Nowhere except from over-priced HiFi emporia.... I have, though, "donated" one or two components I lost my jones for at thrift shops.
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My first "new" speaker purchase was from a department store. They had a little "sound room" in the back, and there set a pair of Scott speakers with 15" woofers. Someone thought it would be entertaining to punch their fist through one of the woofers. The department store took the only reasonable option for them and marked them down to a ridiculously low price. I borrowed my dad's Corvair work van and home they went. I used my sister's clear fingernail polish to "temporarily" put the cone back together. |
Working in The Sears Tower (mid nineties), got the bug for some MM cartridge which was available at a small Hi-Fi shop in a western Chicago suburb. Took the train after work and was dropped at a small commuter station about a mile from the store. About a foot of fresh snow on the ground through which I walked in my dress shoes and pants. Made the purchase and caught the next train back. It's a rough hobby but someone has to do it. |
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@nonoise + 1 🤣 |
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In the early-90’s I saw an ad in The Recycler (a buy/sell weekly in SoCal) for ASC Tube Traps, ten bucks apiece! I called the guy and arranged to immediately pick them up. They were in an empty house in Reseda, recently sold. I took ’em all---thirteen in total, including two 16". Best hi-fi deal of my life! |
Once drove to Poland from Denmark and back with a friend to buy a pair of speakers, only to realize when we arrived that they didn't live up to my expectations. Not an easy decision to make on the spot, but we still had a great trip on our ~950 miles on the road. Some years later we drove to Brighton and back (~1,700 miles) to pick up a pair of handmade horn speakers. Those we did return with, but it was an arduous drive being we almost made it in one stretch with only a few hours sleep in the middle of the night in a van - that is, in the middle of the winter and well below the freezing point. My current main speakers were delivered from Germany by a carrier to my front door - much easier.. 🤔 |
Found a Western Electric 555 tweeter, 20 feet up, after climbing a wall of open shelving in a storage shed. I was 'pickin'. The guy had (noshit) 300 vintage (20's-30's) movie projectors, maybe 60 Short wave/CB High end military units, thousands of vacuum tubes (of which I knew nothing at the time), etc. 8,000 square feet of cool stuff. Nearly died, but only paid $10 for the 555. Sold it to a major collector who flew from Korea to buy it for 4K |
Bought 7K worth of nice equipment at a Neighborhood garage sale...for $180 cash. Lady had just left her husband and was getting back at him. I paid her, left them there for a while, and checked out other houses. By the time I got back, there were 5 guys, drooling at the stuff, "Are you the guy who bought these?" "Do you know what you have?". Then the offers started to roll in. I'm not desperate for money, so I just smiled and shook my head. They even helped me carry the M&K dual 12" subwoofer and the B&W speakers to my car. What nice guys :) |
Agreed to buy an amp from a guy from another state. He would take mine and some money. The problem was that are states have strong border controls, but the state between our states not so. So, I drived 10 hours in one direction, met the guy,we exchanged our gear at the parking lot, had a drink with him and went back home. The amp he brought (ss) was all wrapped up (as original box would be easy to spot at the border), so I have put it in the car without looking whats inside. Two border crossing later, that I have passed with cool face, brought the package home.At the end, it was the bespoke amp inside and its in my living room since than |
I traded the shirt off my back once for a record at a stereo store. I was doing hot fuel testing at an automotive proving grounds in Arizona. This was around 1993. I worked all day at the proving grounds in my golf shirt with the Ford and Bosch logos embroidered on it. I was taking the Red Eye back to Detroit that night out of Las Vegas. With some time to kill that evening I browsed around a stereo shop that I found in town. Got to see some Apogees in person for the first time there. The store owner mentioned he liked my shirt because he sold Blaupunkt radios (Bosch) and he was a Ford guy. I spotted a Mobile Fidelity recording of Alan Parsons Tales of Mystery and Imagination in his rack ($21 back then) and I offered to trade my shirt for that record. He gladly accepted so I went to my car, grabbed a clean shirt out of my luggage and gave him my dirty sweaty shirt for that record. Just played that record again last night. I’m guessing the record has easily outlasted the shirt. |
Circa 1974, when in high school, I was putting together my first good stereo system. In those days, the classified ads in the back of the stereo magazines were full of audio wholesalers, with "low, low, prices!" So, I drove from Pennsylvania to northern New Jersey to buy my first receiver and turntable from one of these wholesalers. The store was in a seedy section of town, full of old run-down warehouses and abandoned storefronts. I found a parking spot about a block away and ran to the store (since I had a pocket full of cash). When I got to the store, the tiny windows were protected by steel bars, and the front door was armored. I rang the bell, and a slot in the door opened and I was greeted with a pair of eyeballs that let me in. Once inside, the guy asked me where I parked my car. When I told him, he joked "I hope it's still there when you leave!" I handed over my cash, got my equipment, and ran back to my car and drove away as fast as I could. |
Rural parts of Arizona for me. Sold a HSU subwoofer that barely fit in my old Jetta to an odd fellow who didn’t say more than two words. Sold a Sunfire Cinema Grand Architecture Series to a guy who said he was $300 short of the agreed upon price once we met up - he paid in full when I called his bluff. More or less, at least for me, the people are more interesting than the places - especially when meeting in-person. |
A Manley Labs Chinook phono preamp for half price from Turkey. It was only 3 months old. I had to solder the power supply to USA standards of 110-120V (60 Hz). When I wrote Manley asking for schematics EvaAnna sent them right over and told me how old it was and that it was still covered under warranty even though it was a used unit. My kinda company! |
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