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History of Your Equipment and Six Degrees of Separation

I do wonder, all the time. There was a set of vintage McIntosh gear up for sale on San Diego CL that used to belong to Sammy Davis Jr.
 
My stuff came from some guy in Reading, PA who was selling it on CL. Beyond that, I know nothing. Speakers and receiver do not have EP markings, which is sort of interesting since from what I gather, this speaker wasn't sold much in the US.
 
The provenance of my MAC 4100 and KEF 104aBs I'll never know, having bought those from the Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago's north side the morning they arrived. My KEF 104/2s I bought from the original owner in Miami, and my lovely AR/Merrill The Turntable I purchased from AK's very own & much beloved AR TT man, DDARCH.

My only audio related purchase of interest in the "6 degrees" sense was the purchase (trade, actually), in 1987, when I traded a 1969 Gibson Firebird III (non-reverse body) for for a 1954 Fender Deluxe amplifier. I still have the Deluxe amp, and the person I traded it to was Billy Corgan, a young guy who worked in a local record store & who was trying to put together a band.
 
Great stories there. I traded a Sansui 8080 for a Pioneer SX-1250 and cash over 30 years ago from a good friend of mine. Still have the SX-1250 going strong.... Not sure what he ever did with the 8080 but he had it for years also.
 
Forgot to add, my Technics SL-MA1 was owned by the husband of Dr. Carol Williams, the organist at Spreckels organ in Balboa Park.
 
Mystic said:
My only audio related purchase of interest in the "6 degrees" sense was the purchase (trade, actually), in 1987, when I traded a 1969 Gibson Firebird III (non-reverse body) for for a 1954 Fender Deluxe amplifier. I still have the Deluxe amp, and the person I traded it to was Billy Corgan, a young guy who worked in a local record store & who was trying to put together a band.
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I'm a Chicago native and once when I was a teenager me and a musician friend were walking around Lincoln Park and we bumped into Corgan. We were talking about the Pumpkin's latest album and he mentioned in an off-hand manner that he played guitar... Billy cut him off before he could even finish his sentence and told him "you'll never get anywhere wih that." and then just walked on down the street as if we weren't just having a discussion. Moral: if you ever meet Billy "Dickhead" Corgan, be sure to talk of nothing but him if you expect him to be pleasant or interested. When he was selling his house we went back twice and stole his for sale sign.
 
My favorite pair of ADS L8e speakers I bought off craigslist. While talking to the seller on the phone, a little old lady, I realized it was a family friend that I had known for years. We had tea and cookies!
 
My Marantz HD-880's are from my father. I was with him back in 1979 when he bought them. They will be with me forever! :yes:
 
aw11sd said:
I'm a Chicago native and once when I was a teenager me and a musician friend were walking around Lincoln Park and we bumped into Corgan. We were talking about the Pumpkin's latest album and he mentioned in an off-hand manner that he played guitar... Billy cut him off before he could even finish his sentence and told him "you'll never get anywhere wih that." and then just walked on down the street as if we weren't just having a discussion. Moral: if you ever meet Billy "Dickhead" Corgan, be sure to talk of nothing but him if you expect him to be pleasant or interested. When he was selling his house we went back twice and stole his for sale sign.
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LOL. I have to agree that while Billy was always a "confident" lad! I suppose that he was a bit more humble in those days when he was mainly involved in schlepping vinyl around a record store, but after Joe Shanahan started booking Billy & his Pumpkins at the (then) Cabaret Metro, that air of superiority really began to emerge.
 
Mystic said:
LOL. I have to agree that while Billy was always a "confident" lad! I suppose that he was a bit more humble in those days when he was mainly involved in schlepping vinyl around a record store, but after Joe Shanahan started booking Billy & his Pumpkins at the (then) Cabaret Metro, that air of superiority really began to emerge.
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I left about five years ago, the Metro is no longer the Metro?! :tears: Tell me the Riv' is still there!
 
some of my gear I know the history some I don't

Heathkit W4m, Eico st-70 st 40 and tuner I bought from the gentleman who put the kits together around 1960.

My Martin Reflector speakers I bought from the original purchaser, these were prototypes built by Ak member Mike Martin and his father see thread http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126697

My university mono speaker setup was given to me from the daughter of the original owner who bought the kit from University. see thread
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=222587

My Sansui 350 I bought new in Morocco in 1968
 
Interesting old thread. I have lots & lots & lots of gear here with history, too many to type.

Easiest one to start with is the pair of JBL 4333As sitting in front of me- they were removed from Clive Davis' office at Arista Records. They're the monitors he used to listen to many, many big artists & hit records over his years there.

je
 
My Sansui TU-7700 tuner
I was with my late father, when he purchased it new in Philadelphia from a stereo store, in 1977.


Steve
 
Not audio, but I found a handmade stuffed angel doll at Goodwill and thought my wife might like this because it looked like something she had. I got home and she said "where did you get that" with a surprised voice. I told her, then she told me that she had bought two angel dolls 15 years earlier, a boy and girl, and had given the the boy to her twin sister. Turned out her twin had send a bunch of stuff too goodwill along with the doll and I just happen to be there at the right time. The dolls are sitting together on front porch now.
 
All of my vintage Pioneer Silver-Series gear was purchased new by me direct from Pioneer as part of the direct-to-salesman program.

My original pair of JBL L-100s were purchased new at employee discount from my Stereo Store, as well as my Zero 100.

My favorite Crown PSL-2 / PFM-3 Preamplifier/Tuner combo was purchased by a Crown employee at employee discount and only after many years did I purchase them from her!

I'm only the 3rd owner of my #1 vintage Crown SX824 RTR. It was bought new by a gentleman in Charlotte and after he died, his widow traded it to a carpenter who did some remodeling work for her. I bought it from him (he never played it, he just liked the way it looked).

I may be the 2nd owner of my #2 vintage Crown SX824 RTR, but not completely sure about that.

I am the 2nd owner of my Pioneer RT-1050, I purchased it from the original owner.

The only cool interesting connection story concerns my 1st and 2nd Crown DC300A series II power amplifiers. I purchased the first one used from a fellow that lived only a mile or two from where I lived at the time. He had been part of a band that broke up and the amp was part of the equipment that he got as the gear was divided among them. He had the original manual with it, complete with the "Proof of Performance" Report and the warranty card.

A few years later, I bought another Crown DC300A series II amplifier from a gentleman that lived in a nearby town about 20 miles away. He had not used it much in the few years he had it and had decided to sell it. He also had the original manual, the "Proof of Performance" Report and the warranty card.

Some time later I was gathering all my technical data and putting it together in one place. When I looked at the manuals, reports and warranty cards for the two Crown amplifiers, I discovered that both had been purchased new by the same fellow!
 
I wish I knew where my Boatanchors had been in their lives...One of my R-390As, I THINK, came out of Wright-Pat AFB. It is a 1955 Collins contract which was ALL Collins-VERY rare-& the fact it was so clean & had so little use led me to believe it was Somebody's Baby. Who knows ? Maybe it was Curtis LeMay's personal set...I have an RCA AR-60 from 1935, a radio that was at the limits of what was technologically available to produce then. It cost its well-heeled 1st owner $495, being the "DeLuxe" version, at a time when a new Ford V-8 that year was $650...Yeah, if these rigs could only "Talk"..
 
I bought new Yamaha 1980-82 BX in Germany
NS-1000's
M-4
C-6
T-1
P-750/ShureV15Type5
Nak 480
Nak CR-2A bought new in 1990
M-45 bought new 1983-5 ish.

My brother bought new yamaha 1979-81 BX in Germany
NS-1000M's
My father bought new in the mid 70's
TEAC 3300
YP-701/pickering cart.
NS-690's

I have no frick'n clue about rest.
Other than my DIY mosfet power amps :D
 
My brother came home with a bunch of LPs once that had belonged to Marlon Brando.

I once bought an old Dodge van for $100 that needed engine work. There was some story how a couple of owners ago it had been exchanged for some quantity of illicit substance and possibly cash and a motorcycle. I stayed away from researching that any further...

Of my current audio gear , my Sansui separates (CA-2000, BA-2000, TU-9900) apparently were among the crew of the USS Midway.http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=129402
 
Where are they now?

I sometimes wonder about the history of gear that I have/had. And this is a funny coincidence because I just saw this thread. But I was just sitting here thinking about a few amps and receivers that I've had and sold over the past five years and wondering "where are they now"?
Almost in the same way as a parent wonders about where their kids are, what are they doing, are they okay?

I do have a McIntosh MC2300 here that I often wonder if it was ever a part of the three Wall of Sound rigs that The Grateful Dead were trucking around the country. I don't think it was though cause it's not all beat up. Could've been a spare though.....?:scratch2:
 
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