What was your best ever audio gear score?

[jdandy]

My best ever audio gear purchase happened while I was looking around in an old store in Mill Valley, California, run by a church group that sold donated items to fund thier church charitable activities. I was all the way at the back of the store when I spotted two large floor standing speaker cabinets. Upon closer inspection I saw small Altec badges in the corners of the grills. I pulled one speaker away from the wall and saw a label that read Valencia. I got excited, but tried to remain collected. I went to the counter at the front of the store and asked the older lady there if she had a screw driver I might borrow, that I wanted to inspect one of the speakers. She said yes, gave me the tool, with no interest in what I was doing. I returned to the Speaker cabinets, unscrewed the 3/4" plywood back, and there they were, that big altec horn and driver, and that big cast basket 15" woofer. I closed that speaker, checked the other, closed it, and approched the older lady at the counter. My heart was jumping out of my chest, but I was doing everything I could to act like I was barely interested. I asked how much for the two speakers at the back of the store. She said, those heavy things had been in my way for 3 months, and she'd take $15.00. I asked if that was each, she said no, $15.00 for both of them, and wanted to know if I could get them out of her store that day because they were taking up too much space. I paid her $15.00, called a friend with a van, and waited by the front door of the store until he arrived and helped me load them up. That is the best score I have every made with audio gear. At my age now, if I found that deal again, I'd probably have a heart attack on the spot.

Thinking about that day got me to wondering what someone elses greatest audio gear score might be.

[www.records]

Geat score Dan. Do you still have the Altecs?

[pmsummer]

My best ever audio gear purchase happened while I was looking around in an old store in Mill Valley, California, run by a church group that sold donated items to fund thier church charitable activities.

...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.


;)

[dutch]

My trusty Marantz 2215b. Got it for $10.00 at a yard sale, w/ the original box and receipt. They didn't even put it out for sale. They had a turntable and some Mitch Miller records and I asked them if they had any other equipment.

[dokblues]

My best score has to be my C-28 McIntosh Pre-amp I went to the GW thats by my house and one of the guys that works there recognized me and asked if I would like to look at what he thought was an old piece of gear they got in. I went to the back with him and he showed me the mac I tried really hard not to get excited and asked how much?? He replied would 49.99 be too much? I took the mac and almost ran to the counter!!! It had the original O/M,S/M and the flyer from the audio store.

[markus]

gotta be a pair of Chartwell LS3/5a's from the (no closed) Salem MA Salvation Army .....

$10 for the pair :banana:

Ended up selling them to a dude in Hong Kong, and the proceeds allowed my wife to get an extra 2 months of maternity leave . . audiokarma for sure :thmbsp:

[markallen]

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=177782

[jim3860]

...and Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil.


;) :D



Regards Jim

[jdandy]

Geat score Dan. Do you still have the Altecs?

No, I don't still have them, although I wish I did. Damn good speakers. I was young and dumb, moved often, and after a while none of my friends wanted to help me move the Altecs anymore. There certainly was no moving them by yourself, so I finally sold them in San Francisco to a doctor friend for $500.00. Naturally, he never heard the Mill Valley story.

[jdandy]

Thanks, markallen for the link. I hadn't seen it, or I wouldn't have posted this thread. There's some sweet deals there, too.

[abnt1]

Hi, my best scores are: I got a Sansui au-9500 in perfect condition for $29.99 at a thrift store here in Prince George, and today scored a pristine Technics SU 7300 (integrated 40 watts rms X 2) frpm the local SA for $5.00......:=)

[MunkeyQ]

SX-1250 from a roadside bin. It suffered a couple of bent switches, and I suffered a hurt back...but it was worth it.

[bolly]

Pye PF91, 91A combo... had to sell it as there was NO chance in hell of EVER finding a mate for her... under $2000! :yikes

[Arkay]

Infinity RS II speakers ...free from the trash depot! :banana:

Since I had no one to help me and wasn't going to risk letting them out of my sight, I had to "leapfrog" carry them (carry one ahead, put it down, walk back and pick up the other to carry it past the first one, put it down and walk back... etc...) for a block or two and around a corner and down and then up some steps, then up two more flights of steps. Nearly herniated myself lugging those awkward babies up the somewhat (comparatively) narrow stairs by myself, to get them into my apartment --I'm in an older building without an elevator-- but it was worth it.

I had visions of all that work being for nothing if the speakers turned out to be irreparably dead, and prayed that they would work. The people at the trash depot told me that the people who dropped them off said they worked, but I didn't know whether to believe that. [Who THROWS AWAY speakers that sound SO GOOD, anyway? :screwy:] I was lucky: they worked perfectly, ever driver was good and they sound(ed) fantastic! :music: :thmbsp:

Best deal I ever made. :yes: Price was right (although I would gladly have paid someone to carry them, if anyone suitable had been present at the time), and they a:screwy:e still my favorite single component/element in my system, the LAST things I would want to part with.

[karlo]

snell -e- III's from flea mkt ,$20 2 weeks ago , denon dp-35f + signet $17.50 from
goodwill , nakamichi micro system , 9.99 from last chance thrift .....very good

best ... altec 1594B amp "not working" $5 from church thrift store . when i got it
home , it was working just great ...while i was there , they had an old conn organ,
which i asked "how much" the woman said it was free if i'd take it away . i took it
home , all 350 lbs of it . the keyboard had some issues ,and the bass pedals didn't
work , the speakers were shot...........but i didn't care at all , inside was a beautiful
tube amp with a 12v6 x 4 amp and a 6L6 x 2 amp in one chassis ,plus 56(!) 12au7
tubes - RCA clear-tops , Amperex , Telefunken , mullard , sylvania . i sold most of the
tubes , made about $400 . put the amp in an old EV esquire cabinet i had , added
an old DOD preamp , and now i have a cool guitar amp that can be 8watts or 30watts
in about 5 minutes by flicking a switch and swapping tubes.
i gave the remaining parts to a guy with a similar conn .

[Fred Sanford]

Way too many to list. Way too many. Here's about a minute's worth of typing, then I'll stop:

JBL 4333As
JBL L100s
JBL L110s
JBL L46s (4)
Adcom 2535 (2)
Adcom GTP600
Bryston 4B
Sansui B5000
Conrad Johnson turntable
Micro Seiki turntable
Mitsubishi Linear Tracking turntable
Denon PMA920
Denon PMA720 (2)
Denon PMA520 (2)
Crown DC300A
Canton Karat 20 (4)
Pioneer DVL-909 (4)
Pioneer DVL-91

...and many, many, many more- all free.

je

[jdandy]

Man, there's some pretty cool stuff either being thrown away or sold cheap. It's amazing. Got to keep a sharp eye out for the deals.