Thank You Audiogon.

Man, you did some major research, and bargain hunting. Must have been fun, and obviously rewarding. Good job. Enjoy!

Wow, great job! Just out of curiosity, did you get your gear through the classifieds, via auction or both? Lately, I've been focusing mostly on the classifieds but I was wondering if it was just me. Thanks.

Additional KUDOS to Audiogon for offering all of us this outstanding service. I too have enjoyed many high end pieces of equipment that would ordinarily have been out of reach for me, and look forward to enjoying music with much more trading in the future. Keep up the good work!!

Paulg805, OK, I HAVE to know what Seattle audio store you walked into where you were told that $5,000 would get you only a single component rather than an entire system. (We can take this "off line" if you want.)

I can make a guess as to what shop that was. (I live in Seattle.) If you ask me to make my guess before you tell us your answer, I will.

I could have recommended a store in Seattle that would have set you up in a musically enjoyable system for your $5,000 if you did not want to go to the trouble of researching and wheel-n'-n-dealin' on A-goN.

No matter the retail store, used gear is always cheaper; so, my recommended store could never have competed on the price/value scale. It's just that most folks, who are beginning their audio journey, make pretty costly mistakes if they try to assemble a system on their own from the used market. That's where a knowledgeable, honest dealer can come in and can get you started.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a dealer, do not have any financial interest in a dealership, and do not care which dealer any one chooses to patronize. Spending money on audio gear is entirely the spender's prerogative.

You seemed to have avoided some pitfalls that many would have stumbled into. You obviously knew quite a bit about Audio before you searched A-goN.