Worst Stereo You've Ever Owned?

[Yeeterkeeter]

Here on AudioKarma, pretty much everyone with a few exceptions has owned a stereo of some kind, probably more than one. There are good stereos, there are bad stereos, and then there are the worst pieces of garbage out there that everyone should avoid at all costs. This thread documents different types of stereos people have had bad experiences/luck with.

I'll go first, starting with an unnamed Ross Stereo/8-track player that I got secondhand. It works fine, but it's early solid-state so the distortion sucks and you don't need good ears to hear it. Since 8-track is the main medium, the sound quality you will get from this thing is subpar at best, and ear jarring at worst. It lacks many features, like a fast-forward function on the 8track player and clipped speaker outputs. Would not recommend it, but I will say I like the looks though.

 

[Kodaline]

I have a POS Lloyds I inherited with my great aunt's house. It's in the basement and needs chucked.

 

[malden]

It works fine, but it's early solid-state so the distortion sucks and you don't need good ears to hear it.

Distortion sucks in any era of amplification.

There's nothing inherently wrong with early solid state, there were many great solid state amplifiers designed and built in the 1960's. I have several and often prefer them to some of my amps from the 70's & 80's

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Here on AudioKarma, pretty much everyone with a few exceptions has owned a stereo of some kind, probably more than one. There are good stereos, there are bad stereos, and then there are the worst pieces of garbage out there that everyone should avoid at all costs. This thread documents different types of stereos people have had bad experiences/luck with.

I'll go first, starting with an unnamed Ross Stereo/8-track player that I got secondhand. It works fine, but it's early solid-state so the distortion sucks and you don't need good ears to hear it. Since 8-track is the main medium, the sound quality you will get from this thing is subpar at best, and ear jarring at worst. It lacks many features, like a fast-forward function on the 8track player and clipped speaker outputs. Would not recommend it, but I will say I like the looks though.
View attachment 3106337

I don't think you'll be finding this anywhere though. Everytime I try looking this thing up, this is the only result for it, and it's the one I own! (I know this because of the missing AM/FM tuner knob. These must be pretty rare (or no one bought them which is what I suspect)

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Distortion sucks in any era of amplification.

There's nothing inherently wrong with early solid state, there were many great solid state amplifiers designed and built in the 1960's. I have several and often prefer them to some of my amps from the 70's & 80's

This one was built cheaply and it shows. It pioneered the Ikea technique of making the outside out of particle board and the outside out of garbage. There's lots of haphazard wiring, amongst other issues.

 

[SimplerTimes]

Not the worst I’ve ever owned, but the worst one I currently own. Soundesign 4370 receiver. I got it as a throw-in with a Pioneer 8-track deck I bought at a garage sale. What intrigued me about it was that it is a standalone receiver (no cheesy built-in tape deck) and that it has separate bass and treble controls. With a good pair of speakers, it sounds better than it has reason to. It has a decent sized transformer, for what it is and 6W rated TO3 outputs. Probably pushes 2-3 wpc if I had to guess. Oh, did I mention the shielded tuner section? Quality throughout. lol!

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Not the worst I’ve ever owned, but the worst one I currently own. Soundesign 4370 receiver. I got it as a throw-in with a Pioneer 8-track deck I bought at a garage sale. What intrigued me about it was that it is a standalone receiver (no cheesy built-in tape deck) and that it has separate bass and treble controls. With a good pair of speakers, it sounds better than it has reason to. It has a decent sized transformer, for what it is and 6W rated TO3 outputs. Probably pushes 2-3 wpc if I had to guess. Oh, did I mention the shielded tuner section? Quality throughout. lol!

Looks pretty damn similar to the one I own. I guess that was the styling during that period.

 

[SimplerTimes]

Looks pretty damn similar to the one I own. I guess that was the styling during that period.

Unlike yours though, mine sounds really good through a set of efficient Technics’ that I own. I was so surprised that it is staying in my collection.

 

[eizner23]

Anything by Yorx, like this thingy

 

[triple20]

In my opinion the worst I ever owned was a Marantz Model Eighteen. It was dull sounding,low powered and ugly.
In may have needed service but that would not have changed the low power or ugly issue I had with it.
Just wasn't my cup of tea!



Traded it for this beautiful,full of excitement,wonderful sounding Pioneer set.
Have not regretted it for a single second.
Something like this is more my flavorful cup of tea!

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

In my opinion the worst I ever owned was a Marantz Model Eighteen. It was dull sounding,low powered and ugly.
In may have needed service but that would not have changed the low power or ugly issue I had with it.
Just wasn't my cup of tea!

View attachment 3106521

Traded it for this beautiful,full of excitement,wonderful sounding Pioneer set.
Have not regretted it for a single second.
Something like this is more my flavorful cup of tea!

View attachment 3106522

Silver face, big VU meters, nice chunky knobs and switches, and a nice warm white glow, it looks great. I normally like the way marantz stereos look, but this is just yech

 

[peterp1]

My "worst" was in some ways was my most memorable because it was the first stereo I owned. I bought it with my own money, probably in 3rd or 4th grade, for something like $60. It was an Empire 8-track "all-in-one" system that came with very crappy speakers. Even at that young age, I was under no illusion that it didn't suck, but just being able to play my own music in my own room on something more than a clock radio was great. You know it's high quality when the fiberboard on the pack panel is thicker than 1/8" !!!

I love the single tone control that gives you your choice of "low" or "high" .

It took me another year or two of saving before I could replace it with a SuperScope 10wpc receiver and Advent speakers.

 

[Bill S]

In 5th or 6th grade I wired up my transistor radio into my dad's Sylvania reel to reel tape deck which has a 35 watt, mono tube amp and speakers. I used that to listen to and record FM rock in the late 60s. In about 1974 I got a Panasonic boombox, one of the first they made. It wasn't the best sounding but it has a cassette deck. Folks had a Magnavox counsel phono I'd play LPs on. Serious stereo wasn't until after college when I could afford better. Roommates in college brought their stereos up.

 

[Roadrash]

The worst I've ever owned was this BPC Kenwood junk. The amplifier was absolutely gutless, and it was handily outperformed by an Onkyo A5. I'm surprised it didn't ruin me for Kenwood gear permanently.

 

[lrb1951]

Probably the worst one was an Eico Cortina 3070 integrated amplifier that built from a kit. I could never get rid the slight hum. It sounded fine but the hum was always present. I suspect now that there was a cold solder joint. I replaced it with a Heathkit AA-29.

Larry

 

[GChief]

The worst I've ever owned was this BPC Kenwood junk. The amplifier was absolutely gutless, and it was handily outperformed by an Onkyo A5. I'm surprised it didn't ruin me for Kenwood gear permanently. View attachment 3106654

Set up a similar Sansui for the GF that was here grandfathers... I can say that she liked it

That was before we started living in sin. She gets how bad it was now

 

[malden]

This one was built cheaply and it shows. It pioneered the Ikea technique of making the outside out of particle board and the outside out of garbage. There's lots of haphazard wiring, amongst other issues.

Thanks for the heads-up ! I'll make sure to avoid it the next time I run across one...

 

[Bob in WI]

Had a pair of Bose 901 clones. Mfg'r was LDC? LCD?, something like that.
As many here are "unfriendly" to Bose 901's, just imagine how "special" clone cousins (w/o custom equalizer, etc) must be.
They came on a nice pair of metal tulip stands - I should have kept those.

Don't remember who I sold them to or where they went. I do not recall being upset by their departure tho.....

 

[Ds2000]

It was a preamp which rendered the stereo a pile of crap. Soundcraftsman 4000 or something. Piece of royal ****, I returned it the same afternoon.

 

[Bushikan]

My first real stereo (one my parents bought for me to have in my own room on which to play my records) was a Montgomery Ward Airline record player with no tuner or tape player but with separate speakers and probably a 2-penny nail for a stylus. C. 1970.

Was it the worst? Or even bad? Probably. Who can remember? I was absolutely thrilled. Bought my very first 45 RPM record (with a whole week’s allowance) to play on it repeatedly for a cute, blonde neighbor girl.

Spent a lot of hours crouched in front of that thing, singing along, ruining the vinyl on a lot of records (some of which I surreptitiously borrowed from my older siblings).