Have you changed your mind about a brand? Was it you, or them?
I've changed my mind about many things. Beer for instance. Now I can really only drink IPAs and dark beers. Lagers? Phooey. This is very different than what I drank in my 20s though.
Same for audio gear.
So let me ask all of you, are there brands or equipment you've changed your mind about, for better or worse? And if so, why? It doesn't have to be a brand, it can be a TYPE or technology.
For instance, I used to love Ti and Be tweeters. Now usually can't listen to them.
Just discovered this thread/your post re: YBA - a few comments to clarify:
● All YBA products are designed by the founder, Yves-Bernard André, in France ● Yves-Bernard André is Chief Designer
● Yves-Bernard André remains a part of the ownership team ● All production is under YBA's supervision & training
● Depending on series, most/all of the parts are French sourced to Yves-Bernard's specs ● All Signature production is Quality checked/tested by Yves-Bernard André ● Any required servicing by our US Authorized technicians in Austin,TX
IPA, golden loggers or Mexican brews in the Summer; amber ales or dark loggers when it cools down; Montana brewed Kettle House "Cold Smoke" Scottish Ale, any time.
I agree with mijostyn regarding Krell. Their early model KSAs and KSTs had a problem with caps failing from heat. I had an early model KST that failed after just a few years. When I called customer service to see if I could send it in to get upgraded and repaired (I explained that I wasn't expecting for free, that I just needed it fixed) they said that they were no longer supporting repairs on that model and would not suggest anyplace I could send it for repairs. They did offer to sell me a new one, at full price of course. Done with Krell.
I had a ten year old Bryston power amp, that I sent in to have the switch repaired. It came back a couple of weeks later, with a new switch, a list of upgraded parts, re-biased, cleaned and looking and sounding like new - no charge.
Loved my mid 80s, British made, Quad ESL 63s. They served me flawlessly for nearly 25 years and I only sold them when work opportunities meant moving into a much smaller living space. When I moved back into a larger home, I considered the new Quads, but stories of their unreliable performance after moving to China, led me away from the Quads and am now most happy to have gone with the Maggies.....Jim
I was reading some of the other posts and just remembered my foray into Tube Gear...
I frequented a store that actively promoted Raysonic - and I "admired" a very nice SP120.
At the time, I was using a Yamaha 5.1 receiver in my audio system, so the Raysonic was a welcome upgrade in tonal quality and LOOKS!.
Ah - the warm glow of those tubes was hard to resist and the polished silver/gold case - it looked the part as well.
Fast forward 6 months and I purchased the first set of replacement tubes.
After SIX MONTHS ? is that all I get out of a set of $400 tubes ?
So I google'd Raysonic - to keep a long story short - I had to have the entire thing reconditioned, to take care of a shortcomings in the transformer and some key design flaws in the circuit design - ca-ching $300 - AND another set of tubes -$400
Needless to say Raysonic is now OFF my Christmas list
So I went back to solid state.
But - I have come to realize not all tube gear is created equal. :-)
Steve - yowsa, your experience would have me in same place. I have a lore hate relationship with my Unitiserve and so far ( 3 years ) a love relationship with the Atom. Best wishes to you kind sir!
@tomic601 - I have no doubt the Atom sounds good - most NAIM gear sounds great. Dynamic, detailed, neutral etc...
But due to their design "direction" with their amps - i.e. having to replace the power supply capacitors after 10-12 years - I’ll never buy another Naim product ever again - it left a BAD Taste.
BTW - 10-12 years is not just a "recommendation" as in... - "it will keep working but might not sound as good" type of recommendation - noooooo - My NAIT 5i stopped working completely - KAPUT !
So after 10 years I was left with a couple of options - a boat anchor (but I don’t have a boat) - or pay the $430 CDN to have it fixed
So after I had it fixed, I sold it for $650 CDN - that’s a whole $220 back on my original investment of $1700 after 10 years. What a BARGAIN - I THINK NOT
BTW - Naim also tells you to leave the gear powered on 24/7 - well I did that - look how well that turned out.:-(
I would recommend all NAIM owners TURN OFF your Naim gear after every session. You might just get 12 years out of your NAIM gear.
AND what's with the NAIM power-on thump? - almost every other amp out there has "soft start" circuitry which DOES NOT impair performance. Naim are just too lazy to include it - it's part of their "brand identifiers" - a very bad part.
There is no longer any reason to get hooked on NAIM - it used to be one of the most dynamic amps out there - but things change and there are always new companies snapping at your heals in the hifi game.
There is a huge selection of gear than can compete with NAIM these days. e.g. Bryston - sounds better than my NAIM and comes with a 20 year warranty - yes, that's a 20 year WARRANTY, not a "recommendation" - and they live by it and will fix it if it should fail.
As said above - NAIM is living on past glories - they really should wake up and smell the coffee !
BTW - I’m not bitter - but I am a whole lot wiser (and poorer) :-)
I never had much of an impression of Rega, and when I tried a headphone amp I was severely disappointed. The Project I ended up with was nearly an identical circuit, but with a far better power supply filtration. One cost $90, the other $300.
Probably gonna get slammed for this - but the following is MY experience...
Way back in 1981 - I read up on turntables and scoured the local stores - to be told Rega was "the best" bang for the buck
So I ended up with a Rega Planar 2, with the glass platter and the "S" shaped arm - it did me proud for a few years - then along came CD’s and the TT got moth-balled
Fast forward to around 2007 - I decided to get the Rega out of the box and had it running nicely with some of my new vinyl.
BUT it didn’t really come up to the sound quality of my digital gear.
This was when I started looking on Audiogon - to see if there were any tweaks I could implement
So after 13 years I’ve tweaked my turntable to the point where it now sounds AMAZING
BUT - the only thing left from the original turntable is the plastic cover and the ON/OFF switch.
Over the years I have installed (in chronological order) ... - a metal subplatter (not Rega) - a Rega RB240 tone arm - a Mitchel Techno weight (not Rega) - a one piece harness in the RB240 (not Rega) - a ceramic bearing (not Rega) - a new Rega motor - an Acrylic Platter (not Rega) - a custom built plinth (not Rega) - and finally an Audiomods ToneArm (definitely not Rega)
And let’s not forget about the two Rega Cartridges, which were far from "adequate"
Obviously - I could not expect all of the "refinements" listed above in an entry level turntable, but there have been some developments over the years that I think Rega SHOULD HAVE taken note of and implemented in ALL of their turntables... - the metal subplatter - the one piece harness - the acrylic platter - the lower center of gravity balance weight that the Mitchel Techno Weight provides
These are pretty basic "developments" that other manufacturers have adopted in their turntables in the last 20 years.
As much as it pains me to say it - because being of British heritage, I am normally proud to promote British products. - I HAVE changed my mind about Rega products. - Rega, you a living off past glories - there are much better alternatives to your products available
I’ve also changed mi mind about NAIM - don’t get me wrong - it is GREAT sounding gear, but I have a problem with the way the NAIM company tries to indoctrinate their customers into thinking that... - their cables provide the Best performance - Hmmm - NOT EVEN CLOSE ! - replacing power supply Capacitors every 10-12 years is "NORMAL" - REALLY?
NAIM - you are also guilty of living off past glories BUT - even worse... - you are guilty of indoctrinating your customers with utter nonsense !
Don't believe me? - take a read of their forum - some of the content is laughable !
Other than my mongrel of a turntable - the rest of my system is Canadian made - Bryston, Bluesound and Gershman Acoustics
And so far - I am extremely happy with it’s performance
Brother Thelonius is in fact one of the best beers out there. :)
The Infinity floorstanding speakers were really kind of nuts. The crossovers were designed before we had current simulation tools, so if you have them and can find an upgrade kit that re-thinks the crossover it is well worth doing.
Is it too late to weigh in? This thread being 3 days silent.
see Erik, you start a thread with the best of intentions and it goes off the side rails...so let’s get back to beers... went on a 2 year Belgian/monk (thinking there must be a Thelonius connection) only to tire of the heaviness of Chimay although Duvel still holds its own. recently exploring the Sam Smith offerings.
after my Infinity Studio Reference Monitors, I thought the emit tweeters were overhyped and gave up on the brand. No matter what room or associated equipment, I couldn’t get satisfying sound. Then last year spent some time with Bill of Miller Sound listening to a mid level Inifinty and couldn’t believe my ears. awakened me to the possibility of hidden gold in used Infinity’s available “for a song”. BTW, I agree with previous poster reg LG fridge, constant noises it makes ruins my audio sessions. Barely 14 months and already had a breakdown.
I had a marantz 8b back in the 70s. Through my Rogers LS3/5a, I knew I had died and gone to heaven. Sold the 8b in the mid 80s, Parted with the Rogers around 2000. I had a chance to listen to both (separately) in the past few years and could not understand what I saw (and heard) in either of them years ago. Hmmm. Similarly, at that time I could not see what all the fuss about Maggies and electrostats was about. Now I own Maggies and one of my best listening friends has a couple sets of Martin Logans. I can’t imagine owning a box speaker again. But, I still love EL34 tube amps in their modern versions.
Schiit Audio. I bought their little headphone amp a couple of years back for my son. So completely unlistenable. I don’t know if I got a bad one or what, but it should have never left their grounds. It just really turned me off of that brand.
Same experience for me.... Unlistenable....It takes 5 seconds....I selll it the day after and never look back to this brand....
I imagine that their newer products were better but i was never tempted to verify, especially after trying another cheap amplifier that crush them at the same price....
Schiit Audio. I bought their little headphone amp a couple of years back for my son. So completely unlistenable. I don't know if I got a bad one or what, but it should have never left their grounds. It just really turned me off of that brand.
I once owned Wilson Watt/Puppy Three's. They did soundstage and dynamics very well, but ultimately they drove me out of the room. Since then I've aged (and so has my hearing) and Wilson has switched to a silk dome tweeter and different voicing. Now I love their seamless, effortless qualities and just bought a pair of Sabrinas.
I went from three sets of B&W speakers to Tekton. Folks that know me were shocked but to a man, after listening sessions, totally agreed.After years of digital solid state, I tested several higher-end amp configurations. Including very expensive solid state and valve. What ultimately won was a Class D Lyngdorf. Did not see that coming but it did. That said, Nelson Pass amp was a very close second. Loved analog, then digital, then analog again, but am back to digital as my preferred source. But still love my Feickert table source very much. Again, a close second in my heart and still often used.
bdp24 reminds me of what was definitely my biggest mind changer with his mention of the NYAL “SuperIt”; probably the most overrated piece of audio gear that I have ever experienced first hand. However, one experience should not a brand “mind changer” make.
I bought the SuperIt after having lived with my first “serious” amplifier (and biggest audio investment until then), the NYAL Moscode 600 as well as two of their preamps back in the early days of my audio journey. Tons of power, but no matter the speaker the music didn’t move the way it should. Not knowing any better I could not believe that the problem might be the “mighty” Moscode. Got rid of the SuperIt and lived with the Moscode for another couple of years.
I then bought a pair of the notoriously power hungry Stax F-81 electrostatics after hearing them make glorious sound driven by their own amps and thinking that the Moscode would have no trouble given its power. Sounded awful; not only no boogie, but tonally weird. Then....an epiphany and one of the biggest audio lessons learned. My local TV repair shop had a lowly Dynaco ST-70 sitting in the back unclaimed and I bought it for $85. I tried it with the Stax thinking “what the hell” and to my amazement......music! No volume to speak of, but beautiful, transparent sound that moved (!) even at low volume. I was amazed. Not being able to afford a proper amp for the Stax at the time I sold them and the Moscode. (Bought another pair of Stax years later and still own them.)
In fairness to NYAL, if I ever find a pair of their Futterman OTL’s that won’t blow up, I just might be tempted.
McIntosh. Dreamed about owning a Mc amp/pre and finally after 20+ years got it. Had it 5 years and tried three different speakers and never connected to it, never really enjoyed the sound. Loved the meters.....
Klipsch. RP 600m - first pair of Klipsch I ever had (just got them this week). Shied away from Klipsch because I was hesitant horn speakers were too bright. Well, these aren’t. Early in the break in stage but showing mucho promesa.
I changed my mind about Tekton as a brand. I thought it was just another small company producing decent speakers and that was about it.
After being exposed to a few threads and somewhat religious approach that Tekton disciples seem to have, along with reading about their speakers, something changed. Company owner's responses in one of the threads hardly helped.
I am not talking about speaker performance (I have had same and very limited opinion), but this thread is about "brand image" I think.
I've tried 4 dedicated streamers that cost up to $2100, using them as roon endpoints and I've yet to find one that sounds any better than using a raspberry pi4. I guess that's a type I'm about to give up on.
I loved my Marantz Reference PM15S2b integrated when I first got it. When I got the Kinki Studio EX-M1, I liked that even more.
With some fiddling of filter settings on the Marantz SA15S2b SACD player, installing the Niagara 1200 power conditioner, using Isoacoustic Oreas under my gear, and turning off the darn LEDs on the Marantz gear, I now have almost the same see-thru of the Kinki with more body, warmth, and nuance from the Marantz, giving me a new appreciation for the Marantz, over that of the Kinki.
A big plus is now it's all matching in the looks department and I'm now back to a wider range with the volume since it doesn't come on full song so darn early with the settings.
My most expensive mistake was Apogee Divas. They turned out to be very fragile and when I heard the company was going under I bailed. Fortunately they still had mythological status so I did not do too poorly. Back to my trust old Acoustat 2+2's. I came to the realization of just how special they are and use them to this day. In term of active companies that I would not do business with if they gave me the stuff? That would be Dan D'Agostino. I had my run in with him when he still ran Krell. I had KMA 100's and KR 2 preamp. One of the pots in the preamp started to fail. They were a special order part which Dan ran out of and would not order more. His response was to pick up a Pot at Radio Shack and "just mount it on top." The preamp was so thin regular pots would not fit. The shame is that the amps were truly special. As far as I am concerned Dan can go shovel sh-t in a corner.
Bryston. They make great amps, and I love their DAC. Their streamer is however poorly conceived, and I was dumb enough to buy their optical player, which basically can only be used as a CD transport . They should stick to amps and quit trying to have a full lineup
Well, I wouldn't wish to do a direct McIntosh to NAD comparison, but the latest NAD mini integrateds are really nice and affordable. Great solutions for desktop / living room systems.
I used to be a big B&W fan, had one stand mount after another, just before ordering a pair of their best stand mounts, attended an event at my then local audio dealer, where Totem was sponsoring the open bar, so I ventured into their room and was blown away by the Fire monitors. I returned to the dealer for some quality time with both speakers, the Totems won "hands down".
I also used to be an NAD fan, had several of their amps, receivers, CD players and their Masters series components, but had more repairs on them than I could stand...now I know I'm going to get killed for this, but I switched to McIntosh.
Marantz. Two failed disc players, one after another. The DV9500 and the SA8260. Very disappointing. I’ll never buy a disc player from them again. And Audio Research. I bought an integrated (used, right here on Audiogon) that had a bad power supply. AR would not support the repair of the product. Never again.
I thought that metal tweeters was the way to go. I bought Mirage M-3Si quite a number of years ago. At first, the big open sound was great. But after some time it began to bother me; way too bright. Raising children and paying for higher education prohibited me to replace them. But now that is behind me and I have been building an entirely new audio system. I auditioned BE tweeters in a few brands last year and, though better than the titanium metal tweeters in my Mirage speakers, they still sounded like a metal tweeter. I had my eyes & ears on Dynaudio for some years. I bought their car audio speakers for two of my car audio systems over the past 10 years. So, I recently bought the Dynaudio Contour 60i set of speakers. They are "smooth as silk" as stated above by jrbirdman333. I only have about 12 hours of run-in time on them and already they sound amazing. I can imagine the midrange and bass will only get better over the next 60 or 70 hours of run-in time. But the real story hear is the tweeters. Metal tweeters were once what I thought was great. But actually a soft silk dome tweeter much more satisfies my musical tastes. And also, far more satisfying to my ears. From titanium to soft dome, from bright to smooth; made everything wonderful for me.
I met John Bowers when B&W hosted me in Worthing for a visit in the 70's. A wonderful man and engineer who really changed the face of hifi--and not just in England. Since his death things have spun wildly. Do a little research and you will find out that B&W has really changed since being sold, divided and whatever to wring maximum profits from a still-respectable brand.+1 on the B&W tweeters. I was ready to buy a pair until I heard them and then when I heard the Dynaudio lineup, I was converted. My brother-in-law sold B&W's and went to Maggies.EVOLUTION!
I would have to say YBA . wasn't too happy with the selling of the company to a chinese firm and switching all the lower end equipment to china ( i believe Shanling bought the business). , but given the way of business these days it was probably required in order to keep the brand viable. Now the only really French hand built YBA gear is their top of the line Signature line, which unfortunelty is way out of my price range.
I had a deep love affair with Naim, as many British hifi-enthusiasts do. Naim have a very cleverly marketed upgrade path where power supplies and separate components can be upgraded to the next up the chain. It is an addictive process. However I lost that love for Naim and realised the hype that was the ’upgrade path’ when I discovered that a 2 box Class A Vitus set-up cost much less than a top-of-the-range 6 box Naim System and sounded significantly better.
I disagree with the dismissal of B&W in some of these posts. The lower end of their range may be bright sounding, but the 800 series, when integrated into powerful quality amplification, sound absolutely sublime with absolutely no 'edginess'. The top of that range, the 800 D3, is one of the best-priced high-end speakers in the market, competing with Wilsons and their ilk at far higher prices.
@tatyana69 Agree with you about the difference between B&W d2 and d3. I’ve had both. My first time out I thought my Marantz 8001 amp was the bee’s knees. But then my McIntosh 6700 integrated made short work of the Marantz. Now, my Pass Labs has taken things to the next level and put the 6700 to rest. Given the pattern, there always seems to be great joy followed by a discovery of what’s next, which is what I didn’t know I was missing with my previous setup. It’s been said on here that more money doesn’t mean better. But it’s kind of gone that way. If there’s ever an audio convention again, I suppose I’ll discover that my B&W 803 d3s are lacking in some dimension I haven’t yet experienced and I will jilt the speakers I currently love. I still have my Marantz and listen to it very occasionally to remember how much more I have now. But the Marantz had its time and I loved it. So did my old McIntosh. While I might cringe now at what I used to love, each was a blast if only for a while.
DW drums and DW hardware. Waaay worth it. Gibson Les Paul. Way to spotty QA for a lot of money. Rega turntables. After loads of research, and a fair bit of shopping to buy a Planar 3 (a lot of money for me) very disappointed by poorly designed deck with ground hum.
New Colts is not like 20-30 years ago... big disappointment in assembling quality and materials. Levies jeans got pure too.. audio equipment seems to be fine.
Personally I'm over Integra, Onkyo and Denon. All 3 mid to high end receivers I've owned from these brands have failed in one way or another, and all 3 in a short time frame, but right after warranties expired. I'm having good luck with the Lexicon MC-10 and my Bryston 8B-ST's are rock solid. My old Klipsch Epic CF-4's have sounded great for 20 years but the Klipsch Reference Premier 280's and some other copper gear (I forget the models) to me were inferior so I sold them pretty quick. Now that I understand only their Heritage and Cinema/Pro gear is still made in Hope, AR and the rest is made overseas, makes sense why the new copper gear has been so underwhelming to me...obviously this is just my personal opinion but has been my experience.
I went from all Meridian (top of range 8000 speakers, 861 processor, 800 dvd) to Bryston/B&W. The Meridian set up was (and is) unacceptably cumbersome and prone to things going wrong.
I had a one to one relationship with the directors before they sold out to a lifestyle Dunhill crew (the previous owners even came to my home to install the set up) but after sale of the business Meridian showed no interest in customer support.
I have had the B&W d2 and now have 800d3 . If you are agreeing with someone who said the measurements are similar, then that has no meaning of any significance.
The d3 is a totally different speaker to the d2 (much better with the "top" issue now sorted) and sounds far better. I have compared them to £150k Wilsons, and independently, I and my friendly dealer, both agree we prefer the d3s. They punch way way beyond their price range. If you can't tell the difference between a d2 and d3, which your quoted article states then that is a shame, for you, as the difference is significant.
Not a fan of NAD. Had an integrated and found it to be quite blah. On the other hand, I have found that Tekton speakers are a good as other have said. Absolutely love them.
Focal. I only ever heard great things about them and I dreamed of owning a pair as my first hifi speakers. After 12 months of system changes and moving up the focal line I discovered that their tweeters are not to my tastes.
I had ridiculously high expectations for the Levinson 333 amplifier and Wilson Watt3-Puppy2 after years of lusting and listening at dealers... flat lifeless disappointment. I suffered through 9 months of system changes before selling both.
On the positive side, I was very skeptical about the PS audio Directstream DAC and it's one of two DACs I have used for years.
Czech beer is fabulous. Pilsner Urquell has a better flavor over there. Krusovice and Bernard are great as well. Agree with B&W gear. Back in the day I thought it was incredible stuff. Today, there is such a harshness to their highs, that I would go elsewhere. I really like my new Dyn Contour 60i. Smoothe as silk.
I think about the B&W move akin to the salt-fat-sugar approach to
food. Get their attention and hook them with primal urges. (Only at home
to they get fatigued and wonder what's wrong.)
And I really don't mind any company coloring the sound of their products, but like you say, it sells better than it lasts, and don't you dare try to sell me this is a neutral sounding speaker.
I have been in audio over 40 years, owned a Audio store and been sucked into pushing the name brands for years . I just sold a well known Krell Vanguard, and bought a Yamaha 2100 integrated amp, many told me it’s not Audiophile brand . I will tell you what it’s loaded with all quality parts from Japan 80% Nichicon gold tune ,capacitors and 4 Big -22,000 power caps, fully balanced,with a floating ground system,and a dual mono design. and nice retro looking meters . It has very good resolution using Dual Sanken 20 amp Mosfets per channel. One down side it was a bitch to breakin over 200 hours to settle in the new 2200 is a bit better still at $4k ,I thought it was better then my friends $6k McIntosh ,or Bryson ,that being said I like the more upfront defined presentation ,some like it more laid back .that being said it has a kt88 type sonic warmer signature with better control. That’s why it is good to read reviews,and owner opinions but let your experience guide You not others.
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