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Goodwill/SA/Thrift Store Discussions & Finds

illinoisteve said:
Your mentioning that made me realize that I could do the same in order to compare two receivers I have.

Although I would also need a speaker source switching ability, so I could at the same time pipe the second recr through the same speakers I had just been listening to the other one through! (I might have a switch that could do that....do I????)
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Just make sure you have true A/B switching as you don't want both signals going to the speakers even for a second.

I use a TEC TC-616. There are other alternatives out there but none real cheap unless you make one yourself.

Gary
 
My best finds were a HK Citation II with two sets of ANOS original Tungsol 6550s for $60 from a person who did mobile DJ work and wanted something lighter to carry around. The other finds were Altec 340A and 341 monoblocks for $45 each from a stereo store going out of business. One had a pair of gently used Gold Lion KT88s.
 
over the weekend, I picked up an MCS (JCPenny) rack system from the 80s for $4 @ GW. It has a digital tuner,amp/eq, turntable, dual cassete, and cd player. I noticed a large heatsink sticking out the back, so I decided it was worth the money if only for amp parts :thmbsp:. It's big and ugly, and all that really works anymore are the 100w/ch (approx) amp/eq, and the cd player.
 
It's not my best score ever, but over the weekend I picked up a Realistic STA-2300 for $15. That works out to about 30 cents a pound. It's from about 1982 and it's 120 WPC. It needs new dash lights, though. It uses the 8v 300ma wedge bulbs, which I believe Pioneer also used. I assume member "dgwojo" is my best source for these.
 
Took a picture of it. Someone really loved it all these years for it to be in this nice of condition. Now to start building on it!
 
Ionn said:
Thats very nice. Do all the lights work?
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Thanks.I cannot believe how nice it really is.Someone really took proper care of it.Minor scuffs around the tuning dial and that is it.

I thought they all did but the last bulb seems to be out.My search for a new bulb is on.
 
Not too much this week but I managed to only pay $5 for a Harman Kardon Citation 23 tuner. It works well but the digital display is dead. Anyone know how to fix this?
 
seek/destroy said:
Not too much this week but I managed to only pay $5 for a Harman Kardon Citation 23 tuner. It works well but the digital display is dead. Anyone know how to fix this?
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Could be a backlight is out, try to replace it or shine a light on the back with it on (if possible) to see if the actual LCD part is still working.
 
So far this year I got a really nice sharp cassette player for 6, an electrophonic 8 track and reciever for 15, and today i came home with a real nice set of marantz speakers. They're a little dirty and the veneer's seen better days, but the important stuff's there and they sound real sweet. I also got a decent chair to listen to all these too for 5 bucks. I'll get pics soon.

I also got some Dio and UFO singles in near mint, and a promo copy of Flatout by Buck Dharma
 
Friday SA auction find.

Went to the SA friday auction today. Not much today, but spotted 2 Adcom pieces. A GFA-555 power amp & Adcom GFS-6 six speaker selector box. The bid wound up to $55. 2 other buddies went in & my cut was $15.00. I got both adcom pieces & 2 crappy Sound Tech TT that are very cheap plastic SL-1200 ripoffs. Got home & plugged the 555 in to my Adcom GTP-500 preamp. Left channel was fine, Right channel no sound till I turned up the gain & got distorted sound. Called Adcom, Told me to check the internal fuses, it has 4, I assume for + & - on each channel. Yes, right channel had a blown fuse. Quick trip to RS & it was back in buisness. Don't know why it was blown, I'll let it play awhile before I replace the cover to see if it happens again. Still not bad for $15 + $1.99 for a pack of 4 fuses.:music:
 
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Thrifts were dry today...but did pick up a sanyo plus a35 amp for pals that needed something..tell the truth, kinda surprised by the sheer weight of that thing, and then I plugged it in here and let er loose, wow, pretty impressive machine I thought. Always thought sanyo was kinda trashy but dayummm. Anyways, maybe overpaid maybe not (I dont think so) $65.
 
dont know much about sanyo audio stuff but they make pretty good home theater Hi Def projectors.
for those into that sort of thing.
 
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gary7 said:
Went to the SA friday auction today. Not much today, but spotted 2 Adcom pieces. A GFA-555 power amp & Adcom GFS-6 six speaker selector box. The bid wound up to $55. 2 other buddies went in & my cut was $15.00. I got both adcom pieces & 2 crappy Sound Tech TT that are very cheap plastic SL-1200 ripoffs. Got home & plugged the 555 in to my Adcom GTP-500 preamp. Left channel was fine, Right channel no sound till I turned up the gain & got distorted sound. Called Adcom, Told me to check the internal fuses, it has 4, I assume for + & - on each channel. Yes, right channel had a blown fuse. Quick trip to RS & it was back in buisness. Don't know why it was blown, I'll let it play awhile before I replace the cover to see if it happens again. Still not bad for $15 + $1.99 for a pack of 4 fuses.:music:
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Sweet!! And nice for the ADCOM guys to give you the tips on the fuses. Good Karma goes a long way!

Bart
 
Kudos to Adcom

mech986 said:
Sweet!! And nice for the ADCOM guys to give you the tips on the fuses. Good Karma goes a long way!

Bart
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Yeh. I was ready to pack it up & ship it to them if I had to. I've been running it several days now with no problem. How sweet it is. :thmbsp:
 
Went on a hunt with my Brother today, found a Toshiba SA-850 it not a super amp but with a little cleaning it will be a great garage amp (and it was only $6).
We found some good records, brother picked up a couple of pre recorded Reel to Reel tapes. Then we hit a Antique mall in Columbus, Wisconsin and found a NAD 7225pe for $25. And above it was a sign saying everything by this vendor 50% off. It works GREAT and for only $12.50 it is a keeper. Great Day!!!
 
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Got a pair of excellent sounding Wharfedale Mach 5 speakers for $10. they're not in the best cosmetic shape but they sound good.

The best thrift store find I ever found was a pair of boxed Genelex KT-66s inside a tube case for $3 each That was some time ago, though.
 
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