Has anyone else auditioned something that really was terrible?

The biggest issue with B&W's, other than price, is that  they reveal just how mediocre most electronics and recordings are.  I love the B&W's with diamond tweeters, and wish I has some.   Most manufacturers try to mask anomalies, but this also masks some good parts.  Well, another issue is that most amps do not have adequate power supplies to run them properly, making us run subs, unless you are lucky enough to have amps (Yes, it still takes two) that were reviewed as having "Gargantuation bass", like my Audire amps.  Compared to a Bryston 200 wpc amp, with its two 375 watt trannies, plus four per channel Motorola outputs and 4000 mf of filter caps per channel, my 125 wpc Audires have six outputs, a 500 watt tranny, and 4 26.000 mf per channel.  I believe this is why my Bryston fades a bit at loud volumes with lots of bass.  All Audire amps above mine have stacks of outputs on the same circuits used in mine, and yes, they are better, as is newer Bryston, I hear.  So much for my plebeian cheering section,as it dreams of diamonds.

I would hope we can all agree that sonic/aural memory is somewhat faulty, not as in I can't remember what my rig sounds like, but as in it's
difficult to remember someone else's rig you heard a month ago.

With that as a background, I heard the worst most absurd speakers ever on the planet.  Plasmatronics!  Built-in amp for the woofer and a plasma
tweeter driven by a tank of helium internal to the speaker.  A single
mass-less point source, wow should be amazing radiating in every direction equally.  Well think again, not only is it shrill, screechy, insanely
out of balance, smeared all over the place, but add to that the "tweeter"
creates ozone that not only makes you light headed but is an excellent
lung irritant. 

To make matters worse the "tweeter" has no upper limit on volume, it will just keep getting louder, way beyond ear splitting levels. Oh yeah, you also have to take the tank out and get it filled with helium on a regular basis.

In these days of shelter in place here is some reading enjoyment:
http://hillplasmatronics.com/

Please bear in mind that my audition took place nearly 40 years ago, this technology may have very well turned into something amazing.

Stay safe,
Barts
 

I visited a very hi end dealer a few years ago to audition the much hyped Focal Sopra 2s. They were connected to an  Aestetix setup. The sound was very schrill and lacked smooth transitions from mid to highs.  I asked that we switch to his VAC setup. Small difference but not much. I remember being very disappointed after all the great reviews I had read. 

Probably the best sounding amps for the money are made by Spark/Cayin. Spark makes all Prima Luna line. I only consider stereo based on ~~reputation~~~ by seasoned audiohiples. And photos of the inner guts. A picture tells a  thousand words. 
Marantz would never count in my consideration.
The other lines worth mentioning are Line Magnetic and ...thats about it.

Has anyone else auditioned something that really was terrible?

Real music doesn’t sound like a drilling machine or will serve you real pain. You may like the music or not, but real acoustical pain some manufacturers serve...can be only compensated with a high price tag or a lot of advertising...
My most horrible hours
Amps (Pre or Power): Mission, Rotel, Naim, Goldmund Telos, Pass Phonos (all)
Speakers: JMLab Grand Utopia (maximum pain with Accuphase or Goldmund)
Turntables: Garrard 501, Linn LP12 (any), Rockport Sirius III
Tonearms: Goldmund T3F, Clearaudio (any), Triplanar VII+
Cartridges: Clearaudio Goldfinger, Lyra Kleos, Zyx Omega