I picked up an ADCOM 545 II for 20 dollars at a garage sale. Brought it home, hooked it up and cranked up Dark Side of the Moon on my old Klipsch speakers, my wife could hear the houses heart beating from the back fence!! Too funny! I got out of that garage sale in a hurry, just hoping the unit wouldn't be DOA. Sold it for $225 six months later. That sir is a deal. |
Sonus Faber Electas with Target stands
Muse Model 100 amp
Aragon 18K preamp
Theta Cobalt D/A
Esoteric P700 transport
PIoneer Elite F-91 tuner
OCOS speaker cables
Van den Hull 102 MKIII interconnects
All for $500. |
Used MIT conditioning & isolation gear.
Not the complex all in one stuff, just units intended to be effective at one thing. Surprising,no, exciting value when used properly. |
2 pair (4) vintage JBL 4312 studio monitor speakers, in excellent condition for $15, at a yard sale. |
I bought a pair of Klipsch KG-4's at a yard sale for $20.
They must have been her ex-husbands. The tag said 250 with another small 0 like they were 250.00 and forgot the last 0 so I asked how much she wanted for them she looked at them and said $25.00 so I offered her $20 and she said OK. She must not have liked them she said when she came home from work and the garage door opened up she could hear them blasting. |
Magnepan 3.3 in perfect condition for $700. |
I bought a Sansui TU-717 tuner in great condition from a pawn shop fpr $75 |
MIT Z Stabilizer II. under $300. |
A Marantz 150 scope tuner in perfect condition for $300.00. |
Sony Playstation 1 CD player, $35; Dynaco Dynakit amp: $10. |
Last month I picked up a McIntosh MC-2100 amp off of Craigslist for $100. Not perfect condition, but fully functional and amazing sounding.
Traded a pair of NHT 2.5's (which I got for $130 from Craigslist) for a pair of Thiel CS 2.2's.
I'm still waiting for my "jackpot" find. |
Two Scott LK-72B integrated amps - one pristine; the other a little dinged up, both with all tubes intact.
All from the dumpster for free. One man's trash...
-Richard |
Klipsch Heresy's MIB, $70, off craigs.
AR-XA turntable, Dynaco FM-3, Dynaco PAS-3, Dynaco ST-70, AR-3's, all essentially mint, $115 at a yard sale where I was looking at records and the owner asked if I was interested in old stereo stuff.
Revox B 795 TT, McIntosh 2505, McIntosh C-26, TEAC X-1000R, Sansui QRX-7500 - $400 - asked at a neighborhood sale if anyone had any old hi-fi gear. Guy called me two months later.
Old home made plywood speaker with WE KS12025 horn and WE 728B (mint), $10 late in the day at a yard sale.
Dahlquist DQ-10's, $50, church flea.
ESS Heil AMT monitors, $50 at an estate sale.
Marantz 4270, near mint, picked up off the curb on trash day.
Pioneer SX-980, mint, $15, second day of moving sale.
Sansui G-6000, mint with manual, $15, yard sale. |
Last year, I grabbed a near mint pair of KEF 103.2 for $15 at the local friendly Goodwill Store, and then a week later at the same Goodwill Store, a pair of Magnepan MMGs for $35, again in near mint condition. Haven't seen anything but junk there ever since. |
1. Perfect Quads ESL for $400 on craigslist
2. Innersound Kachinas for $950
3. JBL Lancer 44- famous LE8-T for $9.99 at goodwill |
rkopperman, did you use a .38 or a .357?
Was the seller otherwise in mortal peril, stoned to the beejezus, or suffering from dementia? I mean, really. |
Ok... I bet i beat everyone here!
I bought 2 Vandersteen 2's, a Threshold SL10 Preamp, Parasound HFC1200 amp, and a magnam dynalab tuner, with the 4 speaker cables (highEnd) required for the vandersteen's for... get this $50.00 cash |
I have been visiting thrift stores for years and have a basement full of treasures (hard to let go of them). Some of my best finds were a Marantz 7C preamp with wood case for $4.99, a Mcintosh MAC-1900 receiver $2.00 (it was 1/2 price day), a Stack of Luxman Int. Amp, Tuner, & Cassett $25, A pair of Thiel CS-1 for $15, Rotel RCD-855 CD player $9.99. Thw list goes on and on. |
How do you guys get these deals ??? Wow !!!!!! |
Mcintosh MC30 in pristine working cond. (I was told it was used as a mic amp and stored inside a podium at a local middle school for its entire life), Sherwood Tuner, and Mac C4 Audio Compensator - all for 8 bucks at the thrift store. I don't think I will ever top that. |
A pair of ar-1's(from 1959) at a thrift store for $20 (sold on ebay for +900.00) mint mcintosh c22+c39's for $500 each - a kenwood kt5020 tuner for $20.00(pawnshop) a yamaha t-85 tuner for $35.00 - marantz cdr-630 20.00 - the deals are there if you look hard enough. |
The Tandberg 2080 receiver... was cut off the beginning of thr previous post. |
....for $799.00. $1299.00 list, but I would have paid $2000.00 for it in a snap. Last new one sold in the world. Replaced a stack of Sansui's with it. Much easier to move around. |
This weekend I visited a friend of mine, who proudly told me he bought some 50-something records including some rare Zappa-stuff. "Oh, and by the way, the guy also gave me his turntable. You think it's worth something?"
He then showed me a Thorens TD160 Super BC/SMEIII combination in mint condition. He payed about 60 dollars for the lot. In a (very rare) flash of honesty I told him he had a real gem in his hands. I should've lied and buy the Thorens for 25 bucks. Sigh..... |
Just acquired Klipsh Heresys, very clean, for $20.50. Have to think awhile if I've had a better bargin. |
FREE i am new to the audiophile game i get all of your knowledge thanks for the great advice(any body got any mac equipment they want to give away) |
I found the rarest of all, a marigo apparition series 2 Reference line conditioner, what a babe, the best parallel line conditioner ever made!! |
A pair of Hales Revelation 3's from audiogon - $600. Not a complete steal, but a huge bargain nontheless. Let me tell you about the Marantz model 9's I missed for $100... |
From my local Salvation Army Store...
A Pioneer SX-1250 Receiver. Just needed a good cleaning. $80.00. 160W per channel monster.
Two Pair of JBL-L100's. Not at the same time. $40 and $55 dollars/pair.
SAE A7/T7 integrated amp/tuner combo. Near Mint condition. $65.00.
Unfortunately, they have changed their pricing strategy and now everything is priced so rediculously high, even at 50%off sales, it's not a bargain. |
Finding a McIntosh C31-V for $450 including shipping on audiogon. It sounds nicer then my old Adcom. |
I went to a guy's house to buy a vcr he advertised, and he ended up GIVING a pair of McIntosh Mc 30's to me. I could never beat that deal. I still have these beauties, and appreciate ol Vern's generosity. |
1) i found a luxman r-115 receiver, luxman dc-113 cd changer, and luxman dual cassette deck for $50 at a garage sale. i asked the lady if she had any speakers, and she "threw in" a pair of psb 30 mkIIs. I still use it as a 2nd system and it sounds SWEET.
2) jbl l-100 speakers in the classifieds for $40. they looked thrashed, but sound great. |
Went to a local buy and sell found a Sunfire MK II for a $175.00 CDN in mint condition. Sweeeet. They said they couldn't find any info on it to price it properly so they guessed as to it's value.Typical philistine pig ignorance I've come to expect from those non-creative garbage. True story. |
a fisher am/fm receiver (30w/ch), a pair of fisher 10in-3way speakers in REAL walnut veneer, and a garrard turntable w/cartridge and dust cover, & all the wire i needed. all brand new- $350. |
Too many to tell, but one recently is a Denon POA-2400A power amp and Kenwood KT-8300 WITH AR speakers for $100, from the original owner. WOW they are in excellent condition. He wanted to make sure he gave me a good deal and I sure am grateful. Oh and the Yamaha M4 power amp for $10 is another one recently. Out to find more!! |
got 3, 4 inch thick slabs of finished marble (with rounded edges) that were perfect for my 2 mono blocks and cd player that cost only $5
got a few of my favorite discs at flee markets for $.50 each |
Three actually - 2 Dynacos'; an SCA-35 integrated amp for $25 and a PAT-4 preamp for $10, both found at thrift/salvage stores in perfect working order and damn-near perfect cosmetic condition! WOO-HOO! The third was a GAS Thaedra preamp for free 'cause it didn't work! |
Over the past weekend, I picked up a Nakamichi CD4 single disc player with box and remote, excellent physical and mechanical condition for 10.00. Don't know a damn thing about it. Little help here? |
A friend gave me two tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert. |
Almst forgot this, While walking the dog one day I spotted a older Kenwood integrated amplifier in someones trash can.
Was in nice shape, figured it was DOA but took it home anyway and It worked perfectly. Took it to a local used audio shop and sold it for $50.00!! |
Hafler DH100 preamp 50$ at a yard sale and he threw in 3 pairs of 15 foot canare wire custom Interconnects.
All are in use now. |
Forgot to list my Best Find Ever:
Keith Monks Audio Labs Record Cleaning Machine at a flea market for 75.00 |
Tandberg 330 MKII tape deck with rosewood side panels for under 50.00 on ebay. |
ads L-710 Speakers for $10 at a Tag Sale in 2001
The cabinets (real walnut wood veneer) were in rough shape, but the speaker drivers were in good condition.
When I took these speakers home and hooked them up, I could not believe how good they sounded! Far better than my Original Large Advent Speakers (owned since 1975).
These ads speakers introduced me to the "European" speaker sound and converted my preference from the "New England" speaker sound of KLH and Advents (via Henry Kloss). |
harman/kardon 930 Receiver for $10 at a Tag Sale in 1998.
Unit was in extremely good cosmetic condition and included the optional walnut case.
The only "problem" was that one channel was not working. This was due to a bad fuse. Replaced the fuse (cost less than a $1). Both channels worked! No further problems.
Great unit. I have owned one since 1973.
I sold this "bargain" h/k 930 to another harman/kardon collector. |
kenwood kt-8300 for $70...but better still
CTC BBQ amp ($7k retail, over $3500 in parts) for $1800...better still: entec LF20 subs (2) for $1200...the best: G&D custom preamp for $700...as good in sound quality as their transports...and got everything (except the tuner) from this board..each item waiting for weeks before i demonstrated interest...
lesson learned: custom/low production runs of incredible gear = cheap, world class sound.
rhyno |
$1 for ONE Klipsch Heresy in good condition at garage sale. |
When the Marantz CD63SE was getting killer reviews. And A list price of $500.00, I pick one up, from one of those peolpe who are constantly upgrading for $75.00. Two months old.Still use it in my second system. And still sounds great. |
At the local thrift for $175.00. Also a Thorens TD160 MK2 for $10.00 at the same place. P.S. This is in Canadian currency. |
Not much, but i needed an older harmon kardon cd player to match the hk receiver i had given my sister (the new ones were really unreliable and they had done away with the curved black faceplate and just went to the flat look). After buying one of the new lemons (it broke in a day) someone in canada on agon had a unit from the same year as the receiver. It was $500msrp and the seller was asking $100. It went great with the $400 msrp pr celestion minimonitors I also got her for $150 floor models. Not as good as some of you guys finds, but for $300 total system it wasnt bad. |
