What's your best audio deal ever?

BottomFeeder

Keep'em comin' boys & girls!

(aka "bump!")

hearingimpared

Brand spanking new SME V tonearm, $1,080.

ViperZ

Probably my Adcom GFA-5400 for 120.

cmy330go

Through a sales promo I got all my LSi speakers with sub for free. Then a year later got the same deal again and then sold the first set. (insert evil laugh)

Besides that, my best deal would probably be the Sutherland PH-2000 and PH.d phono stages that I bought earlier this summer. Only $2750 for both!:D

hearingimpared

cmy330go wrote: »

Besides that, my best deal would probably be the Sutherland PH-2000 and PH.d phono stages that I bought earlier this summer. Only $2750 for both!:D

I wish!

capecodder

I wasn’t going to bite on this one since this topic has been the “theme” of many of my posts about my yard sale finds. But, I couldn’t resist. Kinda in reverse chronological order. I appologize to those that have seen these items posted before. Items with * are in active use.

What was the best “deal”? Hell if I know, you tell me.

All exc cond.:
Polk Model 7C Series2- $7 *
Polk Model 7-$7 *
ADS L470/2 speakers- $15 *

All the following for $30:
NAD 3150 Integrated Amp- Exc Cond
NAD 4150 Tuner- Exc Cond
NAD 6125 Cassette Deck- ultimately didn’t work
Linn Kan small bookshelf speakers (repainted cabinets and 2nd pair I now have) *

All following for $1,400 and in exc cond (most I’ve ever spent at one estate sale, original receipts (most from 1988) for this equipment was almost $7,000):
Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Ittok tonearm and Linn K9 mm cartidge *
Linn Kan cherry bookshelf speakers-mint
Naim NAP90 amp (45wts/chnl)
Naim NAC62 pre-amp with Naim interconnects
Creek T-40 Tuner
Niles SI-1200 12 channel zone amp
Denon DCD-1290 cd player *

And then some random yard sale grabs:
Polk SDA CRS+ (and why I follow this forum): $30 *
Polk Mdl 4 speakers-$20
KEF C15 speakers-$10
Denon DP 52F direct drive turntable w/ Signet cartridge- $10
Sony TA 2000 (Top of line vintage 1968 preamp)- $40 *
NAD 218THX 225wt+/ch amp- $75 *
Adcom gft555II tuner- $35
Nakamichi Music Bank 8 cd player- $30 *
Magnepan 1.5QR speakers- $125
HSU HRSW10 subwoofer w/ amp- $50 *
Technics D205 TT (w/ nice B&O MMC 20CL-B cartridge worth used upwards of $250)- $15 *
AGI Model 511 vintage Preamp- $40*
Dynaco 410 200wt/ch amp- $50 *
Sansui TU-999 tuner- trade to a dealer for a $20 plate he wanted *
Pioneer SX-1050 receiver- $25 *
Vintage Electrovoice 15TRX (15” Alnico triaxial speakers in custom cherry cabinets)- $25 *
H.H. Scott 222C tube integrated amp- very clean $20 *
Vintage Sansui AU and TU 517 amp and tuner- $40 pair

McLoki

Damn - my hat goes off to you. Just goes to show folks - you create your own luck....

Excellent grabs all....

hearingimpared

capecodder wrote: »

I wasn’t going to bite on this one since this topic has been the “theme” of many of my posts about my yard sale finds. But, I couldn’t resist. Kinda in reverse chronological order. I appologize to those that have seen these items posted before. Items with * are in active use.

What was the best “deal”? Hell if I know, you tell me.

All exc cond.:
Polk Model 7C Series2- $7 *
Polk Model 7-$7 *
ADS L470/2 speakers- $15 *

All the following for $30:
NAD 3150 Integrated Amp- Exc Cond
NAD 4150 Tuner- Exc Cond
NAD 6125 Cassette Deck- ultimately didn’t work
Linn Kan small bookshelf speakers (repainted cabinets and 2nd pair I now have) *

All following for $1,400 and in exc cond (most I’ve ever spent at one estate sale, original receipts (most from 1988) for this equipment was almost $7,000):
Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Ittok tonearm and Linn K9 mm cartidge *
Linn Kan cherry bookshelf speakers-mint
Naim NAP90 amp (45wts/chnl)
Naim NAC62 pre-amp with Naim interconnects
Creek T-40 Tuner
Niles SI-1200 12 channel zone amp
Denon DCD-1290 cd player *

And then some random yard sale grabs:
Polk SDA CRS+ (and why I follow this forum): $30 *
Polk Mdl 4 speakers-$20
KEF C15 speakers-$10
Denon DP 52F direct drive turntable w/ Signet cartridge- $10
Sony TA 2000 (Top of line vintage 1968 preamp)- $40 *
NAD 218THX 225wt+/ch amp- $75 *
Adcom gft555II tuner- $35
Nakamichi Music Bank 8 cd player- $30 *
Magnepan 1.5QR speakers- $125
HSU HRSW10 subwoofer w/ amp- $50 *
Technics D205 TT (w/ nice B&O MMC 20CL-B cartridge worth used upwards of $250)- $15 *
AGI Model 511 vintage Preamp- $40*
Dynaco 410 200wt/ch amp- $50 *
Sansui TU-999 tuner- trade to a dealer for a $20 plate he wanted *
Pioneer SX-1050 receiver- $25 *
Vintage Electrovoice 15TRX (15” Alnico triaxial speakers in custom cherry cabinets)- $25 *
H.H. Scott 222B tube integrated amp- very clean $20 *
Vintage Sansui AU and TU 517 amp and tuner- $40 pair

Will you marry me?:eek:

capecodder

hearingimpared wrote: »

Will you marry me?:eek:

Please don't take this the wrong way Joe, but, uhhh, no I won't.;)

Ricardo

Excluding the many karmas I've been lucky enough to win, I'd have to say that the best deals I've had were the SRS and 1.2TL's I got for $800 and $1,300, both from the same seller.

brodiem

Pair of Polk RTA-11TL + pair of Paradigm Mini-mk3 - $100 for all

Outlaw 750 (5x250@4,5x165@8) - $120 (although one bad channel)

Robc in WI

Old newbie. Bought my stuff at the base exchange in Japan 20 years ago. Brand new Polk SRS 2's (Walnut)$1400 for the pair, demo Yamaha C-2X pre-amp $400, new Denon POA 2200 (300 watts per ch. into 4 ohms) $300. The real steal was the C-2x which sold stateside for about $1300 retail and is considered to be a collectors item in Japan these days. The SRS 2's are bone stock and are the earlier version that isn't bi-ampable. I had no clue that people were doing the kind of upgrades to the SRS that I have read about here. I would love to stumble across a cheap pair of Monitor 10s.

bdaley6509

Mint Infinity SM-152's for 50 bucks at a garage sale.

steveinaz

Probably when I got my first MF A3CR for $625 shipped. It was only 3 months old and in mint condition.

AndyGwis

Capecodder and George Grand could probably write books with the deals they've found. . . I'm just a rookie in this all-star game.

Looks like I was right about Codder. Great post, great snags. GG, where's your list at?

I emailed a guy on Austin CL this morning about some Carver AL-IIIs for $300, but they were already spoken for. Would've made the list for me. I once had a Rotel RCC-945 for $46, resold for $260. Or, a Sony SCD-C222ES I got for $61 + $20 shipping.

lanion

My Totem Mites in mahagony for $350. Not a spectacular deal, but the best bang for buck I have gotten yet in audio.

W WALDECKER

I bought my Balanced Audio Technology VK60 tube power amplifier for $1099.00. the seller said that it worked perfectly but that he was selling it "as is "because the rivets around the transformers had worked loose when he moved it across the country. the so called rivets were actually #10 torx screws which only took me a few seconds to tighten . I bought eight Brand new Russian 6C33C-B power triodes for it from a guy on E-Bay in the UK for $14.99 each plus shipping.Music Direct and BAT want $115.00 each for the exact same tubes.life is good! thanks....WCW III

hearingimpared

W WALDECKER wrote: »

I bought my Balanced Audio Technology VK60 tube power amplifier for $1099.00.

That is a nice snag. I've been wanting to get a listen to BAT gear and will get an opportunity at Ted's next month.

snow

Ok here goes.... SDA SRS 1.2tls $600.00 JBL-L112s $65.00 JBL-L100 centurys $75.00 Marantz-2270 $5.00 Pioneer HPM-900s $40.00 Pioneer F-91 elite tuner $40.00

REGARDS SNOW

hearingimpared

snow wrote: »

Ok here goes.... SDA SRS 1.2tls $600.00 JBL-L112s $65.00 JBL-L100 centurys $75.00 Marantz-2270 $5.00 Pioneer HPM-900s $40.00 Pioneer F-91 elite tuner $40.00

REGARDS SNOW

my goodness you theif you!!!:D

Lainar

My best deal is not as good as some here however I did recently aquire a Parasound 1205A Power Amp for $195 in mint condition. Pretty good deal and my first foray in Power Amps.

snow

Lainar wrote: »

My best deal is not as good as some here however I did recently aquire a Parasound 1205A Power Amp for $195 in mint condition. Pretty good deal and my first foray in Power Amps.

GOOD DEAL!!!

2 thumbs up.


REGARDS SNOW

snow

hearingimpared wrote: »

my goodness you theif you!!!:D

Yes I was going to offer him $500.00 for the 1.2tls but I figured he might shoot me :eek: :eek:

Or even worse not sell them to me at all and kick me out of his house lmaooooo.

REGARDS SNOW

analog97

To me, my 1.2TL's at $1800 (+ new tweets) are my all-time best deal. This is the best spent 2 grand in the 2-channel audio world. Apart from that, I built a Hagerman Audio Cornet2 phono pre-amp (4-tubes) w/upgraded Auricaps (total under $600). These components are just unbeatable for this kinda dough. But, the "choir" here already knows about the big SDA's. If anyone needs a phono pre-amp, look at the Hagerman product.

Jonesy

These first two may be cheating as they were from friends but I got a pair of incredibly minty Polk Monitor 5jr+ gratis and a nice Carver PM-175 for $1.

This may not be a deal now that the new 600 series has come out but I got an as new pair of B&W 604s3's delivered from Milwaukee for $900 ($1400 retail) a couple years ago.

BottomFeeder

Man! Great deals everyone!

I'm inspired to look for / work for more deals!

Just knowing that these great deals CAN be had motivates me to get more of my own!

Thanks, my peeps!

Spacedeckman

danger boy wrote: »

right on... so what would the value of those phones with the driver box be? I just like knowing this stuff.. :cool:

These date from the early 70s, but the new version is $1300. Very comfortable, can wear them all day

Mark

heiney9

Almost forgot.

Monitor 5b's gotten from a local Polkie for $35 with nice stands. I use them in my office rig.

H9

avguytx

Let's see. These are my better deals. Some I kept, some I sold to fund new things.

Pioneer SX-1980 for $10 (sold this after a few months for an "undisclosed amount")
Carver C-2 pre and M-1.0t amp for $17 at a garage sale last summer
Polk Monitor 10B's for $3 at the same garage sale as above.
Altec Lansing Valencia 846b's for $200. Tried to like them...didn't. Sold 'em.
Polk SDA SRS2's for $200 (yeah, recent)
Polk SDA 2.3's for $500 (yesterday)

TONS more vintage stuff that I clean up, use for awhile and either give it to friends or flip it to buy some stuff that actually stays in my main setups.

danger boy

I scored a pair of very minty looking SDA 2B the real wood ones.

I had to drive freakin 6 hours each way for em.. but call me crazy.

no scratches, no snags, minty I tell you.

no for the bad part.. some of the drivers are DOA. I knew it before I got em.. so it wasn't a surprise or anything. but for $100 they need some drivers replaced, then they should be good to go.

Ok I'm done.. last month it was a pair of SDA 2A's, now the 2B's is what I wanted and I now have them. These came with the interconnect cable and the users manual