering dust. An expensive mistake! Regards, Felix.
Steam Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 Poor product support from the dealer/manufacturer The kit may sometimes sound great but when you need help and discover that they don't want to know about it - unless to purchase another unit - it leaves a very sour taste.
Sub Sonic Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 1 hour ago, rantan said: I once had a highly regarded pair of speakers ( known and adored here also ) that gave me a painful headache every time I listened to them and despite various placement and cable options I could never even get close to liking them. I tried them with 4 different amplifiers, 3 sets of cables and moved them around as much as was possible in the room, which is very forgiving and I had/have never had problems with any other speakers in that room However even though I am in a very small minority, I detest them This didn't happen to be a Mk I. version did it? If it is what I'm thinking of, I'd agree 100%. Regards, SS
rantan Posted May 16, 2017 Posted May 16, 2017 Just now, Sub Sonic said: This didn't happen to be a Mk I. version did it? If it is what I'm thinking of, I'd agree 100%. Regards, SS I'm not 100% sure of what you have in mind, but they now have a new model with a 3 word model description
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted May 21, 2017 Posted May 21, 2017 The following: * Poor internal build quality (no names, but we all know a major culprit) * Poorly thought out servicability (which is pretty much every AV receiver made) * Poorly thought out design WRT cooling and component ratings * Use of obsolete or NLA (No Longer Available) components in critical locations * Inability to keep subsequent designs to the original thinking when the design was first released (IOW: Getting on the 'flavour of the month bandwaggon' * Deliberate sonic colouration 2
PleasantSounds Posted May 21, 2017 Posted May 21, 2017 Nothing to hate about the audio gear here. Sometimes though I hate myself for making stupid decisions.
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