Worst Audio Purchases You Made

[Haoleb]

As long as we are on the topic, why are those amps so heavy? After reading a review on here I looked at the weight (I always look, habit from having to move amps around)... 75-lbs for the two channel job?! What is this, 1970? Thing should weigh like 30-40-lbs soaking wet with technology now days. And the seven channel one is like 110-lbs, so not a dramatic/linear gain in weight... so where is the extra 50-lbs from? The chassis?!

Alot of the technology now days is about making things cheaper and faster to produce. Not better. Weight is a sign of quality in nearly all things. In the 70's they actually built things to last, not to be as cheaply made as possibly so you could sell 40 gazillion of them at walmart.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Alot of the technology now days is about making things cheaper and faster to produce. Not better. Weight is a sign of quality in nearly all things. In the 70's they actually built things to last, not to be as cheaply made as possibly so you could sell 40 gazillion of them at walmart.

Nah. Weight isn't really a sign of quality in an amplifier anymore. Or even most things anymore.

The weight doesn't really bother me if thats what it takes to do what they want to do, it was just more of an attention grabbing spec I noticed. But, if it is flexing they might have wanted to try finite element analysis.... its pretty damn cheap now days.

 

[haraldo]

Audio Pro ego-212 satellite speakers, total bummer and broke when the kids listened to the airplane coming in right over your head in Toy Story 2..... not even playing loud

ZAP mp 3 player, totally useless, broke after one day and I returned it to the store demanding full refund

 

[Sheep]

As long as we are on the topic, why are those amps so heavy? After reading a review on here I looked at the weight (I always look, habit from having to move amps around)... 75-lbs for the two channel job?! What is this, 1970? Thing should weigh like 30-40-lbs soaking wet with technology now days. And the seven channel one is like 110-lbs, so not a dramatic/linear gain in weight... so where is the extra 50-lbs from? The chassis?!

Class AB stuff will always be heavy. Big heats-inks and big power supply's.

SheepStar

 

[Seth=L]

Mps-1......

Ha ha, you too huh?

 

[10010011]

Oh my God LMFAO right now...My wife would scream at the remote and then scream at me for the first week I had a Universal remote..Too funny that you had the exact same experiance....Now she loves it though...

I blame Harmony's "activity" based design. My wife can handle a universal remote that has identifiable buttons for each device.

I found Harmony to be quite annoying too for some of the same reasons. If you even moved it slightly one thing or another would miss it's macro command and get out of sync. Then you could not easily put it in say TV mode and set the TV to the right input, you had to step through a list of questions. Is the TV on? is the DVD player on? is the receiver on?... until you finally got to the one thing that was wrong. It was quicker to just find the proper remote and fix it then to answer all the questions...

 

[zumbo]

Toshiba Regza 1080p 42" LCD. (second one in this thread) '07 Died in '08

Sony cd player. Wouldn't play squat without skipping. '89

Onkyo Pro-Logic receiver. Weak. '88

Technics 15" 3-ways. Nothing good about them. '85

Sherwood separates. '83 Amp died in '88

 

[Seth=L]

Alot of the technology now days is about making things cheaper and faster to produce. Not better. Weight is a sign of quality in nearly all things. In the 70's they actually built things to last, not to be as cheaply made as possibly so you could sell 40 gazillion of them at walmart.

Unfortunately (at least from what I have read and heard) Emotiva's products don't share that same quality control apparently found on many vintage audio products. They aren't up to date with amplifier topologies (Class D is making enormus breakthroughs). If Emotiva wanted to get into the ICEpower technology they might go somewhere.

As pointed out by AcuDefTechGuy on occasions before, the Emotiva preamps measured terrible compared to other preamps. The preamp sections found in your mid-level receiver are not only better, but they are more up to date (HDMI audio processing, scaling), available for purchase (when does Emotiva plan to come out with another pre/pro?), and cheaper. Seriously, it doesn't take a genious to figure this out.

There's nothing innovative about Emotiva's products IMO, they are in the stone ages. Not only are they in the stone age, but their products are unperfected (what's up with that all modules, or glitchy performance crap on the MPS-1????) and unreliable. I can't believe I thought there might be a great deal going on with them. But tried and true methods of logic can deduce this....If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[Adam]

This kinda surprises me... why would you not like your emotiva amps? Do you feel the price isn't justified, or do you feel that you really didn't need an amp afterall, or have you just had numerous problems with it? Personally I love my IPS-1.

After telling the details back in May, I've kept this limited to the people who ask and send PMs to avoid what might be perceived as bashing. I'll say it again here, though, and hope that it comes across as respectful as intended.

My problems were what some others have unfortunately also experienced - bad quality control and bad customer service.

My first RPA-1 died within two days and sent a surge through my speakers. A very unpleasant and exceedingly loud sound. Getting a hold of them to replace it took a few tries and was aggravating, and then having them forget to send the replacement was also aggravating. The second RPA-1 has worked flawlessly so far, however (fingers crossed).

My IPS-1 hums (the box itself, with nothing connected). It's so loud that I hear it across the room, even when audio is playing sometimes. They just kept blowing me off, or so was my impression. They were always nice, but the promised call backs never happened, and e-mails never got a response. I just gave up. I was so sick of dealing with them.

I'll never buy from them again.

I guess that maybe others are like me in that I don't want to bad mouth them too much here because I really like being a member, and I think that there are potentially higher risks of it being considered bashing given their sponsorship here. I have a lot of respect for the admins and the mods, and my hesitation is likely unfounded...but I have it, so I mostly keep quiet. However, I am surprised that the issues of quality control and CS don't come up more often except for statements like "Their customer service is GREAT." I'm sincerely happy for those who have experienced good products and good support, but that statement is certainly not universally true. I know that I wasn't a jerk when I dealt with them, and I'd bet that Greg wasn't either. I've corresponded with at least one other person who had the same issues, so to me, that's a well enough defined pattern to not chalk it up to someone just falling through the cracks.

If either quality OR customer service is lacking, a place can still get my business. However, when both are lacking, that's it in my book. If my IPS-1 didn't hum so loudly, or if they had taken care of it, then I would probably be looking to buy something else from them. Given that neither of those is true, and given that it verified a trend that I noticed with my RPA-1 purchase, I will not recommend them to anyone.

Adam

 

[dorokusai]

OHM Walsh 2.

Mark

 

[gus6464]

OHM Walsh 2.

Mark

What didn't you like about them?

 

[gus6464]

After telling the details back in May, I've kept this limited to the people who ask and send PMs to avoid what might be perceived as bashing. I'll say it again here, though, and hope that it comes across as respectful as intended.

My problems were what some others have unfortunately also experienced - bad quality control and bad customer service.

My first RPA-1 died within two days and sent a surge through my speakers. A very unpleasant and exceedingly loud sound. Getting a hold of them to replace it took a few tries and was aggravating, and then having them forget to send the replacement was also aggravating. The second RPA-1 has worked flawlessly so far, however (fingers crossed).

My IPS-1 hums (the box itself, with nothing connected). It's so loud that I hear it across the room, even when audio is playing sometimes. They just kept blowing me off, or so was my impression. They were always nice, but the promised call backs never happened, and e-mails never got a response. I just gave up. I was so sick of dealing with them.

I'll never buy from them again.

I guess that maybe others are like me in that I don't want to bad mouth them too much here because I really like being a member, and I think that there are potentially higher risks of it being considered bashing given their sponsorship here. I have a lot of respect for the admins and the mods, and my hesitation is likely unfounded...but I have it, so I mostly keep quiet. However, I am surprised that the issues of quality control and CS don't come up more often except for statements like "Their customer service is GREAT." I'm sincerely happy for those who have experienced good products and good support, but that statement is certainly not universally true. I know that I wasn't a jerk when I dealt with them, and I'd bet that Greg wasn't either. I've corresponded with at least one other person who had the same issues, so to me, that's a well enough defined pattern to not chalk it up to someone just falling through the cracks.

If either quality OR customer service is lacking, a place can still get my business. However, when both are lacking, that's it in my book. If my IPS-1 didn't hum so loudly, or if they had taken care of it, then I would probably be looking to buy something else from them. Given that neither of those is true, and given that it verified a trend that I noticed with my RPA-1 purchase, I will not recommend them to anyone.

Adam

To tell you the truth I have yet to hear from someone that is 100% happy with their Emotiva purchase. I have been seriously thinking about getting one of their 2ch amps for my office system but after all of this I would rather spend a bit more and go for a Parasound or used Sunfire.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

What didn't you like about them?

I would be interested in that, also. I have occasionally considered Ohm speakers, so it would be good to know about any shortcomings they might have. (Of course, like all ID brands, they can only be auditioned by the laborious process of buying them and then returning them if not satisfied.)

 

[ParadigmDawg]

You are holding a standard much higher than me. I was nice the first 3 calls and a jerk on the 4th.

With problems like this on amps, I could not imagine what is wrong with the tough items such as pre/pros.

I know that I wasn't a jerk when I dealt with them, and I'd bet that Greg wasn't either. I've corresponded with at least one other person who had the same issues, so to me, that's a well enough defined pattern to not chalk it up to someone just falling through the cracks.
Adam

 

[GlocksRock]

After telling the details back in May, I've kept this limited to the people who ask and send PMs to avoid what might be perceived as bashing. I'll say it again here, though, and hope that it comes across as respectful as intended.

My problems were what some others have unfortunately also experienced - bad quality control and bad customer service.

My first RPA-1 died within two days and sent a surge through my speakers. A very unpleasant and exceedingly loud sound. Getting a hold of them to replace it took a few tries and was aggravating, and then having them forget to send the replacement was also aggravating. The second RPA-1 has worked flawlessly so far, however (fingers crossed).

My IPS-1 hums (the box itself, with nothing connected). It's so loud that I hear it across the room, even when audio is playing sometimes. They just kept blowing me off, or so was my impression. They were always nice, but the promised call backs never happened, and e-mails never got a response. I just gave up. I was so sick of dealing with them.

I'll never buy from them again.

I guess that maybe others are like me in that I don't want to bad mouth them too much here because I really like being a member, and I think that there are potentially higher risks of it being considered bashing given their sponsorship here. I have a lot of respect for the admins and the mods, and my hesitation is likely unfounded...but I have it, so I mostly keep quiet. However, I am surprised that the issues of quality control and CS don't come up more often except for statements like "Their customer service is GREAT." I'm sincerely happy for those who have experienced good products and good support, but that statement is certainly not universally true. I know that I wasn't a jerk when I dealt with them, and I'd bet that Greg wasn't either. I've corresponded with at least one other person who had the same issues, so to me, that's a well enough defined pattern to not chalk it up to someone just falling through the cracks.

If either quality OR customer service is lacking, a place can still get my business. However, when both are lacking, that's it in my book. If my IPS-1 didn't hum so loudly, or if they had taken care of it, then I would probably be looking to buy something else from them. Given that neither of those is true, and given that it verified a trend that I noticed with my RPA-1 purchase, I will not recommend them to anyone.

Adam

Wow, that really sucks... I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I had an experience that was quite the opposite, and my IPS-1 doesn't hum at all.

 

[GlocksRock]

To tell you the truth I have yet to hear from someone that is 100% happy with their Emotiva purchase. I have been seriously thinking about getting one of their 2ch amps for my office system but after all of this I would rather spend a bit more and go for a Parasound or used Sunfire.

I have been 100% satisfied with my dealing with Emotiva. I first purchased 2 BPA-1 amps, then decided to just go ahead and get a IPS-1, so I called them up and they said that it wouldn't be a problem, and to just send them back. So I sent it back and received full credit toward the purchase of an IPS-1, they even gave me credit for my original shipping costs, even though return shipping was out of my pocket, but I have no problems with that. And both the BPA-1s and the IPS-1 were very nice, in both terms of fit and finish, as well as the power they produce.

 

[avaserfi]

You can count me in the group who had a bad time with Emotiva. Got an LPA-1 a month or two later it has some issues with the second channel so I sent it back. It did take a while to get a hold of anyone there because the support person was on vacation and no one was answering the support emails for over a week . They fix it and get it back to me fairly quickly. I hook it up and start playing a game about 20 minutes in it goes into protect mode. I reset the unit thinking oh well once isn't a big deal then 30 minutes later it goes into protect again. I call Emo up and talk to Lonnie who tells me this is probably an issue with my speakers not the amp, yeah right...

I had already tested other channels on the Emotiva amp and it was the second channel that was causing protect mode to go active. Along side that my AVR had no issue with the speakers either. I waste a day doing what Lonnie tells me and call back saying it is the amp and that they probably broke it when they fixed it the first time. Fix one problem break another, great! I send the amp back to them and they fixed it. I tested the amp thoroughly when I received it the third time and promptly sold it when I found out it was working properly.

Other than the Emotiva amp I wish I had done more research before buying my first set of speakers. Doesn't matter though, I sold those long ago...

 

[MidnightSensi]

What does it cost to ship those things back and forth?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I have 10 bucks saying that I bet on a long, drunken night, I throw my EMO off the roof.

You can count me in the group who had a bad time with Emotiva. Got an LPA-1 a month or two later it has some issues with the second channel so I sent it back. It did take a while to get a hold of anyone there because the support person was on vacation and no one was answering the support emails for over a week . They fix it and get it back to me fairly quickly. I hook it up and start playing a game about 20 minutes in it goes into protect mode. I reset the unit thinking oh well once isn't a big deal then 30 minutes later it goes into protect again. I call Emo up and talk to Lonnie who tells me this is probably an issue with my speakers not the amp, yeah right...

I had already tested other channels on the Emotiva amp and it was the second channel that was causing protect mode to go active. Along side that my AVR had no issue with the speakers either. I waste a day doing what Lonnie tells me and call back saying it is the amp and that they probably broke it when they fixed it the first time. Fix one problem break another, great! I send the amp back to them and they fixed it. I tested the amp thoroughly when I received it the third time and promptly sold it when I found out it was working properly.

Other than the Emotiva amp I wish I had done more research before buying my first set of speakers. Doesn't matter though, I sold those long ago...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I think I paid 45 bucks.

What does it cost to ship those things back and forth?