THIS will make you cry!!

[-=Rudy=-]

Was just looking around the Madisound website and reading a few forum messages, and came across this post about one audiophile's discovery at a Value Village store:

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/discuss.cgi?read=227674

Makes me wonder if it's worth trolling these stores every once in awhile... :sigh:

[Dave]

No kidding Rudy!:cry::sigh:

[Beagle]

I hate reading stories like that. I always get the feeling that someone bought stolen goods. I never picture some unknowing widow bringing her late husbands things in to give to the needy.

[Gary]

Yeouch!

I took in a friends Pioneer receiver to get tuned up. Picked it up yesterday. There was a McIntosh MC2100 there, too, 40 watts / side (I think), solid state at the repair store. It was also in for a tune up. Some guy had recently picked it up at Goodwill (a thrift store that sells used clothing, shoes, bicycles, records, etc.) for $40.00.

I dropped by a Goodwill store yesterday on the way home - nothing.

:rolleyes:

[Gary]

Dave, there are better ways to hawk stolen goods.... pawn shops, used stereo equipment stores, flea markets.... Goodwill? Naw....

[Ronflugelguy]

I was at a used stereo store once and the owner told me that he had picked up a pair of Maggies for $15 as the people who had them thought they were room dividers!!!!!!!

[Gary]

Originally posted by Ronflugelguy
I was at a used stereo store once and the owner told me that he had picked up a pair of Maggies for $15 as the people who had them thought they were room dividers!!!!!!!

:laugh: Yer killing me over here! :laugh:

[Ronflugelguy]

Originally posted by Gary


:laugh: Yer killing me over here! :laugh:

Gary, It killed me!:(

[Beagle]

Originally posted by Gary


:laugh: Yer killing me over here! :laugh:

Panel speakers apparently have problems with rock and pop, the boogie factor is not quite up to snuff.

Does this help?

:D

[Sckott]

Well, sadly the moron who didn't know what Planar speakers were shoulnd't have deserved them, true.

....But it also makes Our Hero in the story learn to keep at those goodwill stores and keep looking. No use crying over spilt milk, an eBay you missed, or the fact you spent $20 too much on a record.

We all try the best we can.

My Acoustats I got for nothing, and they're 3's, in perfect shape, and I re-clothed them recently (sorry Steve, the GF didn't like the grunge like we did :) )

Sometimes audio is a hobby that only audio people can understand, unfortunately... For the masses, let them have their $40 little Emerson radios....ect...

I read some of the other posts. Ieee'mmm not too sold on the fact that they were OK. Maybe one of them were blown anyway. Sour Grapes?

[Ed Bishop]

Sckott has an excellent point. A lot of collectors tend to ignore Salvation Army/Goodwill/thrift stores, mostly because we tend to just think: junk, clothing, old coffee mugs, paperbacks, etc. But sometimes you can get really lucky. Wish I could say I've found good used audio equipment in one--haven't to date--but vinyl? Another matter. A lot of useless coasters, but amidst those once in a while you'll find something to justify the hours of looking...makes having to shell out every so often for something somebody knows the true value of a little easier to bear. My latest find for fifty cents, a VG-(but playable)1st press of EVERYBODY DANCE THE HONKY TONK by Bill Doggett[King 395-531]. I'd like a less noisy record, but pressed by Decca/Coral, and the cover is pretty decent compared to the platter. It's one of those that if, somewhere down the road, somebody has a question, maybe I've got an answer. Like three takes of "Honky Tonk" including the hit side. And I just ambled in and found it amidst ratty, ruined things by Al Hirt, Ed Ames, Lawrence Welk, etc. Always keep searchin', I say...

And, yes, when people die--old or young--their stuff has to go somewhere; most relatives want the estate cash, not the property and effects that go with it. And when the aged wind up in nursing homes, all their property and belongings--regardless of health coverage--get sold or auctioned off in some fashion, even the most used and soiled things. Sad but very true. Someday, it may happen to you, or me. I'd rather not be around for that.
Enjoy n o w.

ED:cool:

[Sckott]

I hate to sound like a scrounge, but there's some seriously nice clothing in thrift stores, and a lot of it isn't low-budget stuff. Suits, brand new furniture sometimes too.

Your Jazz fan who's now 86 years old isn't going to clean his house as he moves to Florida and go to the used record store. He's sure his 6-eye Columbias and mint Blue Notes are now worth nothing, ya know, with dem CDs and all, so give it away? You can't take it with you.

Then some nutcase gets there before you do, and buys them all for $4.00. You see a 6-eye KOB walk out the door, and wave at you. He has potentially $400 in eBay items in this ragged box.

Waaaaaahhhh! (repeat)

[Ronflugelguy]

I know a record dealer around here(works out of his garage has 6000 lps for sale) told me that he bought 70 living presence, living srereos for $70 @ local thrift shop , and sold them for a total of $3300! Said he found them in one fell swoop!! CHECK THE THRIFT SHOPS ETC, I DO NOW!!!!!!!!

[ZIPGUN99]

the aluminum wires in the original magneplanars from 20 years ago do tend to eventually rust, as I found out, so maybe the speakers were junk after all. It would cost me almost as much as I paid for them to send them to Minnesota to be restrung. (I might do it anyways).

Tag sales and thrift shops can bring you mind blowing artifacts. I would love to see what tag sales are like in other states. In CT. the major newspapers have a listing of tag sales, and the items they are selling. Thursday is a good day to look.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by Ronflugelguy
I know a record dealer around here(works out of his garage has 6000 lps for sale) told me that he bought 70 living presence, living srereos for $70 @ local thrift shop , and sold them for a total of $3300! Said he found them in one fell swoop!! CHECK THE THRIFT SHOPS ETC, I DO NOW!!!!!!!!

Good point, that! I've heard of dealers getting cheap LPs in the following ways:

1. A steal at a thrift shop. (A "bargain" steal, not theft...hard to stick a few dozen LPs into a pocket, y'know...)

2. Purchases or auction wins from libraries. (One such dealer of RCA albums told me that he got much of his RCA stock that way--granted, some of the LPs were trashed, but the ones that were good more than made up for the LSPs and LSCs he threw in the garbage.)

3. Garage sales. A lot of people don't think to put their LPs out, and some collectors now know to go to these sales and ask.

4. Estate sales. If it's a larger collection, a buck each for a couple thousand albums can be a good find. (Someone who collects a lot would likely take better care than someone with a few dozen albums that rarely saw the inside of an LP jacket.)

What's interesting about getting LPs from a Joe Sixpack (or widow of same)--they're often amazed at the money the collection is worth! Even if to us, a buck each is dirt cheap and a golden opportunity, they're probably more convinced the LPs were headed for the landfill. Some LPs still aren't worth selling (if a dealer doesn't want to buy them, it's a good sign an LP isn't worth much), but there can be some gems among the garbage!

I draw the line at dumpster diving...but my brother-in-law told me about a radio station back in Iowa that changed formats, a few decades ago, and dumped a huge moving truck full of LPs at the dump. He went with his friend and a pickup truck, and loaded the entire bed of it with vinyl.

[Strabo]

Originally posted by Sckott
....But it also makes Our Hero in the story learn to keep at those goodwill stores and keep looking.

Shhhh...;)
Let's keep that quiet.

I try to hit the Goodwill a couple of times a month. I've only found some mediocre LPs but nothing like this. Wow!

Last Saturday's finds:
Billy Joel Demo Pressing of 52nd Street in great shape,
Bad Company also in surprisingly good shape,
and a German Opera of Hansel and Gretel highlights on Telefunken (very quiet vinyl).

Someday I'll run into that pristine Scott or Mac.

Keep looking.

[Ed Bishop]

Agreed on all points...and keep looking is the operative thing. And mid-week is an excellent time to scrounge, because most people are at work...the weekends you can still score, but what with traffic(on the roads and in the stores), a real pain...and I'm not ashamed to admit I've picked up some nice shirts and jeans at these places for a fraction of what I would have paid for them new. Since I wear 2X shirts, and they're not always easy to find, well worth looking in those racks.

ED:cool:

[audiodrome]

I got a 1967 Vox Mark VI "teardrop" guitar at a Salvation Army store for $12.00.

[Evan]

Originally posted by ZIPGUN99
the aluminum wires in the original magneplanars from 20 years ago do tend to eventually rust, as I found out, so maybe the speakers were junk after all.

Aluminum wires do not "rust". They oxidize and turn to a whitish powder, but they do not rust. Only iron (Fe) rusts. ;)

[Gary]

What's a "Tag" sale? A garage sale? Yard sale? :confused:

Or is it a Southern automobile license plate sale? :D

G

(To explain: Traveling down in the US south, through Alabama, Georgia, etc., stopped in a gas station. Filled up and went to pay with a credit card. The guy asks me for my tag.

Huh??? :confused:

Turns out a Tag is a car (or motor vehicle) license plate!

And then, instead of skee-daddling, I ask the guy where the water tap is? Lots of bugs that time of year and the windshield was hard to see out of!

He says "Huh? :confused: "

I try again. Where is the water fawcett?

He says: "Huh? :confused: "

Turns out that I was looking for the water sprigott......

Sprigott? Huh? :confused:)

It's a confusing world.....

[-=Rudy=-]

My grandmother used to tell us to open or close the lights. Hunh?? (She was old-world European, though, and her house had those cool old pushbutton light switches on the walls.) But hey, up there in the land of Naugas and the Ontario autobahn, you're allowed an occasional slip on Suthuhn Fowlklawr, y'all. ;) But don't let it happen again, or we'll tan your (nauga)hide...

But back to dumpster-diving and such...I would think a Monday or Tuesday would be a good day to hit the thrift shops, since a lot of folks likely use weekends to drop stuff off. The day after a long holiday weekend might be better, in fact. I honestly only know where on Salivation Army store is located, and let's just say it's not in a neighborhood I would enter without an armored car and armed guards.

I do have one personal success, though--I pulled into the driveway last winter and saw what looked like a bunch of phono jacks sticking up alongside one of the neighbor's garbage cans. Went over, and it was a Kenwood KR-V7020 receiver, face down in the mucky wet grass. After a few minutes (OK, seconds) of decision, and a quick look either way, I picked it up and put it in the garage. Few days later, I brought it in the house, made sure it was dry, and plugged it in. A "protection" circuit kicked in for the "A" speakers, but worked fine on the "B". Since it worked, I cleaned it up thoroughly and took a look at it. A couple of buttons were scratched on their faces (probably from the trip to the garbage), the volume control is slightly off-center (probably dropped it on the control when it was dumped in the trash), and the loudness knob was missing. I moved the balance knob (I rarely use the balance) to the loudness shaft, and I was in business. It's worked fine ever since.

A check on eBay turned up another of the same model--it's rated 100wpc, with a fraction for the rear "Dolby Surround" channels. (This was from the days before Dolby Pro-Logic.) Just a few weeks ago, I swapped out a very mushy-sounding Sony receiver for this one in one of my upstairs systems, and programmed my universal remote to control it. I've debated selling it on eBay, but to have a spare receiver around, with a good story attached, why bother? :) I'd be curious to try a side-by-side with my Sony DTC700ES receiver to see if the Kenwood sounds as good.

In all honesty, I expected the amp to be blown on this thing. I remember a few instances of extremely loud 'speed metal' being blasted from the neighbor's house for a few years, with lyrics that my mama told me I shouldn't say without expectin' a butt-whuppin'. But other than the faulty trip of a protection circuit (which, by the way, hasn't happened on the "A" speaker circuit since that first day I tried it), it works, and aside from a couple of tiny scratches on the buttons, looks pretty darned good.

[Chris Desjardin]

I have a Goodwill store right across the street from where I work. I go there weekly to check out the records. Unfortunately, they seem to have no clue about the value of them - totally scratched and beat up disco albums for $3.00 each. Singles (without a sleeve - just stacked together in the thick dust) are $2.00 each. When I hear the bargains others get for vinyl, I wonder when I will find one of these. I'd pay $3 for a mint album, but not for these destroyed copies!

[Ronflugelguy]

I think the prices they are charging are too high with the thrift stores I've seen on the West Coast.

[ZIPGUN99]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gary
[B]What's a "Tag" sale? A garage sale? Yard sale? :confused:

yup!