MOST OVER-RATED: (1) ADCOM ACE-515 Power Conditioner (Everyone I heard had hardly no affect on the system at best, at worst it added noise. Just a $230 power strip/surge protector.); (2) YAMAHA TX-950 TUNER (Has lots of features, but the sound is only fair at best, as well as reception for the price.); (3) SONOGRAPHE by Conrad Johnson SA-250 AMPLIFIER (Claim to fame: Solid State, but sounds like tubes ?? NO, Its just dull. Also bland pleasantness in the name of musicality.) -----MOST UNDER-RATED: (1) ONKYO INTEGRA TUNERS (With the exception of the T9090, they sell for next to nothing used ($40 to $75), but have the best sound and reception of almost anything under $500 I've ever tried.); (2) B&W P5 SPEAKERS (Now discontinued... You have to go all the way to the Nautilus 804 to get something better. These listed for only $1500 and sell used for only $700. They get matched with cheap electronics because of their price, and then sound lousy becase they are so pure and revealing. When connected to the electronic you would buy with the Nautilus 803/804 Speakers they sound like a million bucks. 1000% better than the CDM-7 at the same price point.) (3) AIWA CD CHANGER $79 (Makes a decent transport right out of the box.)
Top three most over underrated eqpmt??
Throughout my 17 and some odd years of being into this hobby, I've had numerous equipment with some being so so, some being great, and the rest being bad....Just curious to find out what other people's experiences are with changing from one component to another...Well, for me here are the list for my top 3 most overrated equipment: SimAudio W4070 amplifier, Aragon 47K preamplifier, a tie with Kimber PBJ interconnects and Linn Majik integrated amplifier....my top 3 most underrated equipment: Chiro C-200 amplifier, Roksan Caspian integrated amplifier, Straight Wire Chorus interconnects....comments anyone???