Marantz heartbreaker at the S.A.

[Marantzaholic]

I'm making my Monday morning stop at the local Salvation Army thrift and as soon as I hit the door, I see the back of a Marantz receiver and it's in the wood case! My pulse starts to pick up and I rush over to the unit, which is sitting on the counter by the cashier. It is a 2285B in great condition. The wood case is very good. :banana: I ask the employee standing nearby if it has already been sold. He says yes, that it is being sold to a women at the other end of the counter.
So I go over and ask her about it. She says that she has already bought two receivers from this store in the past two weeks and that both did not work properly. She goes on to say that she is going to use it for her COMPUTER. Aaaaaggggghhhhh!! :nono:
Although I'm dying inside, I tell her that it is a very nice unit and that she should fix it up if she is going to keep it.
Anyway, you can't win them all.
Anyone else here want to share their stories about equipment that just slipped through their fingers?

[Boonaroo]

I would have been pulling a Jerry Seinfield and run off with it.

[ybaolywa]

Gosh, you never know, but what "if" you offered the lady $50 in the parking lot after and also offered to get her a brand new receiver from CC???? :yes: :yes:
Desperation requires fast action for that unit. :D

[danhagan]

I missed a mint pair of Cornwalls at an estate sale by 5 minutes. $159!!!

[BridgedToMono]

The 2nd through 7th people at my moving sale in June missed a couple Marantz's, Duals, and stacks of Sansui Crap by 3 minutes... The woes of downsizing...

[markd51]

Yes, I once missed a mint, one owner Oldsmobile Cutlass for $500 by 1/2 hour. Sad thing was, I drove 40 miles to look at this car after I called the owner, and got lost in a far away suburb.
There was only one thing wrong with it, a cracked Windshield, otherwise, he had the seats covered in the custom plastic covering, and even that was mint!

Out of 10 Marantz recievers I owned, yes, I'd say the Black Face 2285B was the best I ever owned, but I still lean towards Sansui Gear, and if for sound, all things being equal, you gave me the choice of either the mint 2285B, and a mint Sansui 8 Deluxe, I think I'd take the Sansui. Mark

[Lefty]

I would have offered to take her to the nearset Best Buy or circuit city and buy here any computer speaker set-up she wanted for trade of the Marantz receiver. :yes:

Lefty

[BridgedToMono]

True, for a 2285B there's no telling what I might have done in the parking lot.

Bartering-wise, of course!!!

[Eunomians]

Funny, yesterday I walked into an S.A. and there was nothing. Only leftover computer speaker carcasses. And (of course) 5000 Barbara Streisand LPs. Bad signs all around.

Of course, the S.A. employees had a little cheeseball music pumpin' through the store. I looked at the source of the sound. There was a big hand-written sign that said "Not For Sale."

Wouldn't you know it was a mint (I mean mint mint mint) condition 2270 with a mint mint condition woodcase. The unit looked fresh out the box.

I asked about it, said I'd drop some fair coin. The response was that the cool blue lights make the customers at ease, so they've made more $$$ since using that receiver. What a bullsh*t I thought, or so I thought! Read on...

Well, I asked if the 2270 unit was a donation (yup). They said that it came in its own dedicated box. The wood case came in another box and seemd to fit the receiver. Both boxes had never been opened before. They said that someone bought 14 other boxed unopened Marantz receiver items for $7 each. They cut the dude a deal since the boxes were oh so heavy and they were taking up too much space.

I walked out of the S.A., drove home, and cracked open an ice-cold Duvel. I sat on my porch in the backyard... What the hell am I supposed to think about all this? So I drained the Duvel and served myself another one, then another... Maybe I'll go back and see if they'll cut me a deal on the 5000 Streisand LPs.

[Marantzaholic]

Suddenly, I don't feel so bad now. :thmbsp: Man, if that really happened, that has got to be one of the all-time biggest heartbreaks ever. Talk about twisting the knife in, "Oh, they were taking up sooo much space, and they were sooo heavy." I think at that point I would have walked out into traffic. J/K.

Not that I'm an expert on this subject, but the only secret I've found is just pure persistance. Eventually, you will find the diamonds in the rough. I'm making trips to one store almost every day and the others 2-3 times a week. You just never know when that *minty* Marantz/Pioneer/Sansui/Yamaha (Fill in the blank of your favorite brand) will show up on the shelf.

Good luck in your hunting!

[Eunomians]

No joke.

Utter & sheer lunacy to say the very least. The stock came from a storage rental. I found that to be odd or unlikely tale since storage places nowadays tend to auction deadbeat renters stuff off.

I've never found any receivers that are 'decent' at S.A. but I know folks who have. My buddy scooped up an SX-780 for $10. It looks minty and sounds great.

The trouble is that you've got to go early to these shops and you've got to weave through all the Hifi-Junkie Crackhead ex-Def Leppard soundtech morons who hit up ALL the spots and buy ALL the good stuff.

Almost all the spots I've been to, there's always been the usual assortment of zany methed-out dudes tellin' me their scores, etc...

Frankly, I've given up. And, most of the time, I'm looking for LPs anyhow. That hobby has been slippin' as of late, too, with all the damn Streisand LPs out there.

[JoZmo]

Anyone else here want to share their stories about equipment that just slipped through their fingers?

Ohhhhhh, don't remind me, please!

Saw a pair of Klipschorns at a Salvation Army for a $100. Didn't have any cash on me at the time (I know, I know... lesson learned!). :nono:
Flew to an ATM and flew back and, you can guess the rest... :tears:

[kstaskiewicz]

Funny, yesterday I walked into an S.A. and there was nothing. Only leftover computer speaker carcasses. And (of course) 5000 Barbara Streisand LPs. Bad signs all around.

Of course, the S.A. employees had a little cheeseball music pumpin' through the store. I looked at the source of the sound. There was a big hand-written sign that said "Not For Sale."

Wouldn't you know it was a mint (I mean mint mint mint) condition 2270 with a mint mint condition woodcase. The unit looked fresh out the box.

I asked about it, said I'd drop some fair coin. The response was that the cool blue lights make the customers at ease, so they've made more $$$ since using that receiver. What a bullsh*t I thought, or so I thought! Read on...

Well, I asked if the 2270 unit was a donation (yup). They said that it came in its own dedicated box. The wood case came in another box and seemd to fit the receiver. Both boxes had never been opened before. They said that someone bought 14 other boxed unopened Marantz receiver items for $7 each. They cut the dude a deal since the boxes were oh so heavy and they were taking up too much space.

I walked out of the S.A., drove home, and cracked open an ice-cold Duvel. I sat on my porch in the backyard... What the hell am I supposed to think about all this? So I drained the Duvel and served myself another one, then another... Maybe I'll go back and see if they'll cut me a deal on the 5000 Streisand LPs.
That story cannot possibly be true.Tell me, please it isn't true, please!
Kris

[Eunomians]

You have my word, unfortunately it's all true.

I guess this means that the best places to look for stuff is in and around where all the warehouses or huge storage facilities are located in Southern California. You never know what treasures are buried within those dust-ridden coffers. There are tons of thrift stores in tha 'hood. That's where I'm goin' from now on...

I learned about the storage locker auctions because my old neighbor, a college student, worked at one of those places. He told me (this was a few years ago, mind you) that they sold the entire contents of a storage stall for $30, but the bidding was 'blind' (meaning that they did not open the stall). Luck would have it that there were 2 excellent example Harley Davidsons and a plethora of Harley parts. Unreal sh*t. $30.

[Brian]

Let's see how smart you were. You did ask her what the other 2 were? I did and 1 was a McIntosh 4100 and the other a Marantz 2600. Neither worked and I gave her $10 for each. She also had a Marantz 18 that she did not use b/c something on it always made a funny squiggle on the left side when she used it and she was afraid it would bow up. I gave her $15 for it. Also, she had a big pair of speakers she was going to use for the computer but she really did not have the room for them. I happened to have a piar of Radio Shack Minimus 7s in the car so with reluctance I swapped them for her Bozak Concert Grands in bi-amp configuration along with the N-106A crossover. When I got home, I replaced the missing preamp out/main in jumpers on each of the 2"nonworking" units and both work 100%, all lights bright, absolutely no intermittent or noisy controls. Don't you wish you had asked her that question now? :).

(Okay so I can dream.)

[Chris Brown]

She goes on to say that she is going to use it for her COMPUTER. Aaaaaggggghhhhh!! :nono:

Eh, to be fair computers have come a long way as far as audio goes. Chances are she is just going to take it home and plug it into some random Dell and use it with her itunes music, but computers being modular allow for some fine upgrades in the area of audio. Once you’ve gotten used to using your PC as an audio jukebox with every song you own at your fingertips, it’s difficult to go back. Aside from the occasional TT fun, my computer is my main source and I don’t consider it a compromise.

[Eunomians]

Let's see how smart you were. You did ask her what the other 2 were? I did and 1 was a McIntosh 4100 and the other a Marantz 2600. Neither worked and I gave her $10 for each. She also had a Marantz 18 that she did not use b/c something on it always made a funny squiggle on the left side when she used it and she was afraid it would bow up. I gave her $15 for it. Also, she had a big pair of speakers she was going to use for the computer but she really did not have the room for them. I happened to have a piar of Radio Shack Minimus 7s in the car so with reluctance I swapped them for her Bozak Concert Grands in bi-amp configuration along with the N-106A crossover. When I got home, I replaced the missing preamp out/main in jumpers on each of the 2"nonworking" units and both work 100%, all lights bright, absolutely no intermittent or noisy controls. Don't you wish you had asked her that question now? :).

(Okay so I can dream.)

Wow, now that's a serious score, more like a great heist :thmbsp:

I still dream of the day of finding a hot receiver with jumpers missing that has a price tag of, say, $4.99.