Taking the bad with the good


While many of us share what we think are good components and combo's of gear, is there any specific system(s) that you've heard that you thought was utterly attrocious ?

Personally, one of the worst "mega-dollar" systems that i've ever heard was the demo system that Linn used here in Chicago at Hi-Fi '99. It was actively tri-amped using the infamous Linn CD player, their "flat as a pancake" sized power amps, Linn speakers, etc... The sound was SO "flat & sterile" that it made me think that i was in an elevator listening to a piped Muzak.

This all started out with the Linn rep's giving us a big schpiel about how technically excellent this system was, what the benefits to using components from one manufacturer were, how "system synergy" could be maximized, etc... This went on for some 20 - 30 minutes. Quite honestly, i was surprised at how full the room remained during this WAY too long of a sales rap. Finally, they ended up playing some music.

As i mentioned, everything sounded as if it had been "bleached" i.e. the music had no body, soul, colour, feeling or dynamics. By the middle of their first selection, over 60% of the crowd had turned around and walked out of the room. My brother and i stuck around as i wanted to give them the benefit of doubt. Onto the next selection. More of the same. Even more people got up and left. By the end of the demo, there was about 20 - 25% of the original crowd left.

I ended up talking to one of the sales reps and told him what i thought. I did this to let them know that they might want to try listening to the system from the consumers point of view / listening point rather than near the equipment or off to the side. Obviously, in my opinion, something was drastically wrong.

First of all, he did not know what the term "sterile" meant. He then went on to tell me "well, you're probably just used to listening to coloured equipment. Now you know what real music sounds like on accurate equipment." My only response to him was that most of the crowd must not like "accuracy" either, as they all split right away. If they were there to sell their product, they were doing more harm than good. Otherwise, the room would have still been full and people would have been asking "how much" and "where can i buy" rather than mumbling under their breath and heading for the door.

Anyone else have a similar story / experience ? Sean
>
sean

Showing 1 response by sean

My post was not meant to single out Linn or any other specific manufacturer. It was meant to show that, even with the "assuredness" of knowing that the components "should" have worked together, they didn't. Whether this was from poor speaker positioning, AC problems, poor choice of cables, etc... is anyone's guess.

The fact that Linn is a "full-range" manufacturer and was able to produce a system from source to speakers with all of the amplification and cables in between shows just how "hard" system set-up and tuning can be. The fact that they did not have to rely on any outside vender or another manufacturer to bring support components does somewhat lower my opinion of their products though. After all, i can understand multiple companies bringing different products together to form a system and one of the companies bringing a product that is not up to snuff. Obviously, one weak link in the chain can kill the total performance of the entire system. As such, i can understand several manufacturers being let down by another "bad apple" that didn't plan ahead. Such situations are simply out of their control and end up hurting several companies that may otherwise have most excellent products.

While i do not "discredit" that things are rushed in terms of set-up and very poor AC, i have heard systems that were quite good that were operating under the same conditions that everyone else shared. This tells me that manufacturers either don't care about their products under actual use conditions or that they really don't know how to make a system "sing".

Personally, i would make SURE that a system that i was going to be demo'ing to thousands upon thousands of prospective customers over a short period of time was as well planned and operating at peak potential as is humanly possible. If this meant taking less than optimum AC into consideration and needing time to work with the system / room, so be it. How much more costly would it be to have employees that you are already paying doing a bit more work and effort to "make things right" prior to the actual showing ? I think that most of you feel as i do and wonder the same thing. After all, a "show" is to "show off" what you've got and can do. Would anyone ever think of taking a rotted old rust-bucket of a beater to a high profile industry sponsored car show ? I think not. In fact, i don't think that a manufacturer that REALLY cared about their product would bring anything less than a product that was "kick ass" and looked / played the part. Why is it that "hi-end" dealers / manufacturers think that they can get away with anything less ?

Unsound: My experience with the Classic Audio Reproductions and Atma-Sphere gear was at the same show i.e. Hi-Fi '99 here in Chicago. As i stated in a previous post, the demo that i attended received a standing ovation from a roomful of people. When the demo started, there was less than a quarter of a room and the excellent sound is what drew people into see what was going on.

Viridian: I have three SS 2 channel systems, one tube 2 channel system and an SS HT system. As i mentioned, the Linn presentation had little to do with personal taste. When 75% - 80% of the crowd disappeared after 3 - 10 minutes of music, that should tell you that something was VERY wrong. Sean
>