Outrageous used pricing on older McIntosh

I have owned Mc gear and I don't understand why people pay ridiculous money for them.  Nostalgia I guess,  my last piece of Mc gear was a C15 that I paid $700 for....It was OK but no comparison to the McCormack pre that replaced it....I did appreciate the fact that I sold it three years later for $1300......

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."  (Quote)

Warren Buffet (probably not an audiophile).

Tubegroover said:  "  The amps sold for 198.00 each new during the time of their manufacturer from 1955-1961."

Just to put things into perspective, I worked the graveyard shift for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica in 1957. With overtime, my pay maxed out at $110.00 per week. I bought a 1955 Chevy Bel Air hardtop with 2400 miles on it in 1957 for $2200.00. In 1965, I bought a brand new home in Huntington Beach for $20,650. Payments were $147.00 per month ... and that included taxes and insurance. So, considering the times, what we now call "classic" audio gear was quite expensive. 

For a lot of collectors,the classic gear is like collecting postage stamps. Records (lp's) can be the same. There are folks who pay multi-hundreds of dollars for original Blue Notes, etc., when they could have pristine reissues on 180g vinyl. Why is the original so important to them? Because they are collectors first and listeners second?

The real question is: Has the value of the classic gear gone up ... or has the value of money gone down???

It's those spellbinding blue lights

I certainly understand your perspective Oregonpapa and while some of those audio products back in the 50’s and 60’s could be considered expensive they weren’t out of the reach of the middle class enthusiast what would and could purchase them. My parents paid 500.00 for a console stereo in 1960, many did. How many Kimball console pianos were sold in those times at from 500-800, of course if you had the resources one could purchase a Steinway either console or grand at considerably more and probably not affordable to most in the middle class.

Today there are STILL many affordable audio products for everyone, maybe even more so than back then. But there are ALSO many exorbitantly priced audio products that are strictly geared to the status of ownership, much like say a Rolls Royce or Ferrari or any product that is often geared to exclusivity and WOW rather than value. The premis that these products perform at a higher level than less ambitious products is debatable, at least in my experience, same as with vintage components. To ME it’s beyond "wishful thinking" that I BELIEVE that some properly restored vintage products can perform at a competitive level, that is, providing musical enjoyment AND most importantly to me with ANY audio product/system, engagement at a high level   and that their REAL value can be based solely on that fact aside from their vintage status and value as a collectable. It certainly is the case for me. I restored the amps to sell them. I’m keeping them because I enjoy listening to them on occasion, they’re that good. On the other hand I would acknowledge they would not be my first choice in all cases, what ever is in audio except for those that can make any choice of their desire :)