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

I'm thinking that the OP might not understand that those $10 items aren't monster receivers and even if they were, it would cost hundreds of dollars to bring them back to spec. Even after that repair, it could still die tomorrow. That's exactly why I got out of vintage. Find something for $25 that ends up needing a $300 repair and then sit with fingers crossed every time you fire it up because you are now $325 deep into it. I've had significantly better luck buying something that's 2 or 3 years old for about half price on Agon.
 
I'm thinking that the OP might not understand that those $10 items aren't monster receivers and even if they were, it would cost hundreds of dollars to bring them back to spec. Even after that repair, it could still die tomorrow. That's exactly why I got out of vintage. Find something for $25 that ends up needing a $300 repair and then sit with fingers crossed every time you fire it up because you are now $325 deep into it. I've had significantly better luck buying something that's 2 or 3 years old for about half price on Agon.
yeah ok, but the denziens here are pretty good at directing builds that last for another 30 years. after all, the reason you did find it for $5-$10 is that it didnt quit, catch fire or explode in the last 30-40 years. I would not be opposed to buying something modern that sounds as good, but I am opposed to spending what I just spent to build my wife her new kitchen in order to do so.

buy something today ROTM today? broken in 6 months. guaranteed. and it contains chips only available from the chin-shin province of china
 
... broken in 6 months. guaranteed. and it contains chips only available from the chin-shin province of china
As likely with vintage equipment as modern, really. New kit might have custom VLSI chips that become unobtainium in six months, but equally it might use discrete semiconductors or tubes that will probably be fixable with off-the-shelf parts for the next 40 years. Likewise, a 40-year-old amp might use common parts available from any electronics supplier, or it might have rare and irreplaceable FETs or STK modules.
 
All this cool stuff you are referring to was never cool. Only the great stuff is worth having. Mcintosh, Marantz, Thorens, Technics, etc etc Better Nakamichi and Revox is fun to have, but with out readily available tape from TDK , Maxell, etc those are really only toys to touch and look at. Loud speakers, thats mixed bag for sure. Some are great, Heritage Klipsch, larger JBL, Altec, Urei, Infinity, a few KLH, AR, restored Mcintosh, ADS, Snell, B&W. But its only a few models here or another few over their. All of the above can have and do have some kind of damage, either by accident, misuse or from natures laws of self destruction. Most of us involved with sound reproduction have some older pieces we love for many different reasons. We don't use them every day or if we do we have invested monies over the years to keep them the best they can be. Its not cheap. You think you are getting something for nothing. Well it doesn't work that way, never has never will.
 
I haven't had my Good Old Days yet. Time's running out, too!
Best bargain I've gotten is a KLH Model Fifty-Two, free at electronics recycling day. It doesn't work, but its cosmetically 90%.
Someday I might get it working. That will be a good old day.
 
I'm thinking that the OP might not understand that those $10 items aren't monster receivers and even if they were, it would cost hundreds of dollars to bring them back to spec. Even after that repair, it could still die tomorrow. That's exactly why I got out of vintage. Find something for $25 that ends up needing a $300 repair and then sit with fingers crossed every time you fire it up because you are now $325 deep into it. I've had significantly better luck buying something that's 2 or 3 years old for about half price on Agon.
Everybody is talking about these expenses repairs. Well I must be extremely lucky. The most I've spent is $250 and that was due to the receiver being packed like shit. Vintage gear was built to last and kick ass.
 
Everybody is talking about these expenses repairs. Well I must be extremely lucky. The most I've spent is $250 and that was due to the receiver being packed like shit. Vintage gear was built to last and kick ass.

I have pretty much the same experience.....as long as the unit was not left out in the rain or had cat piss on it, they seem to run pretty good. I laugh my ass off at posters that think every old receiver and set of speakers needs to be re capped. Of course some do, but I am constantly surprised at the amount of old items that run and sound great even after 40 years. Do some vintage items crap out after a month? Yep, but a lot just keep on chugging along. I like both old and new stuff.
 
It's all in the perspective. All of you told me it's not the power but the SOUND. And now that it's in my home for me to witness for my self I understand. You were right. Thank you. I'm not having the repair problem with the 20 to 50 watt stuff from 1965 to 1978. Nothing has failed that was working when I got it, yet. For money spent and service provided it's the best bang for the buck, for me anyway. No the game is not buy vintage for $300 and put $400 into it and watch the magic smoke come out. Maybe it's pay $100 for plug and play. The cost to me for these units in the last year averaged less than $100.

Rotel RX 800 ----------------------- Get this one, pay the rate, it's that good
Sony 6065 ---------------------------Typical good Sony
Heath AR1500a --------------------Rated 50 makes 70, really
JVC JR5551 -------------------------All you'll ever need
JVC VR5660 ------------------------Make SURE the lights work
Sansui 5000a -----------------------Obviously get this one
Yamaha CR600 --------------------Sounds as sterile as it looks, limited uses
Magnavox 1500(Magnavox) -----Make sure it works right, most don't, then it's really good
Pioneer SX1000 TW ---------------First "mass" market power receiver, it's good
Grooms 503A -----------------------Get this one
Scott 352C ---------------------------Just what you would expect, super sound, both of them
Scott 357
Marantz 2226 ------------------------The usual
Sherwood 7100A -------------------The gutless wonder
Fisher 180 -----------------------------Just gutless, is it really a Fisher?
Sherwood S8900A -----------------Get this one, pay he rate, again
Lafayette LR1500TA----------------(Trio)Great tuner, rated 50 but only 35
Advent 300 ----------------------------A novelty unit
Bogen DR 250 -----------------------The big surprise, sounds great, better than most
Kenwood 140X(Trio) ----------------Get this one, pay the rate, your gonna love it if it's right
Pioneer SX780 ------------------------As expected
Sylvania CR7243(Sylvania)-------- Don't bother, never ever!!!!
KLH 71 -----------------------------------Receivers weren't they're thing
Ward Airline Gen6964a --------------(Don't know who made it, do you?) Get his one, a true mini-monster, who woulda thought
Harman Kardon 630 ------------------The cure for Klipsch, both of them, big team player there
Harmon Kardon 430
Lafayette LR-3500----------------------(Planet Research) Best of the Fay
Allied 365----------------------------------( Pioneer) get this one, another big surprise
Pioneer SX 626 --------------------------Go bigger
Pioneer SX 424 --------------------------Go much bigger
Harman Kardon SR900 ----------------Preview of the good sound to come but full of the bad stuff
Kenwood TK-60 --------------------------Same as above
Benjamin R2X40 -------------------------Smooooth, EVERYWHERE the original underdog, this is the one you sleep to
AKAI CR 81 deck ------------------------Great unit, if you want 8-track
Sansui FR-3080 turn table -------------It works

And finally the $75 80 watt Pioneer SX980 has gone to a new home to minimize $ exposure. None $10 but pennies on the dollar. What will it cost to buy a new two channel receiver that is built as good and sounds as good as the best of what I have? How long will it last? Can it be repaired? What will it cost to have repaired? What will it look like? Do you want a race car or do you just want P2160003.JPG great sound in your home at little risk. It's all in the perspective.
 
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You want cheap stuff, keep going to Estate Sales without wimping out. Make it a hobby of interest as that is how old geezers got stuff dirt cheap back then. I was doing what they called Obituary Sales back in the seventies...drool at stuff that was high priced doesn’t get equipment in the house irregardless of how much money is in your pocket. I use to pay for equipment repairs buy selling lesser quality equipment that I paid pennies on the dollar for. In the early seventies no one wanted tube equipment so I worked my way up the ladder of the best tube receivers I could find and Sansui was my favorite along with some late fifties Acoustic Research speakers.

First thing to do is to realize that there is more than one way do do anything......
 
It's all in the perspective. All of you told me it's not the power but the SOUND. And now that it's in my home for me to witness for my self I understand. You were right. Thank you. I'm not having the repair problem with the 20 to 50 watt stuff from 1965 to 1978. Nothing has failed that was working when I got it, yet. For money spent and service provided it's the best bang for the buck, for me anyway. No the game is not buy vintage for $300 and put $400 into it and watch the magic smoke come out. Maybe it's pay $100 for plug and play. The cost to me for these units in the last year averaged less than $ 75. Rotel RX 800 -x- Sony 6065 -x- Heath AR1500a -x- JVC JR5551 -x- Sansui 5000a -x- Yamaha CR600 -x- Magnavox 1500(Magnavox) -x- Pioneer SX1000 TW -x- Grooms 503A -x- Scott 352C -x- Marantz 2226 -x- Harman Kardon 430 -x- Sherwood 7100A -x- Lafayette LR1500TA(?) -x- Advent 300 -x- Bogen DR 250 -x- Kenwood 140(Trio) -x- Sansui TR 707A -x- Pioneer SX780 -x- Sylvania CR7243(Sylvania) -x- KLH 71 -x- Fisher 180 -x- Ward Airline Gen6964a (don't know who made it, really good unit, buy one) -x- Harman Kardon 630 -x- Lafayette 3500 (Planet Research) -x- Allied 365( Pioneer?) -x- Pioneer SX 626 -x- Harman Kardon SR900 -x- Kenwood TK-60 -x- AKAI CR 81 deck -x- Sansui FR-3080 turn table -x-. And finally the $75 80 watt Pioneer SX980 has gone to a new home to minimize $ exposure. None $10 but pennies on the dollar. What will it cost to buy a new two channel receiver that is built as good and sounds as good as the best of what I have? How long will it last? Can it be repaired? What will it cost to have repaired? What will it look like? Do you want a race car or do you just want very View attachment 1120258 good sound in your home at little risk. It's all in the perspective.

The Monster receivers were cutting edge for their day and pushed the envelope for what could be done with receivers.....and were and are expensive to repair. Like you, I have found the most pleasure from 20-60 wpc units. Usually reliable, lots of parts for them since they sold in the greatest numbers and decent prices.
 
You can call me Peter, Peter Pan, cause I'll never grow up.

highfivejohnwiechecki.jpg
 
I didn't read the entire thread, but none of the stuff I lusted after in the seventies is exactly going for give away prices. The difference is that I'm not a broke ass 17 year old pot head that can't afford nice stuff anymore. That being said, it is nice to have some of the very same pieces of gear that I wanted very badly back then.
 
The Monster receivers were cutting edge for their day and pushed the envelope for what could be done with receivers.....and were and are expensive to repair. Like you, I have found the most pleasure from 20-60 wpc units. Usually reliable, lots of parts for them since they sold in the greatest numbers and decent prices.
Do you think 60 watts is going to prove to be the break point? Do you think finding service will improve or get worse?
 
Bargains are still out there in amps and receivers, but they are getting way harder to find.
Over the past 2 years I have gotten several, but they tend to be midrange 25-50 W/ch. equipment, which I guess were the big sellers.
They still sound sweet, though, and I have been happy to have them.

I paid $5 for a Realistic STA-90and $4 for an STA-430.
The most I have paid for a receiver was $120 for a Pioneer SX-950, which I then rebuilt. With parts I have approaching $200 in it. It still needs an AM antenna mount which will cost another bit of cash just to complete the thing. I don't need the power of the 950, though, and find just as much enjoyment in the little Sherwood much of the time.
Most of what I have bought has needed refurbishment, though there have been several exceptions.

Right now in my area speakers are the big opportunity, at least if the have the room for them.
I bought a pair of Bose 601s for $10 and Wharfedale W60Es for $7. CV D2E's for $5.
Few people want big speakers.
Nearly all my speakers have needed surrounds and caps.

Bargains go to the diligent, to those who check Craiglist, Offer-Up, etc. everyday.
They go to those willing to waste their time stopping a thrift stores and yard sales 25 times in order to get lucky on stop 26.
If you are not willing to recap receivers and update surrounds and crossover caps, then my bargains are your trash.
 
I just paid $10 for a Yamaha R-9, a TOTL receiver in 1984. I never lusted after stereo equipment at the time. I was into cars back then. But I am glad to have it now. A little DeOxit is all the repair work it needed.
 
Vintage gear is way overpriced right now. Sure, you can stumble on a good deal, but market values are stratospheric. Go back 10 years or more, different story. There were stupid good deals.

This is so true--right now. If I knew 20 years ago, what I know now, I'd have filled my garage to the ceiling with all of the silver faced gear and vintage speakers that were being sold for next to nothing or just being pitched. I kind of "scored" what I wanted and have kept it, but so much stuff has passed through my hands over the years as I have "experimented" in this hobby, it is almost ridiculous--you can only keep so much.

But as has also been stated--the "good stuff" was expensive when new and is still expensive now.

I just wonder when the trend will reverse. The majority of folks "hoarding" or "collecting" all of this vintage gear are "older"--not necessarily "geezers", but eventually retiring and downsizing (potentially relocating), so at some point the market is going to be flooded with a lot of vintage gear. I am on the cusp of retirement, and there is no way that I am keeping up (alone with no kids, just a dog) my 6300 sq/ft home, 3000 sq/ft secondary residence and a hunting cabin--all of which contain audio gear, so eventually there will have to be a "purge", and I am not a "flipper", so I am not interested in maximum market value--I enjoy it all now, but at some point, stuff has got to go.
 
I just wonder when the trend will reverse. The majority of folks "hoarding" or "collecting" all of this vintage gear are "older"--not necessarily "geezers", but eventually retiring and downsizing (potentially relocating), so at some point the market is going to be flooded with a lot of vintage gear. I am on the cusp of retirement, and there is no way that I am keeping up (alone with no kids, just a dog) my 6300 sq/ft home, 3000 sq/ft secondary residence and a hunting cabin--all of which contain audio gear, so eventually there will have to be a "purge", and I am not a "flipper", so I am not interested in maximum market value--I enjoy it all now, but at some point, stuff has got to go.

it wont i fear. back when i was restoring and selling on ebay, i noticed a trend....lot of stuff going to long beach cali or so cal in general to people who bought with no questions....it went right into a container for mainland china, where they currently horde and have 10x the us population hungry for product.

it aint never coming back so u.s. supply will always be tight
 
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