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Goodwill/SA/Thrift Store Discussions & Finds

Thrift shop finds

My most recent find was a Kenwood KR 9400, in perfect condition, for $29.99 at the Salvation Army. Picked up a JVC JR S400 MkII, every thing but the front panel lights work, $25 at a salvage store. Sony TC-560 reel to reel, almost new condition, $10 at the same salvage store. An Akai M75-P reel to reel, Goodwill- $25. I always plan on selling what I buy but almost never do, never know when I might need a spare amp or two.
 
Finds

I found quite a few units this past year...
Sansui G8000 garage sale $100..works great
Dynaco PAT4 preamp Goodwill $5 sold on ebay $32
Sansui BA3000/CA3000 amp and preamp, with tu9900 tuner Craigslist $300
Sansui 2000X $14 at Goodwill
Sansui 8080db free at garage sale {in protection mode}
Casey
 
Garrard at60 w/ shure 44-7: $9 at the Salvation Army. No top, so it was dusty. Works great!
Infinity RS6: - $13 needs refoam and one fuse.

the Salvation Army also has bins of LPs that are always being refreshed. at 25cents each you can't beat that with a stick!
 
My GW's have all but dried up but I did get a Thanksgiving/early Christmas Pioneer SX1250, not needing a thing other than precautionary spray, for $34.99 and lastly a Rotel RT320 tuner-$7.99 and Advent 1's-$5.00.
Garage sale Pioneer RT701 with one metal reel and 40+ tapes, about half pre-recorded, $20.
 
Goodwill Hunting, et al

Hey, how about a "what's the MOST you've paid..." for those of us who KNOW we paid WAY too much but had to have it anyway?

Best finds? Gosh, that's tough. A few that come to mind:

McIntosh C28 preamp and 2105 amp, $100, obviously sold by the pound;
Pair of Altec Valencias, $50, 'mission' thrift shop;
Pair HPM-100's, $30 (one bad mid-range);
McIntosh MA5100 integrated, $35 (garage sale);
Altec Lansing 440C preamp & FM tuner, $25;
Pioneer SM-Q300 receiver w/outboard mpx adapter, $20, garage sale;
Conrad Johnson MV-45 amp, $20;
Marantz 2252B, virtually new in box, $30, estate sale (noted/posted earlier);
Thorens TD-124 w/Ortofon arm, $15 (pawn shop, actually);
and an RCA (Cunningham) 2A3 single-plate, tests strong, 50 cents (that count?)

Still looking for an SX-1980 and (Technics) SA-1000 (the current SA-1000 is a Fisher). Hoping someone got a nice, new BPC "POS-2000SX" for Christmas and they'll put theirs out to the thrift for me.

M
 
Here's a chance to bring tears to my eyes. What condition were the C28 and MC2105 in when you bought them?
 
The C28 was missing the stick-on metal surround on the function buttons ($30 from Mac) and the 2105 needed a new front glass ($114). Both had been in an 'occasionally' damp location but suprisingly, there was only some paint gone from the painted chassis bottom on the amp and just a couple of spots on the front, top cover on the 28, both under 1/8". Surprisingly, there was no rust, haze or otherwise, on either chassis and both cleaned up well. Had we not had record drought in TX, I've no doubt that both would have been 'parts' units by now (this was back in May). I've got to replace a cap or two in the 28's power supply but am well pleased with the investment. Thanks for your reply!

M
 
I've found a AudioPrism Debut II tube amp for $29.99 at GW sold it after a year of use for $1435 on the "Bay" It was in pristine condition, original list was like $3500...what the heck was it doing there??? Found a perfect Pioneer RT-909 Reel-to-reel, $32.99. 4...count 'em 4, pieces of McIntosh (not in the best condition) 2105, c26, MI-3, MR-?? for $40. That's $10 each. Sold those too. Sansi AU-919,TU-919, for $75 with ESS AMT-1's as an afterthought "Hey dude, you want them speakers too? Yours, man..."
I once did a BUY IT NOW for $50 off Ebay for a bunch of tubes which later fed the fam for a few months. Probably $5000 worth of great audio tubes. Two quads of NOS Tung-Sol 6550's for starters.
I've got more, but I'm wearing out my welcome. I spend alot of time looking for this stuff, and in Southern California the deals still thrive at every turn. Time is all that I don't have enough of...
 
Thrift store buys

This has been a good week at the thrift stores. I started the week with a pair of EPI Magnus 11s for $9.99. Next up a Pioneer RT 707 for $39.99. Then today, my wife spotted a Nakamichi LX3 in a salvage store for $15.00. I think these were all good buys. :music:
 
When it rains it pours, last fall I picked up a few decent pieces.

a sansui 9090db for 10.00 but it needed some help.

a yamaha r 900 receiver for 5.00 , works good looks bad.

a pioneer tx-7800 for 20.00, in good condition!

a technics sa-5370 for 25.00, in excellent condition but I agree with everyone who says these are 'thin' sounding.

a pair of bose (I Know...) interaudio 4000's for 40.00. These actually didn't sound too bad since they are a more conventional design with a 10 inch woofer and a single tweeter (none of that reflecting crap) in a decent size cabinet.

a kenwood ka-701 for 3.00! they said it didn't work! just needed a good cleaning, works fine.

Lately I haven't seen anything but BPC, I guess I will have to wait until spring.

I gave the technics and the bose speakers to my sister in law to free up some space for more thrift store equipment!
 
Got a Sony vfet amp, 4650, on ebay recently for about $20. Was sold as not working - no output and missing knobs.. Turns out just needed minor repairs and the shorting plugs were missing! Cleaned up quite nicely, got new knobs and looks and works great. It replaced the Adcom GFP-710 and Acurus amp, which have great resolution but on the harsh side for me...
Found a cute little EV amp at the thrift store for $5, E-V1244, this thing has a 4 channel decoder shoehorned inside, and i mean shoe horned. Has anyone ever seen the insides of those little amps? Suprised it even works.
 
The latest, just this afternoon:

A pair of Advent A4's in excellent condition. All four drivers work perfectly (woofs will need new surrounds, of course), veneer is excellent, and the grills & logos are good.

$4.99 each.
 
I'm thinking of starting a "Tuner Rescue Mission" - so far I've gotten a very clean Denon TU-660 for $13.99 and yesterday found a Sanyo T35, again, very clean, for $18.24.

The Sanyo is the real surprise. TIC gives it a good writeup and I agree. Heavy and with solid, intricate construction, it's claim to fame is that on the analog tuning scale, the pointer is connected to a digital meter so you get both analog and digital tuning info in one place - the digits slide up and down the FM scale with the pointer.

My 13 y/o daughter thinks it ugly but I disagree - while I wouldn't own it JUST for its looks, it is clean and well enough designed. The sensitivity is surprisingly good - my test is KDFC at the other end of San Franscisco Bay with a wire dipole, in stereo - it passes. Sound quality is also strong and clear - noise is a bit lower than my Marantz 4300.

If this keeps up, I'll have more tuners than stations to listen to.
 
Another thread that keeps going and going....

Whitehall said:
I'm thinking of starting a "Tuner Rescue Mission" -
If this keeps up, I'll have more tuners than stations to listen to.
Click to expand...


Whitehall, since you're close by, I might have to bring some tuners to you.
I'm serious.
Well, it looks like another thread that won't fade away. I believe I posted in this thread 6 or so months ago too.
I guess my best thrift store find becomes the pair of JBL L65 Jubals that I got this past week. But, I didn't find them. I was tipped off. :D
 
My SX1250.
Still not my best buy. That would be Yamaha CR1020, Onkyo CD changer, and JBL L112's for $40.
 
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