Best bargain find ever ?

I paid $600 used here on AGon for my OHM "Super" Walsh 2s, which are fairly recent 100S3 CLS drivers in refurbed original OHM Walsh 2 cabinets. These are essentially full range and can compete with most anything out there when set up properly in typical size rooms.

Denon DL103R for $300 is another giant killer that can compete with the best.

The NAD 7020 receiver that I picked up in a pawn shop for $25 back in the 80's is still garnering rave reviews (from me) pinch hitting as a pre-amp only in my smaller family room system. I normally use this as a spare but I am hard pressed to replace it this time around as a pre-amp only.

mhdt Constantine DAC for just over $300 used here on Agon, another big hitter for very little. Its sister tube DAC the Paradisea cost a TAD more and is just a TAD behind in the performance category.

Tube Audio Designs TAD 125 Hibachi monoblocks cost me well under $1000 here on Agon, and could the last amp many people would ever need.

Sansui G-9000 at a thrift shop for $10!

It lit up beautifully when I plugged it in at the thrift shop but had some buzzing from some speakers I hooked it up to when I got it home. I had it brought back to specs at a reputable local audio repair place. Spend $100 and it's like new.

Weighs 65lbs and 160 watts of 1970's power. Has a strong tuner section too.

I "hear" ya on the Ohms!! I purchased a brand new pair of Ohm Walsh 2s with match grain oak cabinets - the salesman's price was $199 directly from the Ohm factory. I owned and loved those speakers for the next 10 years...

However, the B&O MMC-1 cartridge that I won in a factory sponsored contest is right up there. And the best part was that I was able to choose my cartridge from among 30 that we had recently received from B&O. I spent a *long* lunch hour reviewing the specs and looking at each stylus under a microscope. I ended up with a cartridge that spec'd. absolutely flat (within 0.25 db) from 20 Hz - 20 kHz.

I sold that cartridge 20 years later for $800, it had < 150 hrs. on it and was only used to transcribe albums from vinyl to reel-reel or CD. My MMC-2 (came with a B&O BG 9000 turntable that I bought for $250) was used for day to day playback...

-RW-

Walker Talismen for $75.00

I wandered into a thrift store and found ALL of the original Beatles albums in cassette format with the original carrier. 25 cents each, plus $1 for the carrier. The cassettes are like new. Someone probably bought them just before CDs were introduced and then never played them.