Help with older gear

I agree with Jmcgrogan's comment. I see 25 year old equipment rated 9/10 based on cosmetics, but what about the electrical and mechanical components. I own a turntable from the 1970s still new in the box and never assembled. The belt for this turntable has turned to dust.

in good condition your dragon is worth at least a grand; the krell amp probably as much. according to fmtunerinfo, your accuphase tuner seems to be a rare piece with ebay sales between $441-875; not sure about the current value of the wilsons, but i believe they were originally $4500 (in 1985 dollars) and are likely to garner a lot of interest. you got yourself quite a stash here, m'boy.

I understand that there was little use and low hours, they are over 20 years old though. Bad things can happen without use. Like moving parts in the Dragon could seize up, belts dry out, as does woofer surrounds, caps and other electronic parts can die from abuse or old age.
Even if someone told me that the car was only driven by a little old lady to church on Sundays, I would still want a mechanic to look a 25 year old car over before I parted with any serious coin. I'm just trying to give you a buyer's perspective.

I'm interested in preamp. Be aware may lowball but reasonably :)

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely check the ebay completed auctions.

I should add that I'm familiar with his system as my sister married one my really good friends, so while I said this system is my "sister's father in law's," I could have also said "my friend of 20+ years' father." I mention that because in the 20+ years that I've known them, that system was rarely used. There's this system that's racked for the WATTs in 1 room in the house, and there's a separate system racked next to it for the speakers in the kitchen, dining room, outside, etc. The second system got tons of use. This indoor reference system was really used just a few hundred hours total.

I'm aware that things should be inspected and that I shouldn't just throw the units away. I wasn't going to throw them away, but if there wasn't a decent value that he could get for them, family members might just claim things for themselves. (I certainly wouldn't mind that Krell gear for a second system myself :) )

Yes, this stuff still has value, do not throw it away. A quick look and I would think the Accuphase tuner and Nakamichi Dragon would be the easiest items to sell. You can search sold items in Ebay to get some idea as to prices that these items have sold for in the past. However, also pay attention to the condition.

As a buyer, there would be much skepticism on my part due to the working condition of all of these components. Gear can look fine, but not function properly. To sell straight out you would need to get plenty of photos and just put them up for auction to find out their value. If you want to maximize their value, they do need to be inspected by a qualified technician, if not the original manufacturer. For instance, the Krell amp may or may not need new caps, but it probably could use a good inspection to make sure at least the bias is set properly and hasn't drifted. Do the Wilson driver surrounds need to be re-coned? Is the Nakamichi properly aligned? Heads cleaned and lubricated? Same with the Accuphase tuner, is it properly aligned?

With accredited technical checks, this gear could fetch a good price. With a lot of questions about proper operation, this gear will not fetch nearly as much, in my opinion. Image how much faith you would have if someone were trying to sell you a 25 year old car that looked good on the outside. Now image that same car with lots of documentation of recent service history on the inside parts (new gaskets, seals, re-built engine and transmission). That should give you some idea of what a buyer is looking for.

As I said, if you don't want to deal with the headaches of having all of the gear properly serviced, you can always just put it up for auction and see what you can get.

Good luck,
John