A couple of years ago I scored off Craigslist a pristine condition BAT VK-P5 for $600.
Year before that I got a pristine condition Odyssey Audio Stratos for $200.
Realistically Speaking.....
Ever bought anything from CL that turned out to be a better purchase than you expected? I just picked up a Realistic STA-120B receiver today that looks brand new to me, down to even the power cord (it is still shiny brown). It has been in the same family since 1973, when it was bought new. All controls/features work as they should, although I have not tested the phono input yet. If that works, it will be the cherry on top. It is my understanding from research done before buying it that Hitachi was the actual manufacturer, and that quality shows through in the use of the controls and the sound the unit produces. Simply amazing after over 50 years!
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@thecarpathian - OMFG lol.... Lucky you... |
Picked up my power amp from CL, drove 3 hours each way to pick it up. Original owner, never touched, very well taken care of. Funny when I got there, he told me, there has been a ton of interest, and the price went up $200! But it was still a good price, so it's in my rack now. My speakers are from eBay, a local girl was selling off all her Mom's Hi-Fi, had an entire storage unit filled with amps, tuners, speakers, amps, etc.. Like she must have had an entire system in every room. Really wish I spent the time to go through it all, should have picked up several pieces. |
A couple years back on CraigsList for $100.00 Pair of T+A Criterion T100 speakers in my system now (excellent speakers). Onkyo receiver, Yamaha TX-540, Thorens TD-250 turntable and a Philmore ST1000 step up/down transformer, all from the original owner. Sold everything but the speakers. Also recently picked up 10 Maxell UD XL 35-90B, 7" reel to reel tapes, sealed in the factory plastic wrap for $150.00.
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Ah, memories from the early '70's... I remember selling and buying these - a solid sell that NEVER came back to haunt me. Some of the special features were the “glide path” volume controls which featured dual pots for each slider so that loudness enhancement effect was continuously variable from minimal at loud volume to maximum when played softly, based on the position of the volume slider. Caution - Don't spray contact cleaner on the volume sliders though. They are specially treated and respond best to a few minutes of gentle exercise up and down to scrape the contact points clean. (with the power off, of course) I used to have 2 of these – one I got for my folks and one was my own. My own unit was sold to a classmate when I left college, because I did not need all the equipment I had collected during my years of working at RS to pay my way through school. The "B" version was essentially a higher power version of the original, as the "power wars" went into full swing. In the ads, even the original was rated at 140 Watts but that was an IHF rating for the max from a single driven channel, but doubled by adding the two channels together. I liked to call that "Impending Hot Failure" because you only got that much for an Instant, only in the middle of the usual frequency range, before the power supply caps were tapped out and said "Phooey, I'm done." In actuality, the 20-20k output would be about 30 - 35 W RMS per channel for early units and ramping up over time through various revisions. Still more than enough for the ported speakers that were popular until "Acoustic Suspension" sealed cabinets became all the rage. Don't get me wrong - I loved this unit in its day, and I may even have one in storage still. I'll know in the next year or so as I rummage through my old stuff while downsizing yet again. I used my STA-120 to drive my Bose 901 series 1's but when I moved on to Quad, I added some Infinity 1001's and upgraded my power to HK Citation and Crown. My folks used their STA-120 until they had both passed away and I inherited it back. That was over 25 years of daily use with zero issues. At this point, I would suggest you have someone check all the caps, and if you are serious about this unit, also replace some of the transistors, which are known to be a bit noisy, as well. Nice find! Enjoy!! |
Yes, I personally have had good luck with CL and FBMP Got a pair of AR3a's for 100.00 and in what would have to be one of the best deals ever I got a pair of KLH Barons for free. All I had to do was drive about 90 minutes to pick them up. I also got a Yamaha R1000u receiver for 50 that really, really surprised me with how good it is. Haven't bought any real losers, I do pay attention to how things are written and I pay attention to surroundings in pictures. I have also learned to ask very specific questions upfront before commiting. I have also sold quite a few things on both those sites and have met mostly really great people in the process. |