One word. Proceed. I made a massive investment in the Proceed line given the reputation of Mark Levinson / Lexicon / Madrigal. They were new to home theater, and had some really good design ideas centering on bus based architectures for upgradability. The AVP preppro had an available faroudja line doubler that looked pretty good at the time when it worked, but the sound was a bit sterile and was the best of the components and had to be repaired twice. The transport was in and out of the shop a dozen times until the warranty period expired, that thing never did work right. The amps were beasts but were singularly unimpressive. I was pretty unhappy with the entire setup until I replaced the AMP 3 with Krell mono-blocks, a world of difference. The company just walked away from the product line.
Your single most significant purchase mistake?
Your most significant regret for having bought? Big expectations and an even bigger letdown? The one you kicked yourself the hardest for ever having bight