Money sitting in parts?

I have at least $150 (original retail) in unused mediocre speaker wire, much of which I've hacked the plugs off one end cause the amp I was using for a while wouldn't take bananas.

There are, similarly, at least two sets of after market bananas unused, $40+ there.

Parts aren't my problem though. Gear is.

Receivers?

$750 + $200 + $50 + $50 + $50...

Power amps?

$400 + $750...

Speakers?

$200...

Conservative numbers. Only counting stuff I /know/ I'll never use.
 
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I have several what I call "goodie boxes" full of parts, cables and components that I don't have the heart to throw out. I have one of those 12" x16" wooden crates stuffed full of speaker wire and ICs, not to mention a few divided boxes full of random screws and bolts.

Outside of the audio realm I have several tools boxes, crates and Rubbermaid tubs full of tools stacked up in my bathroom. I could really use a shed...
 
I've got loads of interesting tubes, many of which I don't even have an amp for. Most of vintage, some are new production Russian. Can't say how much they are worth as I have never contemplated selling. Here are some of my 6L6 and EL34 tubes for which I don't have an amp.

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I don't want to think about what I have invested in spare parts for my electronics projects such as tubes, transistors, caps, resistors and other sometimes needed parts and that doesn't include the parts stash to keep my old Studebakers running.
 
Sell what you'll never use and you'll have several times the amount you'll need to spend to buy some back if you do.

After working through the estates of several family members and friends, the sad reality is that much of it will go in $5 bags or in the trash if you don't resolve it yourself. Heck, it's quicker for me to run to the hardware store and grab $2 of hardware than spend 10 minutes digging through the piles looking for a couple screws or bolts.
 
Right? I try to order a few extras of commonly used parts when I make my orders But it never fails, you never have that one last part you need. I did finely buy a large assortment of resistors though. 10 or so each of common and not so common values. That alone has been a big help.
I did the same thing. Ordered all the common values from 1Ω to 10 meg in 1/4, 1/2 and 1 watt. Still had to order resistors for an amp I'm repairing.

Wish I lived near a big parts house with a walk up window!
 
I have about two dozen old parts units. All are working well at the moment, but any one of them could turn into a pumpkin by midnight. And probably will. So off to next guy at the stroke of 12.
Other than that , a box of the usual adaptors and wires.
As for the old speakers, I collect the suspect drivers as spares when I see them. Don't want a $1000 dollar pair to be worth $ 200 for lack of a $50 driver that is not to be found.
When I started this hobby two years ago it looked like it could get to be a way of life. I'm old but not that old, yet. And the dollars for the supporting cast could add up fast for something I don't know a lot about. So for the time being I'll just continue to muddle along with great vigor. And act like I know what I'm doing. No tears here.
 
I did the same thing. Ordered all the common values from 1Ω to 10 meg in 1/4, 1/2 and 1 watt. Still had to order resistors for an amp I'm repairing.

Wish I lived near a big parts house with a walk up window!
Closest to me is a Fry's about an hour away
 
I keep buying RCA Blackplate 12ax7's from the 50's.......all nib never used. BugleBoys as well, can't help myself.....:rolleyes:
 
I keep buying RCA Blackplate 12ax7's from the 50's.......all nib never used. BugleBoys as well, can't help myself.....:rolleyes:

I think your case is different, as NOS tubes keep going up in value, so it’s truly an investment.

I’m looking at parts bought for projects that went away, and the parts don’t have much resale value. But like Andyman said, if I don’t unload them now, they will end up in $5 grab bags at my estate sale...
 
You guys would cry if you saw what we gave to a recycler after Kegger's sale and Bag Day...

Nobody wanted the stuff, and it had to go. About half of these pics sold for a pittance, the rest got hauled away...
And this is just a wee bit of it.

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You guys would cry if you saw what we gave to a recycler after Kegger's sale and Bag Day...

Nobody wanted the stuff, and it had to go. About half of these pics sold for a pittance, the rest got hauled away...
And this is just a wee bit of it.

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Ya, kinda sad. It looks like a lot of iron no one wanted.
 
The only excess parts that immediately come to mind are 99 100ohm resistors that I had to buy a pack of 100 in order to replace the faulty one on my Yamaha turntable. The other is a NOS in box set of 4 sonus faber drivers for the original concertinos - 2 woofers, and 2 tweeters. I was originally planning on using them to construct the clones in my livingroom, but wise advice here on AK steered me to the correct SEAS driver equivalents to use for the clones so that I could save those SFs for use in a real set of concertinos or flip them since they're OEM labeled for SF. They're in a box around here somewhere. LOL
 
Years ago, I had many surplus parts that needed to go out but were too good for the trash. I loaded up a box and left it at the front door of an electronics surplus outlet.
 
Decades ago when eBay was new I started collecting McIntosh manuals ,schematics and brochures for every piece of gear I owned ,it ended up where I had over 30 pieces of literature for just my Mc-300s I love ,I had to stop ,the new mess I've created over 25 years is botique cables ,power cords etc ,I've got a 7 din plug that's as big as a baseball i found last night while digging through a dozen brands of XLR cables ,over the years the hundreds of pieces of gear I've bought have mostly came with expensive botique cables & PCs the previous owner left with the gear ,I've got 1 power cord that's 2 gauge wire at it's core ,it looks ridiculously like a fire hose but 3 ft long & somebody bought that mess ,one of these days I'll get off my ass and have an eBay fire sale ,I thought I had them thinned out pretty good after pawning some off on my brother but my son found another 2 boxes full the other day hidden behind crates of CDs ,I could prolly buy a car with all those cables so I know about having too much no longer usefull audio related crap laying around .
 
Ya, kinda sad. It looks like a lot of iron no one wanted.

Well, it does take a special person these days to know what to do with it...
Paul was the guy who would take anything he could use for a build. He and I would go to swap meets and sales looking for old gear and snag pieces dirt cheap because of the tubage in them. After I took what I wanted, Paul would get asked if he wanted the chassis and 9 out of 10 times he would as he saw useful iron, tubes, and all sorts of components. Tek scopes were big on his list with sturdy power trannies and lots of top quality lab grade components.

But outside of here, there are very few folks who know what these parts are and what they can do, so they get scrapped out and recycled.
 
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