Trash to Treasure... share your freebie, ground score, dumpster dive treasures here...

[Mitkraft]

I've got you all beat: I found my wonderful wife at her garage sale.

Audio - I was at an audio meet, and I was showing my then-modest setup, which included a DVD player for a CD transport (had a good DAC). Some fellow excused himself, went out to his car, and brought back a largish box. "Here, Dennis, you need this," he said. The box contained a PS Audio Lambda transport, in nice shape too. I was so thrilled I gave him two amps, one solid-state, and one single-ended EL-84 (a Magnavox console pull).

Im pretty sure finding a wife is NEVER a bargain!
I speak from experience. I love mne to death but thrift she isnt. LOL.

 

[donprice]

Wow, can't imagine how he could have gotten both in, must be the B460 in the hatch area (and left open), and the B380 in the passenger seat.

What ever happen to both subwoofers?

It took a whole lot of "want to" to get them loaded up for a 60 mile trip home. The B460 is in my living room and the B380 was given to my younger brother.

 

[mech986]

It took a whole lot of "want to" to get them loaded up for a 60 mile trip home. The B460 is in my living room and the B380 was given to my younger brother.

Sweet! Did you ever post a pic?

 

[ADKBob]

A pair of Acoustic Research AR90s - the guy literally had his hands on them, about to haul them into a skip. $10 prevented him from doing that hideous act.

Teledyne Acoustic Research AR90L, pair. by Justin Robert Bailey, on Flickr

Oh, darn. I guess I got screwed since I paid $20 for my AR-92s! The lady at the little thrift store said they were too heavy, taking up space and was going to have some guys put them to the curb. I couldn't just take them, so I said $20 - what a fool I was.

 

[SounderMN]

Not really a dumpster score, but I did score some B&W speakers on CL. The guy told me that he "used to be rich", and now he isn't, so he doesn't have room for his surround setup. He sold me a pair of B&W 803N, a pair of 805N with stands and a matching HTM2 center. All for $2500. I sold the 805s for $1800, the stands for $300 and the center for $500. So, I ended up with a great pair of speakers and made $100 on the deal. Hassle fee, I guess.

 

[AnalogBrad]

Dahlquist DQ10 - side of the road, sold off a couple years ago
KLH 5 - side of the road, awaiting restoration
Snell JII - free, added to a bunch of stuff I was buying at a yard sale. I'll be refoaming these soon.

 

[Markoneswift]

Oh, darn. I guess I got screwed since I paid $20 for my AR-92s! The lady at the little thrift store said they were too heavy, taking up space and was going to have some guys put them to the curb. I couldn't just take them, so I said $20 - what a fool I was.

Yeah you got screwed, cos $10 nzd is like about $6 US I offered the guy $20 for them initially, but he would only take 10 cos they were 'junk'....

 

[Omegaman]

A neighbor stopped by and said "Hey, You like old stereo stuff right?" "There's and old console with 8-track on the curb for free a couple of streets over"

Hmmm 8-track, sounds solid state and 70's ish

It was a Bazilay cabinet,

It had a MAC1900, Garrard zero 100, Ampex 2100 reel-to-reel (the 8-track) and JBL C56 Dorians

That was a pretty good day

 

[motorstereo]

My dumpster save would be the entire contents of this store. It was all headed straight for a couple of roll offs last year. So was all the gear collection at his home. My best friend Dave was a lifetime audio collector since the 60's who very sadly died one year ago. His only family was his sister who wanted nothing to do with his massive collection of audio gear and audio related everything. I could not see these rooms full of gear dumpster bound so I had to intervene.

 

[Dr Tinear]

I've been the lucky recipient of quite a few freebies over the years. Most of them needed some bench work to sing again, but a few worked perfectly from the get-go. A partial list:

Heathkit AA-1640 power amp
Dynaco Stereo 400 power amp
Heathkit AR-19 and AR-1500 receivers
Ohm L speakers
NAD 7020 receiver
Akai 250D reel deck
Magnavox CDB-650 CD player
Dynaco FM-3 tuner and SCA-35 and SCA-80Q integrated amps
Pioneer SX-838 and SX-880 receivers
Nikko NR-800 receiver

 

[blhagstrom]

 

[elitopus]

My dumpster save would be the entire contents of this store. It was all headed straight for a couple of roll offs last year. So was all the gear collection at his home. My best friend Dave was a lifetime audio collector since the 60's who very sadly died one year ago. His only family was his sister who wanted nothing to do with his massive collection of audio gear and audio related everything. I could not see these rooms full of gear dumpster bound so I had to intervene.

Sorry to hear about your friend. Its good to hear you rescued all that audio gear though. What all did you get?

 

[motorstereo]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Its good to hear you rescued all that audio gear though. What all did you get?

Thanks and yes Dave was a great guy and he got me into this crazy hobby. Before I met him I thought Mcintosh was something you peeled and put in a pie. He had an eye for quality and had quite a smorgasbord of gear, gear accessories, test equipment, tools, tubes and enough vintage manuals and literature to easily fill a library. Sadly I cannot even keep a fraction of it. I will keep most of his Mac gear and some sentimental pieces. The rest........well lets say I've been single handedly lowering the price of vintage gear on our local craigslist.

 

[Anti_Skate]

Instead of listing all the gear I have found for free, I'll mention my favorites.

A Marantz 1060 with wood case, found this in the trash and restored it. Currently using it as a preamp with my next item.
A Carver M-500, didn't find this in the trash directly BUT got it in a trade for an ELAN home distribution amp that I did find in the trash.
A Carver PSD-36b 10 disc CD changer. This had a CD jammed in it and needed a re-lube, now it sounds wonderful.
A pair of Design Acoustics PS-10a's. Just needed a re-foam. These are in my current line up.

Currently on the bench
A Kenwood C1, T1 and M2 Basic.

 

[soundmotor]

Many but my Technics SU-V98 was the fave. Lasted ~10 years in my background system until the display croaked. Very good performer in all other aspects.
I pulled it and the matching tuner from the scrap metal dumpster at out town dump. Took it home, plugged it in and it pretty much remained with a phone connected to it for wi-fi streaming. It ran a set of Technics SB-F1MK2s and turned out to be a great combo.

 

[vincei]

A buddy of mine wanted to get rid of some "old large" JBL speakers, the wife wanted them gone. I almost refused thinking they are likely some cheap lookalikes. Then went to see them and took them on the spot after he threatened to give them to some kids garage band down the street! Got them home and they turned out to be untouched C45-S8 monitors with LE15A, 375, 075 drivers. Ended up giving him a low end HT receiver in exchange, LOL.
Pic not of mine as I sold them years ago, crap

 

[MJB1959]

Curbside pickup:
ADS-620 speakers fully functional. With some cabinet wear.
Nad 3150, with a single Vandersteen 2c. No issues.
JBL-L26, needed surrounds.
Infinity - Rsb, needed surrounds also.
Readers Digest integrated amp with matching tuner.working.
Marantz HD - 880 speakers. Needed foam.
harmon kardon rack system, gave to a friend.

It's not like I was looking for stuff, just dumb luck.

Garage/yard sales:
Rotel RX 200 A receiver 5$ with Sony speakers.
Don't ta f55 integrated amp. 5$

 

[mech986]

A buddy of mine wanted to get rid of some "old large" JBL speakers, the wife wanted them gone. I almost refused thinking they are likely some cheap lookalikes. Then went to see them and took them on the spot after he threatened to give them to some kids garage band down the street! Got them home and they turned out to be untouched C45-S8 monitors with LE15A, 375, 075 drivers. Ended up giving him a low end HT receiver in exchange, LOL.
Pic not of mine as I sold them years ago, crap

Similar to L45 Flair cabinets with the L200 type load - so these had 375's? Yikes!

 

[vincei]

Similar to L45 Flair cabinets with the L200 type load - so these had 375's? Yikes!

Yes 375's with throats and N7000 and N2400 crossovers. All Alnico magnets and drivers in perfect condition, seals all intact. These would cost a fortune today! Wish I kept them, all they needed was a re-foam.

 

[mech986]

Yow! We have all that scene where something slipped away before we really understood what we really had. Or life's needs intervened.