Is the seller an AKer?
You have to wonder about that BIN figure. He admits to spending $15,000 on it, NEW. Then adjusts for inflation to $37,500. Then asks $129, 9000 for it. That math puzzles me, but there may be an explanation.
Maybe he figures he could get lucky, and be able to pay off his mortgage? He has a need for that amount, and hopes some blank-check wealthy person will want it that badly?
Or maybe he is counting on the psychological effect of a very high figure making people more willing to bid higher? He did put some effort into writing it up, and making it sound attractive. I think this is the most likely explanation: a very high BIN price, to give the impression it is worth a LOT, and thus nudge people towards bidding more than they otherwise might, even if not as high as the BIN.
Or maybe, as caddisgeek suggested, he doesn't really want to sell it, but his wife wants him to? He says they are moving to a condo. I've seen guys in small Hong Kong apartments with speakers that took up an entire wall. Room size doesn't always stop people, especially guys! But with a wife in the picture... could explain it. I can't tell if he has a reserve on this, but perhaps he could tell his wife, "Gee, honey, I tried to sell it, but it must be the economy... no one is offering remotely close to its value. Guess we'll just have to move it first, and sell it later." (Okay, that's a bit Machiavellian, and I don't think that is really the case.
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On a positive note, that system should sound very, very nice, indeed.
:thmbsp: Those ESS speakers with those big Heil AMTs are extremely good-sounding, and in a near-surround set-up, would be very hard to beat. I'm one of many who say those AMTs are probably the best mid-tweeter-supertweeters ever designed (not sure about plasma...). SAE gear, too, is hardly junk! He is right that it would take some real time and effort to put that system together piece-by-piece, if that is what you set out to do. In that sense, getting a whole, integrated system like that at one time is worth a premium. Only a fool would part with the BIN kind of money for it, but it will be interesting to see what the highest offer price ends up being. It will be a tug-of-war between a very attractive offering and a declining economy. Time will tell.
