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Worst Stereo You've Ever Owned?

init4fun said:
A "Sparkomatic" car stereo that literally caught fire in the dashboard, circa 1976 :yikes:

Had to waste almost a full Beer to put it out...... :p
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I found this extremely funny!
I,also had a can of beer save a car from fire.
After adding ,the typical go fast goodies to my 73 Chevelle, (aluminum intake,Holley carb,bigger cam,headers) I had some small pinhole perforations in my floorboard which let enough heat from the exhaust through to catch the carpet on fire in the passenger side floorboard area. Riding along and all of a sudden a flame shot up and started filling the car with smoke.
An unopened can of beer that had been laying on the rear seat area floorboard saved my car from burning down.
Ah,those were the days :beerchug::biggrin:
 
OK here we go.. worst stereo I've owned. Probably the Realistic SA-102 amplifier that I bought brand new for $100 of hard earned money. At the time I didnt have my license or a car yet and so I relied on other people to give me a ride to get things I needed.. like a new amplifier!

I had found a Kenwood KA-51B at Circuit City on the scratch and dent sale for about $20 more. Didnt quite have enough money. I did more yard work, fire wood, anything I could, and finally scraped up enough to get it.

I call my friend to give me a ride. My friend with a car could be a real horses arse at times.. I had to give him gas money, and buy him food at McDonalds just to get him to take me there. He wanted to stop at Radio Shack to get something. While in there he convinces me to buy this POS which I immediately hated and have every day since.

I tried to make the best of it.. but just didnt happen. I blew 1 channel, took it back under warranty for repair. Used it until I could scrape up more money for another amp. Happiest day of my life is when I took that pile of crap out of my system for good. I still have it.. I keep it as a reminder not to let people talk me into stuff I dont want.

Now I suppose IF you want something small and cute to use as a loft bedroom system it MIGHT be OK to somebody. I wanted hi-fi and power. That wasnt it.

I see somebody posted a Kenwood from that era and hated it... I just find it hard to believe it could possible be worse.
 
Old-School said:
OK here we go.. worst stereo I've owned. Probably the Realistic SA-102 amplifier that I bought brand new for $100 of hard earned money. At the time I didnt have my license or a car yet and so I relied on other people to give me a ride to get things I needed.. like a new amplifier!

I had found a Kenwood KA-51B at Circuit City on the scratch and dent sale for about $20 more. Didnt quite have enough money. I did more yard work, fire wood, anything I could, and finally scraped up enough to get it.

I call my friend to give me a ride. My friend with a car could be a real horses arse at times.. I had to give him gas money, and buy him food at McDonalds just to get him to take me there. He wanted to stop at Radio Shack to get something. While in there he convinces me to buy this POS which I immediately hated and have every day since.

I tried to make the best of it.. but just didnt happen. I blew 1 channel, took it back under warranty for repair. Used it until I could scrape up more money for another amp. Happiest day of my life is when I took that pile of crap out of my system for good. I still have it.. I keep it as a reminder not to let people talk me into stuff I dont want.

Now I suppose IF you want something small and cute to use as a loft bedroom system it MIGHT be OK to somebody. I wanted hi-fi and power. That wasnt it.

I see somebody posted a Kenwood from that era and hated it... I just find it hard to believe it could possible be worse.
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There is a pretty dramatic difference between a Kenwood KA-51B and a Realistic SA-102. I hope you never listened to that "friend" again when he gave advice about audio gear.

As for someone hating something akin to that Kenwood, different people have different expectations, and a person's expectations can change over time. My early experience is from an earlier time, but in my case, I was spoiled before I bought a stereo, because I have a much older brother who had a system that was, for its era, extremely good. Not state of the art, but mostly top of the line models when they first came out, of generally respectable brands. The cheap stuff I could afford used was much better than what most people who have posted in this thread so far started out with, but was very noticeably less than what my brother had. So I was looking for better as soon as I could afford it.
 
Yeeterkeeter said:
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
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Had the Radio Shack version of that one. Thought it was greatest stereo ever….
 
I had a GE swingout record player stereo and then a Titan 8 Track AM/FM Tuner stereo with whatever speakers those were that it came with. But these were from when I was a kid and purchased by my parents. The first thing I actually bought were Koss 4A headphones. You can only here 'turn it down' so much while listening to Led Zep II. The worst stereo I bought with my own $ was a used Kenwood KA2002, BSR TT and Utah speakers. This was eventually upgraded to a Kenwood KA6004, Advent OLAs Walnut and a Dual 1218 that saw me threw college.
From this:
GE Record Player.jpg
To this:
1707079900566.png
 
Worst was the first. Present from mom and dad. I was probably 14-15.

All-in-one CRAIG with tuner, TT/changer, and an 8-track player...

At least it was music. I played the heck out of it, never blew the cheap speakers. It made it through college. Quite embarrassing compared to the rigs the "rich kids" had in their dorms.
 
Danddd said:
I had a GE swingout record player stereo and then a Titan 8 Track AM/FM Tuner stereo with whatever speakers those were that it came with. But these were from when I was a kid and purchased by my parents. The first thing I actually bought were Koss 4A headphones. You can only here 'turn it down' so much while listening to Led Zep II. The worst stereo I bought with my own $ was a used Kenwood KA2002, BSR TT and Utah speakers. This was eventually upgraded to a Kenwood KA6004, Advent OLAs Walnut and a Dual 1218 that saw me threw college.
From this:
View attachment 3108825
To this:
View attachment 3108826
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Those Wildcat things were truly awful. Two were in the house. I’d rather have listened to Wildcats in heat.
 
Bushikan said:
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).
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malden said:
Much of what we audiophiles consider garbage actually bring joy to those who just want to enjoy the music they love.
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Bushikan said:
This^^^. Sometimes I miss that kid who was completely content simply to be able to play and to hear some of his favorite songs.
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Those old, what we might consider bad systems, were gateways for many into the world of music. Everyone has to start somewhere.
 
Yeeterkeeter said:
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
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There is one brand, that is there when all others shudder: SOUND-DESIGN!! :oops: o_O
 
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