Investing in Vintage Stereo - Is This Stupid?
- Thread starter joe_tex
- Start date
ggregg
Super Member
I have a few TV's, by a few, I mean nearly a dozen. If you a TV collector, you pretty much have to be a tech to keep them going, as old TV's, even when nearly new, required regular service. Expensive to restore, compared to radios or even stereos, and CRT's and CRT rebuilding is NLA, although the Early Television Foundation is working a getting a rebuild system back up and operating, since the last CRT rebuilder, in the world, closed down a few years ago. Although the TV group is a tight bunch and nearly all of them hang out at Videokarma, a few on ARF, and some on both.
audionut373
Member
The audio market is very fickle. What's up today could be down tomorrow! Take your money and go talk to an invest firm. You will be far more ahead in the long run!
Some GW managers have definitely been paying attention to Ebay prices:
edit : my previous post was in error - prices driven up by bidding.
OTOH..........
In my area, entry level thrift prices on cassette decks have risen from $4.99 in March 2016 to $30
Silver face receiver / amplifiers were also $4.99 at that time but are frequently $100 or more.
Thrift store electronics isles now choked by re-sellers checking their cell phones for online Ebay prices.
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I do see an occasional tv from the 1950s through 1960s eras......one set in a local GW had been stored in a wet area and the wood laminate case had been soaked and completely de-bonded-no tubes in the unit, either. Just the CRT.
Didn't stop the GW manager from pricing it at $100.
I can well believe collecting TVs requires constant maintenance as I recall my father driving to the local electronics store to check the vacuum tubes for faults and returning home with replacement tubes to repair our tvs.
Our Zenith tvs seemed to cause the most problems during the 1960s.
RobRoy
It's just stuff - but fun
I've believed this is a bubble for several years. However, what is surprising is just how fast it is still inflating on some fronts. Every year, vinyl record sales increase remarkably. And now vinyl pressing plants are running constantly behind schedule. I think a lot of it is hipsters lashing out at the "digitally perfect" world we are in.
Reliability must have depended on model.
The Zenith monochrome unit my parents owned frequently required vacuum tube changes.
OTOH..........the transistorized colour RCA console set my father bought in 1984 was still functioning until I unplugged it in late 2015.
Hak Foo
Active Member
My theory is that "quality midrange" will outperform top-of-the-line gear from an investment perspecitve.
While things like SX-1980s and Nakamichi Dragons get a lot of attention, they have a ,imited market. They're expensive and finicky. While the conventional-wisdom sound bite says "A restored 1980 is worth $3-5k", the liquidity is poor-- plenty of them sit around unsold for quite a while before you can get that price.
The people who just want vintage quality will often be happier with more modest units. It doesn't have to be a 1980; hell, it doesn't even have to be a Pioneer.
That makes for a more appealing market proposition. It's competitive in price with new gear, and easier to maintain. In fact, I'd expect the midrange stuff to be easiest to maintain-- more parts units, more people familiar with it, fewer "only made for this rare model" parts. So you've got a lot of room for that market to grow. From a liquidity perspective, it's probably easier to sell ten $500 recievers than one $5000 one.
I think we're already seeing this pan out-- some of the brands that would have been ignored a few years ago are showing clear rises in prices.
While things like SX-1980s and Nakamichi Dragons get a lot of attention, they have a ,imited market. They're expensive and finicky. While the conventional-wisdom sound bite says "A restored 1980 is worth $3-5k", the liquidity is poor-- plenty of them sit around unsold for quite a while before you can get that price.
The people who just want vintage quality will often be happier with more modest units. It doesn't have to be a 1980; hell, it doesn't even have to be a Pioneer.
That makes for a more appealing market proposition. It's competitive in price with new gear, and easier to maintain. In fact, I'd expect the midrange stuff to be easiest to maintain-- more parts units, more people familiar with it, fewer "only made for this rare model" parts. So you've got a lot of room for that market to grow. From a liquidity perspective, it's probably easier to sell ten $500 recievers than one $5000 one.
I think we're already seeing this pan out-- some of the brands that would have been ignored a few years ago are showing clear rises in prices.
DaveVoorhis
Addicted Member
Demand for land is always there, and land doesn't wear out, or become replaced by something better than land. Demand for vintage stereo is unlikely to always remain strong. There's a point where like all vintage technology, except for a few iconic pieces, it will become too old, rare, finicky, difficult to maintain, or redundant for even its fans to bother trying to acquire and maintain it. Then -- like vintage lawnmowers and kerosene lanterns -- it will be quirky technology that's sought and traded by a few die-hard hobbyists, but not worth much.
Todd Dodds
Super Member
You just can't overestimate the value of liquidity.
Land (or any property)? How long are you willing to wait for a buyer? And don't forget the carrying expenses.
Vintage or High End audio? How long are you willing to hang out at an auction, or yard sales to get the items? How long are you willing to wait for a buyer?
Me and What's-er-name have some inherited land in a hot area of Charlotte, NC, that we've been waiting for the damn I-485 beltway to get completed, and for the developers to come crawling up to our door, dragging sacks of cash. Been waiting 17 years.
I've been watching a couple listings on BarterTown that have been getting "Bump"ed for months.
Meanwhile, I can log onto International Brokers, and buy or sell stocks or funds in seconds, for pennies. And not worry about packing, Fedex claims, and asshole low-ballers. Well, I could if I had some money...anybody want to buy some land?
Land (or any property)? How long are you willing to wait for a buyer? And don't forget the carrying expenses.
Vintage or High End audio? How long are you willing to hang out at an auction, or yard sales to get the items? How long are you willing to wait for a buyer?
Me and What's-er-name have some inherited land in a hot area of Charlotte, NC, that we've been waiting for the damn I-485 beltway to get completed, and for the developers to come crawling up to our door, dragging sacks of cash. Been waiting 17 years.
I've been watching a couple listings on BarterTown that have been getting "Bump"ed for months.
Meanwhile, I can log onto International Brokers, and buy or sell stocks or funds in seconds, for pennies. And not worry about packing, Fedex claims, and asshole low-ballers. Well, I could if I had some money...anybody want to buy some land?
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ukfan4sure!
Expert Smoke Releaser
It's interesting sometimes to look at people's prognostications from years back. They'll "drop like Sh%$ty diapers", huh? Well, not yet, and it's mid-2021. It's insane, but they ain't making them any more and they never will.
I've been wrong before, I'm likely wrong right now, and most certainly will be wrong in the future.
Such is my fate, lol. Don't even talk to me about my experience with the stock market.
Kodaline
Super Member
I have a theory that I use in the classic car hobby, which is another of my interests. I call it "The 70 year theory." If kids are raised right, they believe that how it was when they grew up was Just Right, regarding consumer goods, so they like the cars of their youth, and the music of their youth. People make it @85 years, so, add 70 years from their formative mean age of 15, and that's when the stuff becomes irrelevant.
In the car hobby, the stock model T's and A's are dead except for one glorious event each fall in western Indiana. Hot rodders who did this in the 50s are dying out left and right, and the hot rods will be dropping next. Then the tri-five chevies in about 15 years, and the muscle cars in about 30. There are older enthusiasts of course, but their stuff is bought by the younger ones.
For music, easy listening and American Nostalgia music of the greatest generation is dead. I agree with people here and my local record store owner, if it's not rock and roll, there is no demand. However, I think even Mr. Presley himself is starting to decline as he was on the front end of that. For hardware, I think vintage stuff is going to fall, likewise, chronologically, with the original tubes and the 50s 60s stuff going before the power wars of the 70s solid states.
In the car hobby, the stock model T's and A's are dead except for one glorious event each fall in western Indiana. Hot rodders who did this in the 50s are dying out left and right, and the hot rods will be dropping next. Then the tri-five chevies in about 15 years, and the muscle cars in about 30. There are older enthusiasts of course, but their stuff is bought by the younger ones.
For music, easy listening and American Nostalgia music of the greatest generation is dead. I agree with people here and my local record store owner, if it's not rock and roll, there is no demand. However, I think even Mr. Presley himself is starting to decline as he was on the front end of that. For hardware, I think vintage stuff is going to fall, likewise, chronologically, with the original tubes and the 50s 60s stuff going before the power wars of the 70s solid states.
