What were your BEST & WORST (if any) audio related purchases in 2013?

[Johnny Vinyl]

BEST: Genesis G7.1f speakers (received them in January)
WORST: None. Other than a slight disappointment in not having been able to secure a tube phono amp just yet.


EDIT: The Nitty Gritty 2.5Fi RCM should be added as a Best purchase as well.

[rpatt]

Best: Marantz AV8801. Incredible improvement in overall performance of my system.
Worst: None.

[Drew664]

Best: Receiving a free pair of quality Manepan speakers

Worst: Hooking those speakers up to an old HTiB receiver and realizing that I won't be using that receiver for anything again outside of garage speaker duty. Sad really as there is nothing technically wrong wih it, just not the quality I have been used to.

No purchases for me in 2013, and actually nothing purchased since early 2011ish.

[Shagadelic]

Best: psb image s50 surrounds ($200), & panny 55st60 ($1214)

worst:a/v stand from Costco ($200)
HDTV mountable, just can't implement center speaker on top with TV.

not a complete loss, lil' bro gets (Christmas):
refurbed onkyo 616 avr, psb b25, Samsung 46", xbox360/games, a/v stand (Costco), polk psw10, & 14awg speaker cables.
+ double dip blu-rays I don't need:
Blade Runner: 5 disc
Full Metal Jacket
Halloween
Unforgiven
Sin City
Matrix: dvd set

[Billy13]

BEST: My SVS subwoofers (PB12 NSD/2 ~ 25-31PC+) & ADCOM GFA-7605 amplifier.

WORST: Nothing!

[Scarriere]

Best: Paradigm Surround 3's to take me to 7.1
Worst: A few music videos I bought from iTunes.

[Scarriere]

Originally Posted by rpatt

Best: Marantz AV8801. Incredible improvement in overall performance of my system.
Worst: None.

I read a review of that and holy cow that's a serious piece of...umm...ahh...equipment you have there.

[Show spoiler]

[kenoh]

But what I would like to know is should I go Horizontal or vertical for my center?

I can get a good deal on one Paradigm Signature v.1 compared to say the CC690. The only thing I want to know before I make a mistake is if the Signature 1 would have trouble going down to 40hz Vs the CC690? I would think it would be ok since it has a woofer? Would the Signature sound better or would it sound similar since they both have the same tweeter?

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by kenoh

But what I would like to know is should I go Horizontal or vertical for my center?

I can get a good deal on one Paradigm Signature v.1 compared to say the CC690. The only thing I want to know before I make a mistake is if the Signature 1 would have trouble going down to 40hz Vs the CC690? I would think it would be ok since it has a woofer? Would the Signature sound better or would it sound similar since they both have the same tweeter?

Check the other thread where you posted the same question. I linked you to some threads.

[onyxbfly]

Best: Sherbourn PA7-350 AMP, JBL W15GTI subs
Worst: Behringer iNuke NU4-6000

[BigAl87]

Best of all Totem Forest signature , no actual worst purchase, very satisfied all in all.

[timikilled]

Best : Getting some Audioengine A5+ active speakers for my computer/blu-ray setup
(Would have gotten some Airmotiv 4s, but they're currently out of stock... email'd them about it,
they said they have no idea when it will be back for sale, but it'll take more than a month from now...)

Worst: Acquiring some Bowers & Wilkins P5... they're not bad, but the $300 price tag doesn't fit at all with the sound they produce,
and I would have been better off getting some DT 880s 250 ohms...

[callas01]

Best - Dynaudio Focus speakers and the Naim Nait XS-2

Worst - Sony BDP-S790 which was taken back to best buy 2 times then replaced with an Oppo 103

[Flatnate]

My best (and well only technically) was a steal on an open box Onkyo PR-SC5508 pre/pro.

Best honorable mention has to go to the ARX speaker system I helped a friend pick out. It comprised of a A1b bookshelf, A2C center, and A3rx floor standing speakers from The Audio Insider. Man, they are sensational not just for what he paid but period.

Worst has to be overpaying for a 50 foot XLR audio cable to go to my self powered monitor from a large big chain musical equipment store.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Best of all Totem Forest signature , no actual worst purchase, very satisfied all in all.

I heard Totems hooked up to a Yamaha amp they sounded really good, and that receiver probably didn't do the speakers any favours, BigAl87 your a lucky man to be able to afford speakers like the Totem Forest Signature's with an Arcam receiver and Bryston amplification.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by callas01

Best - Dynaudio Focus speakers and the Naim Nait XS-2

Worst - Sony BDP-S790 which was taken back to best buy 2 times then replaced with an Oppo 103

No bad purchases for you, your Oppo could go under your best list.

[prerich]

Best: 1. Fostex t90a super tweeters
2. 2 Essence ST/H6 sound cards and a Omega HT Claro Halo XT
3. 12 port USB 3.0 hub

Worst: None

Didn't include the Cornwalls because I bought them last year in December !

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Canada

I heard Totems hooked up to a Yamaha amp they sounded really good, and that receiver probably didn't do the speakers any favours, BigAl87 your a lucky man to be able to afford speakers like the Totem Forest Signature's with an Arcam receiver and Bryston amplification.

Canada, Indeed I am very fortunate, all I can say if the speakers were the Sttafs and or Mites, I am not surprised that it sounded that good as this line of speaker is designed to sound good to pair well with just about anything but they are well worthy of higher end electronics too, now a nice Yamaha Adventage can totally make those speakers sing without a doubt, I mean bigger Yamaha models are no slouch. Johnny vinyl use to drive the Sttafs with a nice Yamaha receiver and for sure it sounded great.

Vince Bruzzese even said it

You can pair this line of speakers with the junkiest electronics

9 minutes 40 second into this vid

Totem2.AVI - YouTube

[FreddieFerric]

Best (and only) for 2013 are:

Emotiva XSP-1 Differential Reference Preamp.
SVS SB1000 sub bass system.
Denon DL-304 Low Output MC cartridge.

Worst: Nothing. I didn't but anything else this past year.

[Josh]

Best: Focal 1027s. They are the reason I'm back into audio after so many years and everything I could want in a speaker. I made plenty of purchases this year (to include my Oppo and many cables), but the speakers trump them all.

Worst: Tie between Metallica Black Album DVD-A and Nirvana Nevermind Blu-ray. I paid too much for these discs that sound worse than the CD.