Does Anyone Else Member the Golden Age of Audio Insults and Product Degradation?

On the subject of product reviews, here's one of my most memorable comments.

I've lost some of the details over time.  Maybe someone can help fill in the blanks?

It was probably around 1980, and a major manufacturer introduced a new power amplifier utilizing "cutting edge technology" developed by another company that had questionable credentials an was not well received by the audio community for its sonics.

After spending some quality time with the amp, the reviewer, not exactly blown away with its performance, wrote:

"It looks like they copied the Titanic with the hole already in it, and headed out to sea."

@cd318 I'm with you on the Schitt Audio thing. I think they really missed some "marketing opportunities" to leverage their name to promote the brand.  A few in the long list of possibilities:

GIVE-A Schitt:  Gift Card

Schitt TOGETHER: Cables and interconnects

DEEP Schitt:  Subwoofer

Schitt STORM:  Power amp

Im pretty sure I won't be getting a call from the folks at Schitt Audio seeking my advice.

I sold audio gear in retail for a couple of years in the early 90’s in the suburban Philadelphia market.  Here’s a few things I remember:

1.  NAD stood for “Not Always Defective”

2.  Sony ES stood for “Extra Sides”  (Our store carried the regular Sony line, but an audio store competitor a few doors away sold the ES line.  Anyone asking for Sony ES, we told them it was exactly the same gear we carried with Extra Sides.

3.  Customers always came in asking for Bose because of the incredible name recognition.  “No highs, no lows, than it must be Bose!”

@lou_setriodes 

Good stuff.  Thanks for sharing.

John

I forgot this one:

B&O stood for Barely Operational, not Bang & Olufsen