proper tools

[kaliph11]

shopping for audio on Craigslist is not a job, but it seems to be a career.

This realization hit me, yesterday, when I found myself dragging a little PSB 300 speaker and a couple feet of zipcord into a sellers house. The stuff had been in the trunk when I left work heading for an upscale Detroit suburb at speed since a Marantz 2325 does not sit long when the ask is $150.

When I get there, it is a condo and the seller is a kid in a Norwegian death metal band's t-shirt with no sleeves. He has moved back to mom's after school. The receiver was given to him by an uncle, and it has been laying around. There are no speakers, and there are several ring stains on the wood case. If I did not have the ability to test it out, I do not know if I would have bought it.

How many of you are just like me in that we have bought a piece of equipment that we would have walked away from if we had tested it first?

I am never leaving the house without the trunk holding everything I need to test, again.

BTW, the 2325 worked.

 

[krf1]

I won't buy something through CL if I can't test it out. I have a standard "package" I carry with me when I shop, including

A small JVC receiver with a built-in SEA equalizer that works great for testing speakers (isolating drivers)

A pair of Minimus-7 speakers and zip cord (for testing amps/receivers)

An iPod and connector cable to test inputs

A cheap cartridge, headshell and 45 record (with adaptor) to test turntables

A cassette to test decks

An 8 foot power strip

I can fit all this in a (fairly) small plastic bin for quick trips to grab good deals (like your Marantz :yes: )

 

[Deczor]

Ditto. i carry a meter and screwdrivers. there is an old Bose box thing in my van that I use as a sub, but it's got spring clips and the drivers can be hooked up in stereo. the rear speakers are little B&W bookshelves I've riveted to the walls, so it's easy to unclip the wires from them and hook up speakers for testing.

I guess my van is a mobile workshop really. I've even got an inverter for running a low wattage iron if needed.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

Problem for me is I keep leaving stuff...

A 10 foot IEC cable at the dude's house that had the Sony VO-9800...then the six foot RG58 coax and stereo phono combo cable in the garage of the couple that had the Sony Betamax HF750.

I get too excited when I find a bargain, I guess.

 

[OLDisGOLD]

Problem for me is I keep leaving stuff...

A 10 foot IEC cable at the dude's house that had the Sony VO-9800...then the six foot RG58 coax and stereo phono combo cable in the garage of the couple that had the Sony Betamax HF750.

I get too excited when I find a bargain, I guess.

Hahaha ............ Sounds like you need a checklist for your kit when you pack up to leave.