Have you ever reversed your opinion on a piece of gear?

"Have you ever reversed your opinion on a piece of gear?"


Expanded and expounded upon? Yes.

Reversed? No.

About 15 years ago I had given away my Sony CDP something UK tuned CD player and when the planned upgrade didn’t work out I borrowed one from a friend.

This was an an uber cheap Aiwa model that hadn’t seen action in years. It sounded flat and one toned, but it did the job whilst I auditioned potential upgrades on the Sony.

Anyway, I remember being shocked one day about 4 weeks later when it miraculously opened up tonally and became really engaging.

To this day I don’t know what happened. If it was the CD player, then ?
If it was me, then ??

Neural reprogramming? Wow!

Yes, that's why I went from SS to Tubes.

Yeah. My Decca (London) Super Gold cartridge. I was actually going to throw it away after mothballing it in 2000. It never worked well on my LP12. Ten years later, I refurbished it and put it on a 401 and love it and would never part with it.

Interesting question.   I think I'd have to answer:  No.

My general assessment of a piece of gear has always remained fairly constant.   Even when it comes to speakers,  if a speaker doesn't have an "it" factor for me very quickly, I never really find it no matter what other set ups or conditions I hear that speaker in.