Marantz DV9500 (B-stock): bad drawer mechanism, went tits-up after a couple of months, it was deemed unfixable; Marantz SA8260: ditto, plus background hiss and noise; Audio Research CA50: bad power supply caused massive pops at random during music, not disclosed by Agon seller who shall remain nameless. All three were not cheap and ended up being turkeys. I suffered a loss on all three.
What has been your costliest mistake in this hobby?
For example :I recently learned a hard lesson- I accidentally ran voltage thru my $3000 MC cartridge (kiseki purple heart). I have a TT with 5 prong connector and a phono cable with a 5 prong connector. I accidentally swapped where they plugged into and ran electric thru the tonearm into the cartridge. It was a stupid - not thinking- hasty mistake. When I corrected the problem the cartridge was fried. An avalanche of four letter words followed!
So what has been your biggest and/or costliest mistake?
So what has been your biggest and/or costliest mistake?