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Thrift Store Gold???

Obtained a pair of Advent 3s in great shape for cheap. $30 pair. Placement of these in a small room and getting amazing results. Full bass and not too bad in the highs, but not as good as I want. Anyone ever swap out the tweeters? If so what is recommended ?
 
I’m not going to list any prices, but here are a few thrift finds I’ve had.

Paradigm 90P v2
Sony SS-G7
Kef 103/2 in two separate visits, one on Monday, other on Thursday.
Bose 501 series 2, one Friday, one Saturday
Avid 100
Boston CR8
Dynaco A25
Electrosound classic 3
Energy Connoisseur CC-10
EPI M1 Micro Towers
EPI M100
Infinity Qa
Infinity RS-7
KLH 17 twice
Legacy 100
Mission 761i
Ohm D2
Paradigm Atom v2
Polk Audio M4 Monitors
Realistic Nova 7B
Sansui SP-1500X
Sony SS-1250
Tamon DX-50
Tamon TSE-250
Technics SB-5000

That is most of the speakers I’ve found at thrifts over the last 9 years.

One thing I am noticing, is that a lot of gear that has been collected over the last 2 decades will likely be coming back to thrifts, etc. People who were collecting them are starting to downsize. I’m even trying to do that! It isn’t easy when someone offers you something you want to try out though. So be patient, you will find the deals if you continue to look.

There is nothing like the feeling of finding something great at a thrift! It’s very addictive!
 
BilboBaggins said:
One thing I am noticing, is that a lot of gear that has been collected over the last 2 decades will likely be coming back to thrifts, etc. People who were collecting them are starting to downsize. I’m even trying to do that! It isn’t easy when someone offers you something you want to try out though. So be patient, you will find the deals if you continue to look.

There is nothing like the feeling of finding something great at a thrift! It’s very addictive!
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Yeah, sometimes I see a selection that strongly suggests that someone's wife forced them to pick a few pair to keep.
 
ericj said:
Yeah, sometimes I see a selection that strongly suggests that someone's wife forced them to pick a few pair to keep.
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It’s not just wives, but us collectors too! Face it, speakers take a lot of space. I was thrilled a few weeks ago when I got my Bose 501s out the door. However, in my case speakers are not the issue. It is all the turntables and cassette decks I’ve accumulated over the years. I have very little space to work on things. That, is driving me nuts!
 
BilboBaggins said:
It’s not just wives, but us collectors too! Face it, speakers take a lot of space. I was thrilled a few weeks ago when I got my Bose 501s out the door. However, in my case speakers are not the issue. It is all the turntables and cassette decks I’ve accumulated over the years. I have very little space to work on things. That, is driving me nuts!
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Yeah i spent $6 on another pair of baby advent ii today. The foam surrounds are slightly sticky so they are on their way out but they are not torn.

i don't even really know why. Maybe i will give them to a friend who needs better speakers in his garage.
 
ericj said:
Yeah i spent $6 on another pair of baby advent ii today. The foam surrounds are slightly sticky so they are on their way out but they are not torn.

i don't even really know why. Maybe i will give them to a friend who needs better speakers in his garage.
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My thrift stores usually have junk , and It’s marked very high in price . Keep looking ehh !!!
My friend wife won’t allow him to even have satellite speakers , her nickname I gave her was the Fuhrer”.
 
I've had good luck at the thrift stores. Currently listening to a pair of JBL L40 that are incredible; original woofers need re-foam, on order. API 10" subbing and doing fine. Found a pair of Boston A200 needing foam, sold as-is. Other finds were Boston A40, Genesis 1+, Yamaha NS-550 (not the legendary ones, but still great), many Radio Shack MC-1000/1200 plus Minimus 7 over and over, Paradigms including Mini Monitor, and on and on. All part of the trip of listening to as many of the speakers out there before we leave this earth, and hoping to remember how they performed!
 
ItBites said:
Thrift Stores as a source of Audio Goodness? Please chime in!!

Some folks be lookin down they snouts at thrift store scavengers and sayin this endeavor be a waste o' time and pesos. Well I be such a scavenger of thrift stores for several years now. And I have bought a speaker or two off Craigsdump as well. The only speakers I bought retail after college (I'm old now) were the first Qty 2 of my current Qty 5 Miller & Kriesel S-100Bs and the first of my current Qty 3 M&K subs, all of which I enjoy in my HT 5.3 system. But I've found a bunch o' cool stuff for my collection of 2 channel gear, even though none of it is of Mark Levinson or Wilson caliber. I can't even fathom making a complete inventory or accounting, but listening to my small Garage Radio, when asked by a friend one day, I estimated we were enjoying over $18,000 in gear at that moment, at about $0.06 on the dollar or thereabouts. :yikes:

So, my latest find the other day at my friendly, local Goodwill store:

NEAT Acoustics Critique mk1 (big shout out and mucho thanks to AK'er HELLE for identifying these for me - :bowdown:). Plus two heavy and metal stands and four decent banana plugs included.
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I haven't cleaned 'em yet because I've been entranced listening to them :smoke:, but they will dress-up nicely as well, when I get around to it!

AND these aint the only gold I've mined... Who else and what else?
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15 years ago and more the pickings were great. I regularly found scores from the likes of Altec, JBL, AR, Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui, Concept, Klipsch, etc. Nowadays I’d have to make 50 thrift store stops to find one item with considering. I’ve come to realize that backdoor deals siphon off many sought after vintage items. That, and e-waste electronic recycling events get a lot of the items that would have made their way to thrift stores in past years.
 
09CD0BC2-7868-4EF4-8E89-22B05D84F0CE.jpeg A couple of weeks ago I scored a Polk Monitor 12’s for $20 and have had a variety of speaker scores at thrifts over the years. Lately I have been finding some good items at Estate Sales such as my Aerial Acoustic and Polk RTA-12c’s. All the speakers in the attached pic were bought for a combined total outlay of $155. Had to get the x-over for the Hafler 300’s fixed for $125 and I will have to get a refoam kit for the EV-802 original woofers. (those are Celestion woofers in there for now). So there are some deals to be found out there if you are persistent and a little lucky.
 
Wolverine said:
View attachment 1608889 A couple of weeks ago I scored a Polk Monitor 12’s for $20 and have had a variety of speaker scores at thrifts over the years. Lately I have been finding some good items at Estate Sales such as my Aerial Acoustic and Polk RTA-12c’s. All the speakers in the attached pic were bought for a combined total outlay of $155. Had to get the x-over for the Hafler 300’s fixed for $125 and I will have to get a refoam kit for the EV-802 original woofers. (those are Celestion woofers in there for now). So there are some deals to be found out there if you are persistent and a little lucky.
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That's why I mentioned in another thread that you just need to beat Wolverine there...
 
Just at one of the “huge” new Goodwill “superstores” in a nicer area (money). They no longer take any A/V equipment or speakers as donations. “To much broken stuff” is what I was told. Zero Cd’s on the shelf either, “they just sit there” :dunno:
 
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GChief said:
Just one of the “huge” new Goodwill “superstores” in a nicer area (money). They no longer take any A/V equipment or speakers as donations. “To much broken stuff” is what I was told. Zero Cd’s on the shelf either, “they just sit there” :dunno:
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I have heard that some stores don't take these because of space issues but that is a store by store policy versus a corporate policy. Hopefully these items won't start just going to landfills.
 
Wolverine said:
I have heard that some stores don't take these because of space issues but that is a store by store policy versus a corporate policy. Hopefully these items won't start just going to landfills.
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One of my favorite places here no longer is taking large speakers in or much of anything old audio. It’s too bad as I have picked up some very nice speakers for $5 - $20. Manager said they sit around for too long and they do end up going to a landfill.
 
Well not bought in a thrift store but a yard sale. If this is not acceptable then delete this thread. A few weeks ago I was at a yard sale and picked up a basically new condition electro- voice aristocrat speaker but only 1 for 5 dollars. Took it home tried it out and said wow . It was a nice couple that was selling this and other vintage cool stuff and I don't really think new or cared of what value versus what they were selling stuff for. Jus thought I would add this.
 
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