What gear you wouldn't buy because of its name or cult status.

[Angsty]

Snake Oil Cables. I wouldn’t buy them, but at least they have a sense of humor.

Snake Oil Cables - Audio Products - Schiit Accessories

Snake Oil sells interconnects for audiophiles

snakeoilsound.com

 

[Alexanderc]

I always said I would never buy anything from Schiit because of the stupid name. Then I needed a new phono stage and I wanted the cheapest one I could get with some adjustability (this was before Amir had reviewed it or the Pyle which I might have gotten instead). So much for that.

If it meets the criteria I’m looking for, I’ll probably buy it. So far, nobody has pissed me off so much that I won’t buy their stuff. If Bose, PS audio, AQ, or whoever came out with a quality product that measured well at a competitive price (with a warranty, looked good subjectively, etc.), I wouldn’t avoid it just because of their reputation.

 

[Angsty]

Schiit, Pyle, NAD. All funny names that could be the source of jokes. All have products that measure and perform well.

 

[Mart68]

I'm always wary of products that have names. I'll favour something with an alpha-numeric designation over a name, all else being equal.

For loudspeakers a name plus an alpha-numeric designation is acceptable, if not ideal.

 

[Goodman]

The usual suspects:

PS Audio => BS Audio
AudioQuest => BS Quest
Wilson Audio => Wilson BS

When you hear the name of certain companies, you immediately think "snake oil".

Zu Audio speakers
Devore speakers

 

[Goodman]

I agree about Topping. Van Alstine, Ayre, Balanced Audio Technology. In addition, I was once a customer of, but never again: Spectral, MIT, Avalon.

Van Alstine made some good amps and some junk, I have owned both from this seller. I have owned a Spectral preamp. Exellent neutral and very well built, but nothing to write home about at a stupid crazy price.

 

[LightninBoy]

HifiMan—because I paid $6,000+ for a headphone that looked out of the box like it was assembled from irregular parts by baby howler monkeys.

Nice.

 

[jsrtheta]

The brand name Revel.

Probably because I’m not a native speaker but there’s really no way you can know how to pronounce it let alone what it is supposed to mean or communicate.

Nothing against their products though. On the contrary.

Definition of REVEL

to take part in a revel : carouse; to take intense pleasure or satisfaction… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[jsrtheta]

JVC is actually a pretty cool company and is known for developing technology that was useful and not a gimmick. While the rest of the market was pushing bass and treble controls JVC had graphic equalizers on even the entry level gear. JVC is a cool company that developed the Video Home System (VHS) video recorder. I wish I could show you some of the models that where outstanding in ghetto blasters, VCR's, video cameras, TVs, home audio gear and the dreaded car audio head units sucked... I mean sucked for the early to mid 80's. After that I don't know I never saw them after that. The JVC video cameras where outstanding and all where earmarked before they even reached the store but we opened them anyway so we could test and check operation. I mostly had a good experience with JVC selling it. I stayed away from the dogs (car audio) and had options but JVC just made more sense in so many decisions.

I don't know their whole line, but back in the '70s they made some receivers that were great. Those little five band EQs they used instead of the bass and treble controls did a very good job. I knew a lot of other people who had them and adored them.

I owned mine for almost ten years, and it was still working like a champ when I traded it in for some HK separates. Everyone I knew who owned one held on to theirs because they hadn't found anything that bettered them for their needs.

JVC was a very underrated company, IMHO.

NAD, on the other hand... Pure crap. Every NAD I ever owned broke like, two years after I bought them. Never understood their loyal following.

 

[MaxBuck]

Snake Oil Cables. I wouldn’t buy them, but at least they have a sense of humor.

Snake Oil Cables - Audio Products - Schiit Accessories

Snake Oil sells interconnects for audiophiles

snakeoilsound.com

Actually, they have what appears to be very good quality product at a very good price. Kudos to them!

 

[Loathecliff]

do the chinese just open English dictionary randomly and pick whatever?

'Nobsound' being one exception...
Edit:- On second thoughts, it isn't

 

[Doodski]

'Nobsound' being one exception.

Sorensen used the name Nobatron for some years. Maybe they copied the name.

 

[Loathecliff]

Sorensen used the name Nobatron for some years. Maybe they copied the name.

That's a really naff name to us raised in the UK.

Circa twenty years ago there was a range of power tools sold in the EU under the brand 'KevinLine'. I never saw them in the UK. So why Nobsound remains is a puzzle. You would think there would be noticeable sales resistance?

 

[jsrtheta]

Counterpoint:

Obviously Schiit. Or whatever the spelling.
I thought it was just an April 1st joke.
You'd have to be Billy no-mates to buy that kit, if it exists, as people would think you're and idiot when telling them.
It's so "tee-hee! in-joke" that nobody will believe they are serious.

There used to be a car called a "Ford Ka" in the UK.
They abandoned it because, IMHO, it was a name that led to annoying conversations:

"I've got an Alfa Romeo!"
"I bought a Ka! "
"Yes, but what is it?"
"A Ford Ka".
"Shut up and get a life....."

They stole the name from the city of Boston, where every car is a "ka". In a spirit of evenhandedness, perhaps, they do add an "r" at the end of "pizza".

 

[jsrtheta]

Different model, same name?

And here I thought I was being so clear by using the word "car".

 

[Mart68]

Lol.. is it Revel the person or revel as in bask in it's glory or maybe even revealing stuff? It's a multi-faceted brand name for sure.

In the UK 'Revels' is a brand of crappy chocolates

 

[Deleted member 47224]

Names of brands aren't part of the decision for me. The cult part is, I don't like cults, in audio or anything. More and more, I just don't want to give my money to the big foreign brands with remote manufacture, no matter if it's quality stuff or not. So this include Topping, SMSL and such.

Ok, I have to admit it's almost impossible to find good, simple and not too expensive DACs made in Europe. Not event talking about component inside...

 

[mhardy6647]

They stole the name from the city of Boston, where every car is a "ka". In a spirit of evenhandedness, perhaps, they do add an "r" at the end of "pizza".

The thing about certain classic Massachusetts accents -- the "letter r" sound is, as we say in energetics, conserved. The r sounds just don't always end up where one might expect.

Crows killed by trucks — Ned Martin’s Amused

Why are so many crows killed by trucks?

www.nedmartin.org

Spoiler

 

[Angsty]

NAD, on the other hand... Pure crap. Every NAD I ever owned broke like, two years after I bought them. Never understood their loyal following.

I have several NAD components that work perfectly, at least one of which has been running for 30 years without a problem. I guess experiences can vary widely with a specific brand. For me, Parasound is the the brand with which I have a poor history.

 

[Doodski]

NAD, on the other hand... Pure crap. Every NAD I ever owned broke like, two years after I bought them. Never understood their loyal following.

I provided warranty service for NAD for some years. The company Lenbrook was very easy to deal with. The product was great for working on except I don't really like those 3020 models. As much as they have a cult following I think they are junky. I was in a city of about 1 million and we never saw that much for service. It was mostly blown output transistors with sometimes a bit of peripheral circuitry too and CD players needing some attention.