- Joined
- Jul 14, 2007
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- 589
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- Location
- SF Bay Area, CA
- Your Mac's Specs
- See Sig...
<rant>
So I've decided that I want to collect a small amount of hi-fi equipment from the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I have no room for it; my nightstand is a quad processor server with 32 RAM slots, 12 pci slots, and 9 hard disks that weighs probably close to 150lbs. I've got 2 5x5ft storage units full of (read: stacked floor to ceiling with) computer equipment. I have no room for speakers or amps or anything. But darn it, I want some. So.
I'm browsing ebay, I've bid on a couple things, haven't won anything yet except for a Technics EQ... I do not understand this market. I don't get it. I simply do not get it.
I can buy computer parts on ebay. No problem there. I can get what I want, for the price I had in mind and be done. No big deal. Vintage audio stuff? Nun-uh. There's no consistency. These people are nuts.
Check this out. Three ended ebay auctions (one of which I bid on) for the SAME Sansui QRX-9001 quad channel reciever:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270186639993 $255 (as is, powered on only)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280174455305 $1025 (working, w/box, supposedly only used 'for a few years', not that it matters on anything with electrolytic caps that are 30 years old... in fact, caps can fare WORSE if they're not used)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310001536665 $406.21 (working, no box)
WHAT THE (CENSORED)!?
Seriously. There's an $800 spread there, $600 of it between the two KNOWN WORKING ones. Admittedly, the one that went for >$1k still had the box, but come on now. Seriously. It's a box. If you're planning on buying the thing and keeping it in the box in a closet, you shouldn't own it in the first place. It's like locking a 911 Turbo in your garage. It's a total waste. Is a box really worth $600? There's no way a box is worth $600. Who would pay $600 for a box?!
And this happens with everything... The Sansui auctions aren't the best example, but the most recent one. The prices on this stuff are all over the place. One receiver will sell for $150 or whatever, and the next one, which as far as I can tell is in identical shape, will sell for $250. And another one will sell for $134.19. I just don't get it. Maybe I haven't been into it long enough to understand the market, but there doesn't seem to be any consistency in it at all.
I mean what do these people do? How is it that there is no consistency in this market? CAR prices are more predictable than this. Seriously. Do they all get together and go "hey, let's all bid on THAT one, and see how much it goes for!"? Jesus H. tap-dancing Christ. I've gotta be missing something. I MUST be. No group of people could, collectively, be this irrational or illogical about purchasing something... Could they?
And don't get me started on the people that think that coloring on and demagnetizing their CDs makes them sound better, and that think their $14k power cord (hey, wait, only $7k, it's on sale!) reveals detail in their 128kbps MP3 files that wasn't there before.
</rant>
So I've decided that I want to collect a small amount of hi-fi equipment from the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I have no room for it; my nightstand is a quad processor server with 32 RAM slots, 12 pci slots, and 9 hard disks that weighs probably close to 150lbs. I've got 2 5x5ft storage units full of (read: stacked floor to ceiling with) computer equipment. I have no room for speakers or amps or anything. But darn it, I want some. So.
I'm browsing ebay, I've bid on a couple things, haven't won anything yet except for a Technics EQ... I do not understand this market. I don't get it. I simply do not get it.
I can buy computer parts on ebay. No problem there. I can get what I want, for the price I had in mind and be done. No big deal. Vintage audio stuff? Nun-uh. There's no consistency. These people are nuts.
Check this out. Three ended ebay auctions (one of which I bid on) for the SAME Sansui QRX-9001 quad channel reciever:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270186639993 $255 (as is, powered on only)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280174455305 $1025 (working, w/box, supposedly only used 'for a few years', not that it matters on anything with electrolytic caps that are 30 years old... in fact, caps can fare WORSE if they're not used)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310001536665 $406.21 (working, no box)
WHAT THE (CENSORED)!?
Seriously. There's an $800 spread there, $600 of it between the two KNOWN WORKING ones. Admittedly, the one that went for >$1k still had the box, but come on now. Seriously. It's a box. If you're planning on buying the thing and keeping it in the box in a closet, you shouldn't own it in the first place. It's like locking a 911 Turbo in your garage. It's a total waste. Is a box really worth $600? There's no way a box is worth $600. Who would pay $600 for a box?!
And this happens with everything... The Sansui auctions aren't the best example, but the most recent one. The prices on this stuff are all over the place. One receiver will sell for $150 or whatever, and the next one, which as far as I can tell is in identical shape, will sell for $250. And another one will sell for $134.19. I just don't get it. Maybe I haven't been into it long enough to understand the market, but there doesn't seem to be any consistency in it at all.
I mean what do these people do? How is it that there is no consistency in this market? CAR prices are more predictable than this. Seriously. Do they all get together and go "hey, let's all bid on THAT one, and see how much it goes for!"? Jesus H. tap-dancing Christ. I've gotta be missing something. I MUST be. No group of people could, collectively, be this irrational or illogical about purchasing something... Could they?
And don't get me started on the people that think that coloring on and demagnetizing their CDs makes them sound better, and that think their $14k power cord (hey, wait, only $7k, it's on sale!) reveals detail in their 128kbps MP3 files that wasn't there before.
</rant>
