Your most disappointing purchase or audition?

Isn't there a difference between equipment that fails to perform, blows up, requires constant repair, etc. and gear that in someone's estimation, simply sounds 'bad' (or 'less good' than all the hype surrounding it?) I have a fair amount of respect for Syntax's opinion on many things audio (though he is outspoken) , but there seem to be many satisfied owners of Magico (Wilson or fill in the blank). So much of the outcome of these types of "sounds bad" assessments seems to result from listening bias, set up and associated gear.

The longer I have been doing this, the more I realize that the gear is just a means to an end. Once you have a fairly 'mature' system that is dialed in, and have dealt with the basics, like 'mains' power, room acoustics and set-up, so much is dependent on the quality of the source material. In almost every instance where I have had an issue with a piece of gear, the manufacturer or distributor has stepped up, and helped me resolve it. I have had very few 'bad' experiences, gearwise, since I started doing this hi-fi thing of ours seriously, back in the early 70's. A few dealers were bad, but my negative experience was usually not an isolated one- and typically, a good manufacturer won't tolerate a dealer that fails to provide service or follow-up.
I also find that there is an enormous amount of knowledge and experience on fora like this, and many people are willing to help a fellow audiophile with a technical problem or set-up question, without reservation (or some agenda to encourage you to 'buy' something). There's a certain amount of 'filtering' that you have to do, as in any web forum, but over the long haul, I think most of the long-term contributors here are well-intentioned and well-informed.