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

Showing 2 responses by rcm1203

That happened to me with a McIntosh amp and preamp. I gave them about six months, a period where I tried different cables and different speaker positions. To be fair, it was a great sounding combo and I loved the look, but it just wasn't checking all the boxes for my personal taste in the way I wanted my system to sound. Luckily, I don't suffer from confirmation bias and I didn't take too bad of a beating when I sold them. I do suffer from buyer's remorse, and I can safely say that the amount of pain you derive from it is directly proportional to the amount it cost you to inflict it upon yourself. 🤑

Never understood the concept of bashing someone else's preference in music. Personally, I have nothing against classical music, but I wouldn't listen to it even if I could use someone else's ears to do so. It's not good or bad, it's just not what I like. I also never audition my system for others because I didn't build it to please others. I built it to please me, and it does that admirably.