Goldmund Turntable with T3 arm--what is it worth?


I am considering purchasing a Goldmund turntable(Studio?) with a T3 arm, PL-6 Servo, and a Benz Micro MC-3 cartridge that needs to be re-tipped. I have not looked at this yet but plan to next week. I woud be buying from the original owner who tells me that it is excellent cosmettically but has not been used in 10 years. What is a fair price? Also, what are the things to look for and posible problem areas? I read that the T3 arm can have issues.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike
454ls5
Mike -

I've owned a setup like this for about 20 years. The turntable itself is pretty much bullet proof. The arm is fiddly to set up, but never needs readjustment. The PL6 is way better than its predecessor, but sensitive to power quality. You'll want to make sure that you have a spare arm belt on hand, and that you have the servo plugged into a really good power conditioner by itself. I use the smallest Shunyata. Cleanliness is key. A small amount of dust can cause a problem on the arm cart tracks. The connectors on the back of my T3F are camacs, and I had to reinforce the mounting plate because my cables were too heavy. Not a huge fan of the Benz, but the setup sounds great with a Transfiguration Temper.

I've seen these go recently for up to $6500, but I'm thinking $5000 would be a great buy, if all is up to snuff. If you like machinery as much as I do, you might have the problem of forgetting to listen because you're so fascinated by watching the servo work -- but maybe that's just me.

Happy hunting!

Mark
You should pay no more than 50 percent of the original price minus the cartridge which I would say has to be 50 percent less the cost of retipping. You may even be justified in asking for an additional hassel discount for getting the cart retipped. Millguy seems to know some recent transaction data, what I am sugggesting is pretty much my pricing criteria, which it seems it shared by a lot people.
Just FYI Benz has most orders backed up 6 months... the wait for a new Benz Ebony is something like 6 months... you may or may not have to wait that long for a re-tip. I had that same cart. for something like 10 years, it never wore out. The comments about dust and power filtering I would take very seriously. True.