Goodwill/SA/Thrift Store Discussions & Finds

Stumbled across a Snell Basis 300 powered sub today at the pawn shop- it's apparently been there a while as they have it discounted down to $99. Should I? More importantly, how would it gel with my ADS L-880s?
As a lover of powered subwoofers, I'd say "yes" for that price. Assuming you're listening to music played via real instruments, the lowest you're going to go, on average, is down to ~28 Hz via a piano, 31 Hz via a bass guitar, or 33 Hz via an upright bass. An audible floor of 26 Hz backed by a 300 watt amplifier and a 10-inch long excursion woofer from a name brand should do an adequate job of "filling in the bottom" while listening to music on your system. If it's in good condition and the shop allows you to audition it to your satisfaction, I'd grab it.
 
To quote Jerry Reed: "When you're hot, you're hot." Today was one of those days. Before I headed home from work, I visited the same GW outlet where I found a pair of AR 38s this morning. I went on the chance that some used vinyl had found a spot on the floor. No dice, but I did find this hidden amongst some small kitchen appliances. A Sansui QRX 5500. For $20. It wasn't a hard decision to make.

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I almost feel guilty having made two scores in one day, and at the same place, too. :cool:
 
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That sub had a $800 msrp, with pretty nice specs.

Frequency Response
26Hz-150Hz ± 3dB
-6dB at 23Hz
Maximum Output107 dB
Amplifier Power300 Watts
Internal Power Amplifier
Woofer10 - inch long excursion
treated paper cone and
cast aluminum basket

How you hook it up depends on the rest of your system. You can simply wire them directly into the amp on the same inputs as your speakers. Use the tape out on your receiver if you have one, into the rca jacks. Looks like you can connect source directly into it with rca, then use the rca output to your amp/receiver.
snell_basis_300_back.jpg



It will be able to match up nicely with the ADS, but I would NOT use the tape output jacks to feed this, because it would not track the main volume knob level.

It should go either between your preamp and poweramp (or in the loop if they're jumpered). If you don't have a low-level preamp out, you can connect the Speaker Level input on the sub to the B speakers on your receiver, then set the speaker switch to A+B. I don't see a level control on the back, but it looks like there's one on the top of the subwoofer.
 
My latest find is Sta- 20 modest little receiver bout 7-8 wpc dial pointer changes color to red when detecting a stereo broadcast. Found the exact same audio cabinet I own for ten bucks the same I paid for the STA-20. Passed on a pair of Mach ones woofers intact (I don't need any more speakers have 11 pair plus a pair of powered subs) I tried to save them for a friend but he could not get them. Oh 20 each -missing grills. Oh forgot the 6 dollar Garrard 40B turntable with dustcover and cartridge works fine. oh the Cabernet CTS-100T tuner in original box for 7. what was really a trip was to find a Mackintosh Mx 135 for 750 that was in the store down the road and last I seen it 750 on line due to a on line store .
 
Its nice to see some of the albums I own are nicely "inflated" but if someone is willing to pay well how's it go "a Fool and his /her money are soon parted"
 
To quote Jerry Reed: "When you're hot, you're hot." Today was one of those days. Before I headed home from work, I visited the same GW outlet where I found a pair of AR 38s this morning. I went on the chance that some used vinyl had found a spot on the floor. No dice, but I did find this hidden amongst some small kitchen appliances. A Sansui QRX 5500. For $20. It wasn't a hard decision to make.

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I almost feel guilty having made two scores in one day, and at the same place, too. :cool:

Congrats on the score, but the insane deals I see people scoring here just about makes me want to barf. lol :oops: There's just NOTHING like that in GW or thrift stores here. Decent gear in thrift stores is such an extreme rarity, and I do mean extreme. And that's not hyperbole or from a lack of trying either. Nothing but crap and tumbleweeds here. Must be nice.
 
Found this lone record in a cart waiting to be shelved. It never made it there :cool:.

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Also found this Sansui SR-2050C in the bin at the dump. You're not allowed to take anything, but f that I grabbed it. Looks like it'll work after I unseize the spindle, get a belt, and stylus. Looks killer.

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Congrats on the score, but the insane deals I see people scoring here just about makes me want to barf. lol :oops: There's just NOTHING like that in GW or thrift stores here. Decent gear in thrift stores is such an extreme rarity, and I do mean extreme. And that's not hyperbole or from a lack of trying either. Nothing but crap and tumbleweeds here. Must be nice.


I feel ya man, I actually posted the same sentiment on here under a different name in the past and ended up getting banned from the site because everyone wanted to argue that somehow it was MY fault--lack of effort and all that.
Yeah that's right, I just called myself out. Don't care
 
This is a thread full of finds, but for each find I wonder how many visits do not result in a find. If we had a thread of "I went to the thrift store/good will/salvation army and walked away with nothing, I suspect it could have a lot more posts than this one but be significantly less interesting.
 
This is a thread full of finds, but for each find I wonder how many visits do not result in a find. If we had a thread of "I went to the thrift store/good will/salvation army and walked away with nothing, I suspect it could have a lot more posts than this one but be significantly less interesting.

I have an uncle visiting from overseas, and he went thrift shopping with my mom and complained calling it shifting through neatly arranged garbage dumps. My mother responded that if you found something worth buying 1 out of 10 times visiting you had really good luck.
 
This is a thread full of finds, but for each find I wonder how many visits do not result in a find. If we had a thread of "I went to the thrift store/good will/salvation army and walked away with nothing, I suspect it could have a lot more posts than this one but be significantly less interesting.
I tell people that I probably lay hands on a thousand records for each one that I buy. Good thing I enjoy looking through stacks of records!
 
Congrats on the score, but the insane deals I see people scoring here just about makes me want to barf. lol :oops: There's just NOTHING like that in GW or thrift stores here. Decent gear in thrift stores is such an extreme rarity, and I do mean extreme. And that's not hyperbole or from a lack of trying either. Nothing but crap and tumbleweeds here. Must be nice.

I understand the sentiment. The overwhelming majority of visits to the local thrifts turn up little of interest. I have better luck with vinyl than with gear, but even that's a relative rarity. How many Herb Alpert or Andy Williams records does a person need, anyway? :biggrin:
The best advice is to keep digging. The odds are that you'll come up with something, sooner or later. Keep in mind that the Sansui score is the first of its kind for me, and I've been making the rounds for abut five years. All in good time, my friend.
 
I go to the thrifts pretty much every day on the way home from work. Usually walk out empty handed. Sometimes I get stuff for the kids or decorations for the house etc. I have gotten lots of "scores" too. One of the best was an lp by the Sonics. Found it after a group of kids went through the records and declared there was nothing any good.
 
Location may have an effect on odds. I'm told Vegas is a transient city, people move in and out often. Not to mention people may be more disposable with gambling income. Quite a few times I've bought things on craigslist, and the seller was moving, and gave me other stuff for free.

When I was doing the long distance thing with my wife. I used to meet her in LA, NY, SF, one weekend a month. I've spent most of the day visiting as many local thrift shops as I could, and literally never found a single thing worth picking up.
 
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