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My first score at......Goodwill!!

JimmyNeutron

JimmyNeutron

Super Member
I have never even thought about buying anything from a place like Goodwill, yardsales, garage sales, or even use coupons at the grocery store (yes, blame it on my arrogance). Well, after reading about all the constant great buys you guys pick up at the Goodwill and the like, I decided to "walk into" the stores and check them out. After 2 weeks of hitting almost every Goodwill store here in San Antonio I thought I would never find anything worthwhile there - until today. I picked up my wife at her sisters and on the way home I mentioned I'd like to stop by the GW on the way. When we walked in I headed straight to electronics and found these: AR TSW 210 speakers. The woofer need refoaming (no big deal) but the tweeter is beautiful, and so is the condition of the cabinet. I bought the pair for......$7.98!!!! Son-of-a-dog! What a deal! My first Goodwill find and I'm totally pumped! This will be a cool project for me to work on.
So this brings up my other question......HELP!!!!! What are the specs? Where can I get a refoam kit? Maybe replace the woofer with XXX brand? Did I do good on the price? Suggestions? Comments? :thmbsp:

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bluebook says

AR SPK, TSW-210 WALNUT (PAIR)
Description: 2-WAY, BOOKSHELF, 8" WOOFER, 3/4" TWEETER
Manufacture Years: 1987 - 1989
Additional Information:
Power: 100w
Retail
MSRP: $380.00
USED: $115.00
 
Jimmy, Goodwill can be a very nice place. Sometimes it seems futile but then you have a nice score. I hit three here in Austin regularly and sometimes wonder why I bother - then today I SCORED BIGTIME........

Boston Acoustics A150 in working condition for $50 - wonderful sound but now I may not listen to the Boston Acoustics CR9 that I recently picked up at the flea market for $30 (these did need to have the tweeters replaced but still great sound at a total of $130).

At the GW I have also picked up a Pioneer TX-6200 tuner for $13 and a Yamaha R-7 receiver (I think about 70 wpc) for $25. The flea market has yielded an Onkyo TX-2500MKII receiver as well as many LPs @ $1 per LP and CDs @ $3 per disk.

My brother has made a number of good GW scores, including some EPIs or KEFs.

As far as those speakers, I am not familiar with them but I think most here on AK would tell you better to refoam than replace with another woofer.

Good luck.
Alan
 
Congratulations! Finding good gear at give away prices is like hitting the lottery. Just when you think you will never hit it rich bingo. Don't forget to check craigslist on a regular basis. Pawn shops can also be a source although the prices tend to be higher. Happy hunting.

cubdog
 
JN,

Can't help on specs, but as far as the woofs go, definitely refoam, don't replace- it's fun to do and gives opportunities to practice swearing. On-line sources for refoam stuff- PArtsExpress has kits, Madisound has just the foam surrounds for cheap, but I think they have a min. $25 order. I buy mine from simplyspeakers because they are great to deal with. Go for it.
 
Yer Hooked!...Time to do the Jimmy Neutron Dance!...another set of speakers saved,does my heart good to see that.Nice looking speakers,never seen a pair like that in our neck of the woods...Nice pics...Persistance allways pays off...Enjoy Your Music...Kenny
 
Well, first I would say to look to an AK sponsor for the surrounds. Whatever you do don't buy replacements for them, unless you find a pair of woofers that are intended for that speaker.

Having said all that, if money is tight or if you just want to get these going for the minumum investment, I had good luck with HBF Electronics:

http://www.hbfelectronics.com/index.php

They have a flat $10 shipping and handling rate, but even for just a pair of surrounds that makes for a dang good price. Buy extras if you think you might try this again down the road. I think you'll get what you need for $13. You'll need to get glue and stuff too to do the whole job. Check out the sticky at the top of the DIY forum.

Once you get them going you'll be hooked. You'll be in every thirft store within 30 miles of home on a regular basis. The thought that there is a nice piece of gear out there just waiting for you for a song is hard to resist.

Good Luck,

Ed
 
Ditto! Just picked up a nice pair of Pioneer HPM-100s in a thrift store for $80. I'm stoked! They sound fantastic. :thmbsp:

Rich P
 
All RIGHT JIMMY!

Congrats on your FIRST GW find! Yep....as was metioned....your HOOKED now! The beauty of HUNTING at THRIFT shops (and the like) is that...more often than not...you'll find NOTHING....then....one day....BLAM...pay dirt! Just this week...my kid brother found a MONSTER MARANTZ 2325 Receiver in VERY good condition for $80.00. LOL...I'm still trying to talk him out of it! I recently found POLK FOUR monitors (for $7.95 the pair in near MINT condition!). Also...a pair of EPI 100V, EPI 110's, two pairs of BOSTON A-70's, A MINT condition CONCEPT 3.5 Receiver, B&W DM22's, etc. etc. etc.
Happy hunting! RICH...FANTASTIC find on the HPM 100's! CONGRATS!

SixCats!
 
Those TSW-210s take "normal" 8" surrounds. I've got 'em... about $6 each plus probably $2 in USPS mailing for a pair... $14 for a pair, mailed-out.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
GordonW said:
Those TSW-210s take "normal" 8" surrounds. I've got 'em... about $6 each plus probably $2 in USPS mailing for a pair... $14 for a pair, mailed-out.

Regards,
Gordon.
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Gordon, e-mail me with your address and I'll send you a Money Order. :yes:
 
I have scored some AWESOME LPs at GW. Over time I've gotten to be more picky, especially with records I know I'll be able to find somewhere else. I've gotten some I don't think have been played--before me that is :) :banana:

Ahhh vinyl... mmmmm... :D

.... of course I am waiting for the fabled speaker score I keep hearing about...
 
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Well I finished the little speaker project. As you remeber I scored these AR's at Goodwill last week. Cabinet was a bit shoddy and the woofers needed refoaming. It was a nice week long project but I got the woofers refoamed and re-stained the walnut top and bottom panels. The sound is very nice, bright high end, good vocals. Woofer still needs to loosen up a bit. But over all for $8.00 and some elbow grease the came out nice. I like em. Now if I could only find me my Realistic STA-110 reciever!!

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If any are interested, you can read about the whole process at my site. :D
 
Roadside Recovery

Who needs Goodwill or a pawn shop? Roadside Recovery for me!
That's what my buddies and my wife have started calling it. Since I picked up a pair of Janssan (anybody ever hear of thiese?) 12" 3 ways from a pile of junk out in front of an apartment. (had to spray WD-40 into the speaker terminals and the circuit breakers. That's all.) Hooked 'em up to my Marantz 2220B, also a roadsaide find, for a pretty good computer sound set-up. Also, found a complete system consisting of a Technika AV receiver and 2 Micro-Acustics 10" 2-ways, along with a Thorens turntable-we use it at the lake.
Famous for apliances...got two diswashers working in aparments right now, and I found a Pent II based computer today. Works!
One man's trash...winds up in my shop!!!
 
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