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The craziest vintage hifi collection I have ever seen - mindblowing, yet anonymous!

Is this more vintage audio equipment than any one man should have?

  • Yes, this one guy is hoarding all of the best stuff and driving up prices for everyone else.

  • No, individuals should be able to hoard as much of anything in this world that they want.

  • WTH, so that's where all of the vintage gear I've been trying to find ended up!

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karljansen

karljansen

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I've been following this guy (I assume the person is a guy) on Instagram for a couple of years now, and I just never stop being floored by how much stuff he has. He calls himself an "antique collector" with a "museum," but there is no link to a homepage or any information whatsoever about how someone could visit this "museum."

https://www.instagram.com/hifi_synth_collection_ironman

He has stacks upon stacks of identical units most of us drool over, and I hate to think that we're competing with this guy's massively deep pockets when bidding for gear on eBay. Surely he has near unlimited cash reserves and is probably single-handedly driving up prices on the used market. He doesn't just stop at one of each model, he'll buy multiple copies of the same unit and stack them.

Here's an example, where he's got a stack of 4 Sony TA-N 77ES amps:
https://www.instagram.com/p/COsIvGfsujD/

He also has the craziest collection of some of the world's most prized, vintage analog synthesizers.

What do you guys think? Anyone know who this guy is, where he is, and if it's possible to visit his "museum," or rent out his vintage synthesizer room for music projects? Does anyone find it aggravating that someone is buying up more vintage gear than he could ever hope to listen to, denying it from the rest of us who just want to enjoy it?
 
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There are many here like the person you are speaking of. Within 100mi. from me in nowheresville NC there are approx. a dozen or more men that have either full to the brim 2000+Sq ft homes with basements with audio gear & Speakers... Some have even built climate controlled outbuildings with separate electrical panels to house there posessions...

I have a modest collection in comparison... Lots of people have rented storage units.. There are 2 types... Hoarders who sell only when they need cash or run out of space and the people who started buying and realize the profitablity in this stuff and are then labeled flippers... Some flip for pure profit while others flip to improve their collection at little to no out of cost expense....

The funny thing is once you go whole hog into the hobby you realize how much of this stuff is actually out there and the ones who hoard will simply be leaving a pile of crap for their families to deal with when they kick the bucket!!
 
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I follow the same guy on instagram, and I agree that his collection is unbelievable. I have seen some big collections, but his is next level. All looks to be in immaculate condition, and he will have stacks of four or five of the same amps. I really can't believe it's real sometimes.
 
If he actually listens to it, good for him. Otherwise, enh, it's his money and there is a lot of gear out there.
At least he's keeping it well (i.e. it's not stacked floor to ceiling in a non climate controlled storage unit).
 
I think that's fantastic! They obviously seem to have the means to acquire this gear, and keep it in great shape. They seemingly have the same appreciation for it as vintage collectors of any variety, whether it be cars, guns, camera's, what have you. I'm sure a lot of us would do the same thing if we had the money, time and space. I know I probably would.
 
RossW said:
If he actually listens to it, good for him. Otherwise, enh, it's his money and there is a lot of gear out there.
At least he's keeping it well (i.e. it's not stacked floor to ceiling in a non climate controlled storage unit).
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There's definitely a lot of gear out there, but there are not a lot of certain things, so when you see someone with 4-5 of some very rare unit you've been looking for, it can be frustrating. On the other hand, he's helping to preserve and maintain all of this gear so like any "museum," there are positives.
 
Well, ehh, you know...sorry, I demur. I think of the amount of money spent represented in those photos - that money could be doing more good in the world. And apart from the acquisition cost, think about the service cost to keep it all functioning.

Hoarding at a high-museum quality level, is still hoarding. We all like equipment. Keeping things at a reasonable normal-type hobby level is a good thing.
 
J English said:
Well, ehh, you know...sorry, I demur. I think of the amount of money spent represented in those photos - that money could be doing more good in the world. And apart from the acquisition cost, think about the service cost to keep it all functioning.

Hoarding at a high-museum quality level, is still hoarding. We all like equipment. Keeping things at a reasonable normal-type hobby level is a good thing.
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I think what bothers me about that particular collection is that he has 4 or more of the same unit in many cases. A "museum" only really needs one of each item, and for vintage hifi gear that will be listened to, maybe some non-working parts units. Having multiples of a lot of the stuff is the "hoarding" aspect of that particular collection. Some of the comments under his posts echo this, like "I can't even find one of those and you have four!" (about the stack of Sony amplifiers).
 
If the collection makes that person happy who am I to complain. I wish them well in their prosperity, and will assume they are responsible enough to manage their own affairs.

Their money, their right to use it any way they want. (Foolish, selfish or otherwise). I didn’t earn their money, and the good of the world has no right to it either, unless the earner of said money desires to use it for world.

Taxes support the general welfare, and after that any charity is dependent on the generosity of the giver.
 
That's a really nice collection of gear!
I've got no problem with someone having a massive collection like that. It's actually really cool IMO.
The only problem is going to be when he, and others with collections like him, age out and all of that gear gets dumped on the market at once. I can see it knocking prices down which is fine if you're looking but not if you've been expecting to eventually get some retirement money out of your hoard.
 
J English said:
Well, ehh, you know...sorry, I demur. I think of the amount of money spent represented in those photos - that money could be doing more good in the world. . .
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How do you know how much good is being done by the money this guy already spent on his collection? It isn't as though it ceased to exist after he traded it for his items, it just belongs to someone else now.

Or are you suggesting that he should have done something different with the money when it was still his? If he shouldn't be allowed to choose what he does with his money, who should? You? Me? No thanks.
 
Awesome collection! I have personally seen many like that up here and some really nice stuff also wasting away in falling apart environments.

For the guys that say the money could be spent elsewhere, sorry you're on another planet....Personally I save stuff that would have been 2' under dirt, doing nothing for the enviroment, and have been doing it for years, I used to get laughed at for "hoarding" tape decks, now I'm sitting on a small fortune. I saved a lot of the stuff everyone wants now, and there was a lot more guys like me, even Crusty had a storage unit back in the early 2000's when the early "hoarders" were saving this equipment. Some of my $5 boomboxes are worth hundreds, if not thousands. I've also bought equipment from guys down on their luck or charity groups, what better way to make everyone happy? Locally we even have training classes that fixes electronics and sells them and it's a win/win for both sides. Back when the charity thrifts were actually selling this equipment I was a buyer, I even remember begging to buy non-working stereo that Goodwill wanted to throw out.

The younger members might not understand the late 90's to the mid-2000's, everyone wanted mini stereos, Bose ruled the world and we were laughed at for owning a monster reciever. I was buying (saving) a big-ass reciever every few weeks but I still heard horror stories of the Pioneer Silver Stack that was thrown away last week because it was just too big.

Yes there are a lot of guys like this around but not just stereo, I've personally seen huge pinball/video game collections, vintage clocks, vintage toys, and one guy also collected vintage car engines, no cars, just the engines set up on stands, it was amazing.

The American Pickers said it best, the collectors have the stories and the passion and they're very interesting, sure there's real hoarders but they have crap like 50 jars of aspirin and 20 boxes of cereal along with a ton of other stuff.
 
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