Old timers, what does it feel like to be able to buy all this cool stuff for next to nothing?

Hanleyster

ambitious but rubbish
You must vividly remember drooling over monster receivers and speakers back in the 70s and 80s right?

Do you feel like you are living out your wildest dreams now that you can find the stuff at a garage sale for $10?

I was born in '81 so I only drooled upon mid to late 90s stuff... not as fun. I even went out and bought my "dream speaker" from childhood and it only disappointing. (Cerwin Vega e315... tweeter way to loud)
 
You must vividly remember drooling over monster receivers and speakers back in the 70s and 80s right?

Do you feel like you are living out your wildest dreams now that you can find the stuff at a garage sale for $10?
Audio-wise, there's nothing I drooled over in the 70s or 80s that I've ever seen for $10 at a garage sale.

The majority of $10 (or £10 -- I'm in the UK) items I've seen are at best worth £1, and if I had them I'd pay £2 for someone to take them away.

The good stuff cost a lot then and costs a lot now, because good stuff is good stuff no matter when it's made.

Conversely, bad stuff -- and most of it is bad stuff -- is worthless, no matter when it's made.
 
You must vividly remember drooling over monster receivers and speakers back in the 70s and 80s right?

Yes, I vividly and fondly remember poring through catalogs and magazines, and "window shopping" the B&M audio stores (yes, they did exist back then), but also the disappointment of "there is no way in hell that I can afford that"--but maybe someday? Also the thrill of uncles and older cousins coming home from the military with all these awesome systems that I got to experience. I worked like a dog and saved my pennies and put together the best I could afford (including some hand-me-downs) to get me through high school and college. Then the "hiatus" occurred--welcome to the "real world" kid--car payments, rent, mortgages, moving half way across the country several times changing jobs, so audio gear kind of went on "the back burner", so to speak (for at least a couple decades).
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Now as I approach "geezerdom", I have these toys that I lusted after 40 or so years ago.

Do you feel like you are living out your wildest dreams now that you can find the stuff at a garage sale for $10?

Yes, I am enjoying "reliving my youth", but the days of finding vintage audio gear at garage sales for $10 anymore are pretty much over. People that still have that 70's and 80's gear still around (and vinyl collections) are getting pretty savvy as to the values (thanks to the internet). I remember the days of the beginning of digital and HT, and people were literally giving away entire record collections, vintage consoles/receivers/tape decks/speakers. Not any more--prices on vintage gear and used vinyl/tape is on a serious climb, and have been for quite a number of years now. This is driven by the fact that us "geezers" that drooled over it 40 or so years ago now have the disposable income to pay the prices, and still want it and are willing to pay for it.
 
There are a few things I've found, but they have all had some kind of issue, if only a minor issue.

Haven't found and major scores.
 
Savatage1973 and others are right on. The most lazy seller can talk into there phone and find out information on an item. There is some good savings on high end gear though. My ARC D115 (100 tube watts) was $3000.00 in 1987 and I paid $700.00 for it locally a few years ago. Same with my Mac setup. Speakers are the best deals as they are toughest to sell. I still can't afford the best new stuff but maybe some of the nicest 30 year old gear you could buy at that time. You can find some fantastic deals if you are patient but not too many give away deals anymore.
 
Yes, I am enjoying "reliving my youth", but the days of finding vintage audio gear at garage sales for $10 anymore are pretty much over. People that still have that 70's and 80's gear still around (and vinyl collections) are getting pretty savvy as to the values (thanks to the internet). I remember the days of the beginning of digital and HT, and people were literally giving away entire record collections, vintage consoles/receivers/tape decks/speakers. Not any more--prices on vintage gear and used vinyl/tape is on a serious climb, and have been for quite a number of years now. This is driven by the fact that us "geezers" that drooled over it 40 or so years ago now have the disposable income to pay the prices, and still want it and are willing to pay for it.

Not an old geezer by any means but. I wish I could time travel back to the 90s and buy a bunch of stuff. I remember half price books selling stuff like Led Zeppelin albums for 2-3 bucks. Especially wish I could have grabbed a bunch of jazz albums. But yeah it all blew back up and not just with the old timers I think. Seems like vinyl's surprise resurgence starting in the mid 2000s played a big part. I remember chains like Fry's selling record players and then stocking new vinyl pressings. The new tables were great for someone getting their feet wet that happened to have a bunch of old records that they ended up with and wanted to listen to. The fact vinyl is such a durable media helped. I think inevitably that results in that desire to have a nicer setup. It's all so tactile and satisfying.
 
Old enough to recall looking through records of 50s bluesmen & early rock and passing on them because who'd want to listen to mono? Old enough to recall chrome chassis tube gear at Salvation Army that I did not buy because I did not know what it was. Old enough to recall seeing large silver face gear at my town dump and leaving it because at that point I was into vacuum tubes. And old enough to recall driving past monster sized 50s speaker cabinets curbside and not giving them a second thought.

But... I'm also old enough to recall hamfests with ~20 people in attendance, leaving with my car sagging, and barely breaking $100. Old enough to recall electronic surplus stores all over MA that you hit every week because new vacuum tubes, output transformers, and other parts would show up for pennies to dollar. Old enough to recall the weekly trader papers & books that would get you to a convenience store at 6AM when they dropped so you could be first to call on gear. And finally, old enough to know the good stuff was made every day, every week, and every year, for ~80-90 years and that there is a ton of it undiscovered.
 
hmmmm, I have a marantz I am restoring and its gonna be pricey to sell. not way up there like some of the gurus sell them, but I am not taking it completely apart and washing it in blood of unborn tooth fairy either...

guy calls up, asks how much, I give him the price range...he tells me that is more than what he paid for the one he used to have as a ute. So im thinking, ok....yeah,,,and the point? you coulda paid $4000 for a 1969 442 that would fetch well north of 50K now...depends on the value?

when I mentioned that he didnt value his THEN because he either threw it away or gave it to goodwill in favor of some BPC Fisher from Sears with a remote...he got pissed. I surmise I hit that nail on the head.

suffice to say, when I was really really collecting my 100 pcs of silver in the 90's into the early 00's, it was cheap and I was even buying on ebay and paying, what was reasonable shipping costs. Today, 'cheap' only applies to the stuff you accidentally find at a GW or an estate auction where the attendees are focused on something else. I goto auctions today, and all the ebayers are there with cell phone in hand, figuring out what 'half' of the highest current auction value is and bidding to that. (in a perfect world, I would be allowed to throw them in a river or at least defenestrate them.)

of course that begats the 'ebay restore' - wiped down with a handywipe and mebbe shot with D5 only and called 'recently serviced', only to make rude sounds 8 hours into its new owners life and they come to me all wide eyed and scared...I am sure most of you have been in that scenario
 
Oh, dear. So old timers can be born in 1981? That means I’m practically fossilized.

I’ve been very happily collecting LPs and CDs for a few cents on the dollar for a while now. I’m feeling no pain.

I think he meant us, not him. LOL
 
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