GREAT BARGAIN BUYS YOU'VE MADE OR KNOW OF


I thought I got a bargain recently - I got a JVC QL 10 in working condition with a UA7045 in working condition - all for £400. I thought that was a bargain until the guy told me he bought it, along with the top of the line JVC Amplifier from the 70's as well as a JVC stand at a car boot sale for £25.00 - yep - diddly squat. I don't begrudge the man as he was great to deal with and passed on a bargain to me.

With that has anyone else heard of or benefitted from a similar bargain? let me know

lohanimal
Years ago, I bought a Dynaco Stereo 70, along with a Dynaco PAS-3 in mint condition at a garage sale for four dollars for the pair. 
I  think Bob Latino's VTA ST-70 is a bargain IF you have efficient speakers. I have lived happily with mine for 10 years. It replaced a $4500 SS amp. 

@artemus_5 ...

I took that ST-70 that I bought at the garage sale to a tech that I knew and he updated everything. That was a great little amp. Those offered here on A’gon are beautiful. If I were starting over, and on a budget, that’s exactly what I would build a system around.

A friend of mine is driving a pair of Legacy Signature IIIs (94db) with one of Grover Huffman’s modified ST-70s, and it is a fantastic little giant killer.

Frank
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Fisher 500C tube receiver with Telefunken tubes for $1. What do I win? 
Once bought an Empire 698 demo turntable for $50 at a going-out-of-business sale. Nice cabinet!
Paying full retail for a Basis turntable did not seem like such a great bargain. Until, some ten years later, when it sold for exactly what it cost me new. Brand new Basis turntable. For free. Beat that.
Speaking of bargains, there's a Tice Micro Block power conditioner on ebay for $98! I paid $650 in the 90's. I've trying to find a reason to purchase but still have my original. This would be a great power supply for a CD/DAC or turntable. Basically an isolation transformer.
https://www.ebay.com/i/173998134771?norover=1&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]&siteid=0&ipn=admain2&...

Some of the best bargains of which I am aware are the kits from Transcendent Sound or the Atma-sphere M60 kits. In fact I am building a T.S. KT120 kit as I write this. If you like a slightly more traditional tube sound, Audio Note kits are excellent. My partner and I have built ANK preamps, DACs and a pair of parallel SETs
Bought an amp new for $1400. Ten years later traded it in on another new amp ($5200 retail) and dealer gave me $2600 in trade for my old amp.
In 1991 I bought a one-owner pair of KLH Nines in excellent condition from HiFi Classics in Far Rockaway, NY. $500 + the cost of a rental van ($80) to get them home (Old Greenwich, CT). A true-classic Holy Grail full-range electrostatic speaker system which hardly anybody here has ever heard or seen! And I still have them set up!