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Have you ever gone out in risky conditions to get your gear?

MRL_Audio said:
Trying to physically lift my MC2205. I thought for sure I was hernia bound. This is a set it and forget it amp. Far too heavy for regular movement.
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Ha ha ha!

Too funny, as I have the same amp, and I asked my son-in-law to help me move it into safe storage last year when prepping for the renovations!

But I was thinking more about driving in inclement weather. Or driving conditions. Threat of floods? Tornadoes?
 
Sorry guys! I haven't been around much since I posted this thread.

Yeah, flying into Sun Country during Covid is a little scary. Especially when we really didn't know much about it. I always said, we won't know if our actions are effective until afterwards. A colleague of mine got it a couple of weeks ago and ended up in the hospital this weekend past!
 
mkane said:
5 North headed to Redding. Lot's of asshats on the road.
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The worst are the ones who go slow, and as soon as you have a chance to pass, they speed up to prevent you. and immediately slow down again after the passing lane ends, they slow down. Incidentally, the worst highway for that is to Wakefield and it's called Highway 5.
 
mkane said:
I'll pass in the dirt if needed.:naughty:
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I had one once do it to me for a while when we were heading north to Maniwaki. I eventually got in front of him, and then I did the same to him for a couple of cycles to make my point. Then I left him behind. I was a lot younger and more stupid then.
 
When I first saw the wooden crates MC 3500's came in 69 I new I could never lift one. But after they were unpacked with the rails you could or I could move them around a bit. Today I wouldn't dream of it. I can barley lift one of my MC 207's. I can roll them around while unpack the box but once thats done getting them in the cabinet is a totally different chore. MY MC 830's for the stereo system are easy and besides not havIMG_1624.jpeg ing autoformers which I prefer and they are much lighter, too. The 207's are for the HT system which is inIMG_2636.jpeg another piece of furniture.
 
I may have driven in some pretty hard rain once or twice to pick up a piece of gear. I have no issue getting on an on-ramp and taking a highway to someplace to buy gear. I won't be limited to slow, local roads in my pursuit of audio perfection!
 
I thrifted constantly. My $20 Marantz Esotec SM-7 was found the same day I hit the store earlier, in a storm, after work. If I recall morning class was cancelled, I went to work, and went thrifting after anyway in lake effect snow.
 
Although it's not foolproof, I do have a process that can help with that: it's called "turn the pickup run into a mini-vacation with the wife".

I once bought a pair of JBL L220's from a guy that lived up in the hills outside Ukiah (I'm in San Diego which is a good 10+ hrs south).

Wasn't really expecting to win the auction, but having just missed out on a similar buy on a pair of 4315's a few weeks before that, I said screw it and threw a bid down anyway and damned if it didn't hold up. Uh-oh, now how do I get them home and oh yeah, where's the cash coming from? Details...

I thought about how to pull the whole thing off for about a day, during which I signed up for a PayPal credit card that came with a large enough credit line that I could pay for the speakers at least, w/o having to sell something else first.

Then I waited for the wife to sit down that evening with her cocktail before walking up and saying "we should take a little vacation" to which she responded "what the hell have you bought now?", lol.

It worked out ok though, we rented an upscale SUV big enough to fit the L220's in the back and drove up to Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg, spent a couple days in that area doing the usual wine and dining fun stuff. On the last day there, we drove up into the mountains (including a long dirt road at the end) and picked up the speakers, seller was very hospitable and that part went seamlessly. Drove the speakers back to San Diego spending another couple of days in the process in Monterey and Santa Barbara along the way so overall it was a success. I haven't tried that approach since, though!

John

Mister Pig said:
There are times I thought the wife was going to bury me in a shallow grave in the back yard. Some of my gear acquisitions made me fear for my life. :rflmao:
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In a word...... NO.

There's precious few things I'll risk going out in bad weather for. Stereo equipment isn't one of them.
 
Didn’t immediately interpret that this thread was about inclement weather.

One summer night in the early 1990s, about 3 or 4 in the morning, I’m walking south on Broadway in lower Manhattan. Streets are pretty empty except for a few couples and the garbage trucks, and I see a guy (hear him first) pushing an equipment rack on casters down the cobblestone street. “Stereo for sale. Real cheap, man! Real cheap! Priced to sell!” he’s chanting at me. I look over. Assuming it’s Sound Design. Cords are trailing the rack, like numerous tails, as it bounces along. And he’s looking nervously over his shoulder, trying to muscle that rack I don’t know where. I do a double take because I see the faceplates: it’s filled with Conrad Johnson tube gear; and he’s steadying a turntable on top. I stop for a few seconds and think about it. “Nope,” I say to myself. “It’s just not worth it.” And I grab a cab and head home to Brooklyn. Never looked back.
 
faber12 said:
Not too bad on my part, small town here. Just a really run down and smelly apartment for a pair of speakers I thought I needed... :confused:
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I guess I owe a story. In the late 70s, me and some friends went together to buy a quarter pound. We were going to a guys house in the east end. As we were sitting down with them making small talk, there came a knock on the door. The dealer opened the door to see who it was, and suddenly, the door went flying open, and a big biker guy with a billy club came into the apartment followed by two other guys almost as big and very hyped up and armed with a bayonet knife and a baseball bat. It seems they were raiding the dealers apartment for drugs. However, at that point in time, the dealer was still waiting for his delivery, so the biker guys told all of us to empty our pockets. The girl who came with us was holding the money, and kept her head about her, as she discretely shoved the money envelope under the sofa cushion. The biker guys apologized and said it was a case of mistaken identity, and left, and then we left because we were too freaked out. I think we were 17 or 18 at the time. It turns out less than a month later, those same guys raided the apartment again, and this time got what they wanted.

yrly said:
I thrifted constantly. My $20 Marantz Esotec SM-7 was found the same day I hit the store earlier, in a storm, after work. If I recall morning class was cancelled, I went to work, and went thrifting after anyway in lake effect snow.
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I love storms! They represent my big opportunity to buy something I want that I wouldn't get otherwise, because the resllers are very fast around here at finding any deals. My first turntable thrift score was during one of them. A truly nasty autumn day in Canada, meaning rain and sleet. I went to my favourite Value Village that afternoon and found a Marantz 6200 turntable with all original parts for $20!

jdurbin1 said:
Although it's not foolproof, I do have a process that can help with that: it's called "turn the pickup run into a mini-vacation with the wife".

I once bought a pair of JBL L220's from a guy that lived up in the hills outside Ukiah (I'm in San Diego which is a good 10+ hrs south).

Wasn't really expecting to win the auction, but having just missed out on a similar buy on a pair of 4315's a few weeks before that, I said screw it and threw a bid down anyway and damned if it didn't hold up. Uh-oh, now how do I get them home and oh yeah, where's the cash coming from? Details...

I thought about how to pull the whole thing off for about a day, during which I signed up for a PayPal credit card that came with a large enough credit line that I could pay for the speakers at least, w/o having to sell something else first.

Then I waited for the wife to sit down that evening with her cocktail before walking up and saying "we should take a little vacation" to which she responded "what the hell have you bought now?", lol.

It worked out ok though, we rented an upscale SUV big enough to fit the L220's in the back and drove up to Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg, spent a couple days in that area doing the usual wine and dining fun stuff. On the last day there, we drove up into the mountains (including a long dirt road at the end) and picked up the speakers, seller was very hospitable and that part went seamlessly. Drove the speakers back to San Diego spending another couple of days in the process in Monterey and Santa Barbara along the way so overall it was a success. I haven't tried that approach since, though!

John
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This one really made me laugh! About 8 years ago, I had bought my first Bose 1801 amplifier. While it was being restored, I started looking for Bose 4401 Preamp. It took about 6 months, but I found one. It came with the power amp as well. I reached out to the seller and asked him if he was willing to trade. He was and we agreed on the terms. This was in March. So I told my wife I wanted to take her to where my Finn great grandfather had his first homestead, which is in North Western Ontario about 1825 Km from here. She agreed, and we started planning on that for late July. About a month later, I told my wife I had finally found someone with the Preamp I was looking for, and it is only a day trip from where we were going that summer! It is, but 315 each way sort of day trip. The deal was done, but my future wife almost kicked me out of the car on the way back. Fortunately, I survived...
 
Mister Pig said:
There are times I thought the wife was going to bury me in a shallow grave in the back yard. Some of my gear acquisitions made me fear for my life. :rflmao:
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Yeah, me too. I spent some serious time in the dog house because when I finished work that day, I immediately left to go pick up a pair of speakers. The speakers were a minty pair of Sony SS-G3s and I really wanted them because I had a less pretty pair that I sold, and immediately regretted. The funny thing is I sold my 2nd pair this past fall because I told the guy they weren't for sale, and he was willing to pay my I don't want to sell it price. Now I'm looking for my third pair...

Bushikan said:
Didn’t immediately interpret that this thread was about inclement weather.

One summer night in the early 1990s, about 3 or 4 in the morning, I’m walking south on Broadway in lower Manhattan. Streets are pretty empty except for a few couples and the garbage trucks, and I see a guy (hear him first) pushing an equipment rack on casters down the cobblestone street. “Stereo for sale. Real cheap, man! Real cheap! Priced to sell!” he’s chanting at me. I look over. Assuming it’s Sound Design. Cords are trailing the rack, like numerous tails, as it bounces along. And he’s looking nervously over his shoulder, trying to muscle that rack I don’t know where. I do a double take because I see the faceplates: it’s filled with Conrad Johnson tube gear; and he’s steadying a turntable on top. I stop for a few seconds and think about it. “Nope,” I say to myself. “It’s just not worth it.” And I grab a cab and head home to Brooklyn. Never looked back.
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I think you made the right choice, but man, that must have been hard. I did the same when a guy wanted to deliver a really nice Apple monitor for a too good to be true price at 2 AM. Alarms were going off in my head like crazy!
 
This thread is about picking up gear in terrible weather, but if you are so inclined, it is open to any good story about going to get something special. It is fairly quiet right now with summer starting, and these stories are great for filling free time.
 
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