Stuff You Tried To Love


I know we talk a lot about confirmation bias- we buy something and then convince ourselves we like it. Or something like that. But did you ever buy something you wanted to love and just couldn’t make it work? For me, Esoteric X-05 SACD/CD player. Bought from a local who was upgrading to the X-03. Big, beautiful piece of gear, but I couldn’t get used to the sound after 6 months of trying. Sold it to another local- I insisted he listen before he bought and I believe he sold it soon after as well. Totem Forest and Hawk. I loved the whole concept. Slim, easy to live with. Couldn’t get them to work in my room. The Model Ones were much better. I had a couple of other pieces, but this is long enough. BTW, these were bought used without audition.

chayro

(uhmm, I think it's "Bach Partitas")

To get back to the regret-drenched topic of this thread: some years ago I went through a long period of researching passive volume controllers. I had been using a very nice sounding, transformer based PVC from NHT for years, but needed additional outputs, so went on a deep PVC dive. Ultimately it led me to a Goldpoint PVC that (with much difficulty) I had the mfr configure the way I wanted, not the way he wanted. Paid a lot, put it in system, and the sound was horrifying: thin, bright, lifeless.

In fairness to Goldpoint, which makes terrific stepped pots, PVCs that don't use transformers or autoformers often sound pretty bad, as they're wholly dependant on the impedance/capacitance of whatever is upstream & downstream.

In any case, I wasn't paying attention. The answer was to search for PVCs that use transformers or autoformers. There are some beauties of this kind out there. Unfortunately they're very expensive. Ah, well. Another day, another unfulfilled obsession...

B&W P6 speakers, but frankly it was probably the amplification’s fault.   I’d probably like them these days. 

Zu Cube speakers, the shrill of the Lowther Shout was unbearable.

McIntosh MA6500, the ridiculously bad phono stage, not to mention the overall product quality (illumination bulbs, meters, screeching potentiometers).

@artemus_5 the same here, I can’t get through the whole side of the album and I have tried numerous times. Not even close to my cup of tea.

@sokogear "If you don't like Miles you don't like jazz, and that's OK." I do not have beef with Jazz and definitely I am not the one who does not like it, just The Kind of Blue is annoying to me. 

@mahgister 

Sometimes it is not the opinion the problem...

Sometimes it is the way the opinion is phrased as an ultimatum...

So true!  

Not such a big deal re: audio but when it comes to politics...