Gifted systems thread ? (or, get 'em hooked thread)

dogwan

dogwan

Dogwan
I looked and couldn't find a dedicated thread for the systems we gift to our friends, families, or the needy.

Let's start one!

I'll kick it off.

A couple weeks ago my sister reached out and asked what she should get. She stated that she was fed up with listening to music through, and I quote: "those stupid effin' bluetooth speaker that keep breaking!". I was so proud.

So, I dug through my stuff and realized the busted Beomaster 1900 that @Redtail so generously gave me would be perfect for her design sense and appreciation of vintage uniqueness. She also lives in a small 1br apt., so doesn't need much power.

I ordered all the parts for a complete re-cap, as well as replacement for what I suspected were blown outputs (they weren't). Also pre-emptively replaced the flaky bias pots. Long story short I got it up and running and it performs beautifully. I sent her a quick video of it in action and her response was "that is so f*&king cool!".

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I also needed to figure out some speakers for her that I could ship. We did find some Beovox S45 II's that were local to her, but they were more than she wanted to spend. Shortly I was going through some final testing and dragged out a pair of Hafler 200 speakers that I had completely gone through (Ferrofluid and upgraded caps) and the synergy was excellent!

So, I am going to ship those speaker to her too. She's in Dallas, TX and I'm in Portland, OR. She insists she's going to pay me for all this. But little does she know...hahahaha!

Next I just need to find her a TT to go with this little system. I'm thinking a Philips GA312 would be perfect.

What systems (or components) have you gifted to get someone started on the path to better audio?

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dogwan said:
I looked and couldn't find a dedicated thread for the systems we gift to our friends, families, or the needy.

Let's start one!

I'll kick it off.

A couple weeks ago my sister reached out and asked what she should get. She stated that she was fed up with listening to music through, and I quote: "those stupid effin' bluetooth speaker that keep breaking!". I was so proud.

So, I dug through my stuff and realized the busted Beomaster 1900 that @Redtail so generously gave me would be perfect for her design sense and appreciation of vintage uniqueness. She also lives in a small 1br apt., so doesn't need much power.

I ordered all the parts for a complete re-cap, as well as replacement for what I suspected were blown outputs (they weren't). Also pre-emptively replaced the flaky bias pots. Long story short I got it up and running and it performs beautifully. I sent her a quick video of it in action and her response was "that is so f*&king cool!".

View attachment 2842677

View attachment 2842676

I also needed to figure out some speakers for her that I could ship. We did find some Beovox S45 II's that were local to her, but they were more than she wanted to spend. Shortly I was going through some final testing and dragged out a pair of Hafler 200 speakers that I had completely gone through (Ferrofluid and upgraded caps) and the synergy was excellent!

So, I am going to ship those speaker to her too. She's in Dallas, TX and I'm in Portland, OR. She insists she's going to pay me for all this. But little does she know...hahahaha!

Next I just need to find her a TT to go with this little system. I'm thinking a Philips GA312 would be perfect.

What systems (or components) have you gifted to get someone started on the path to better audio?

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View attachment 2842679
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Good Karma dogwan :thumbsup:
 
I sold my buddy the musician a KA-52 amp and gave him a Technics SL-5 table and a pair of HPM-500 speakers I paid too much for since the woofers were crap replacements. Still need to finish fixing on original and he's golden.

I also re-capped the KA-52 for Xmas for him -- he was in such a hurry to get it originally he couldn't wait a couple weeks!

Happy as a pig in mud with it, uses it all the time.
 
I gave a lad I know from church a pair of Theil 04 speakers, A Dual 1219 turntable and a Denon PMA 757 amp plus the ancillary wires and orca's.
 
Last summer, I was working on my bosses house. He decided to upgrade his outdoor system, an Onkyo AVR a quartet of Jamo I/O speakers and a pair of Polk outdoor speakers to a Sonos system. He gave the old rig to me, rather than throw it out. I’d been getting by with a Bose Wave Radio after a decade long minimalist kick, so ostensibly, it was an upgrade for me. Turns out the receiver was dead, as were the Polk speakers, but it sparked a fire. I ended up restoring a pair of 1971 Klipsch H700 Heresy speakers that I’d stashed away bin my carriage house, went through a couple AVRs and ultimately settled with the system in my signature: a Glow Audio Amp Two El 84 Tube integrated, a Marantz AVR, a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon TT, an Oppo BDP 93, a pair of Dayton Audio Sub 1200s and Klipsch Super Heresy clones and I still have the Jamo doing duty as theater surrounds. I’m currently building another pair of DIY horn loaded speakers, all because of a “gift.” Granted, I am far from a noob, I had mid tier systems from 89-2012, but I’m not sure I would have gone all in without the push of a gift… restoring the Heresy speakers definitely put me over the edge.
 
Great stories, keep 'em coming!

BTW, I think I just located a Philips 312 TT down the street from me. Supposedly works('ish), but needs some love. I think it would be a good match for both my sister and the B&O. A Danish recvr and a Dutch TT! Going to look at it tomorrow morning.
 
I cant count the number of systems I have given/gifted over the years.

I know I have sent several systems to college with my kids or their friends.....Princeton, Rutgers, Temple, Villanova to name a few.

My kids would bring their friends over who typically experienced audio through earbuds, car radios or boom boxes. Once they heard my system or either of my kids systems, they were hooked.
 
I've gifted both my nieces and one of my nephews systems. Tried to gift a system to my wife friends young son but he didn't seem interested.
 
Same but different line.

I did some “brother-in-law” price work on peoples systems. A butt load of effort cheap, just to give them a helping hand.

No evil intentions at all.

However, that caused the flood gates to open and they became addicts and told their friends and the amount of side work and sales filled my bank account.

The last “new” friend of a friend was smiling so hard as he handed me his bank account it had to hurt his face. He took home some seriously good gear.
 
Quite a few. Two in particular come to mind:

To my wife's son/daughter in law-Fully restored Sansui 9090, NLAs, Pioneer PL-518.

Some colleagues/music lovers-Sansui QR-5500 (mercy), NLAs, Realistic Lab 400

Getting lots of play.
 
A neighbor of my parents, in his late 80s needed to move into an assisted living place. He knew I appreciated higher end audio, especially vinyl. He asked if I would come over and take a look at what he had. Sure, no problem. He said his nephew had taken his speakers, Mordaunt-Shorts, don’t know which model. ‘The rest was mine if I wanted:
Audio Research D-52B Amp
Audio Research SP-9ii PreAmp
Thorens TD-126mk iii Turntable
Luxman Tuner
Luxman Cassette
Madrigal Proceed CD Player

I said "YES". The turntable needed a new belt and cartridge, and new belt for the CD player. Both AR units, purchased in 1979, need help. Tough to find anyone who might work on them with their propriatory parts. Have not used the Luxman pieces.

Quite a gift!
 
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