I've had a couple of purchases that didn't work out, but the most egregious, meaning I spent WAY too much money with WAY too little satisfaction, was the $13,000 Goldmund amp I bought a few years ago, in the hopes it would be "the last amp" I would ever need. It was a Mimesis 29, bought new for retail price from my dealer, that just did not work w/my Genesis 500 speakers. But I didn't realize that until I had to send it back to Switzerland the second time for repairs and Goldmund would not respect their 3 year warranty OR pay for the return shipping (which was $500 on its own). Goldmund said my speakers were the problem. I guess I have to agree that the amp didn't match well w/the speakers, but it should not have started emitting smoke. anyway, I repaired the Goldmund, got it home, and sold it (for less than half price) to someone who did not own Genesis speakers. I trust it is working for that person. But I feel that Goldmund is overpriced and overrated and will not drive anything and everything, and most importantly has absolutely NO regard for their customers! Even those who have paid $13,000 for one piece of equipment. I sure wish I had known about Audiogon way back when I bought that amp. I could make that $13,000 go extremely far now.
How hard is it to admit you bought bad gear?
I just thought of this reading through the Hall of Shame post(a good one I might ad), how hard is it for you (or I) to admit you got sold a sonic bill of goods, and actually got stuck with just an outrageous bill? I often wonder that when I go to the audioreview forum looking up what others think about certain pieces, knowing that I am not going to put to much credence in what I am reading because these people have spent a lot of money and it influences the psyche. No offense to some, but I do believe its true to a point. Just wondered about others thoughts along those lines.