26 May 2015

missed steals and deals

After the wallet got swiped,
I went into flip mode,
ditching various hidden treasures.
Yes it's hard to tell when walking around our house.
The problem is when flipping chit,
good deals are seen at the same time.
The problem is good deals disappear quick.
It helps to be the first to contact,
but sometimes that backfires,
as the first email or text
is on the bottom of the list.
This seems pricey,
but a new retail cst 280 is about $2700,
an ab-used goes for about $800.
Not that I needed another big welder!
And yeah I still look for bricks.
Amazing how fast these get snatched up.
This was found up in Ventura,
which has an unusually slow craigslist.
This was posted for 16 days!
We picked this up on the way to my brother-in-laws wedding,
and was better then I thought.
The guys place was awesome.
Some deals don't seem like deals.
These are cheap,
but the guy used virtual pics.
His were sun bleached,
and he ended up not selling them.
Out of my price range anyway!
Some deals must be scams.
But you never know.
This one was real.
Whoever scored it posted the honda outboard for $650 the next day.
Probably abandoned the boat out on the street!
I was probably the first guy to contact this seller.
Seemed like a deal,
but I backed out.
A $100 starter and things add up quick.
It was gone in 2 hours.
This one was terrible.
After a day of texting back and forth,
I thought we had a deal.
Unfortunately there was an hour plus drive,
and on the way up,
about 20 minutes away,
another buyer showed up first.
Definite bummer as the engine was clean,
but probably too small for the whaler anyway.
Still it was a score.
Especially if I could have afforded this beast.
What a deal for a 21 foot panga.
These were made for a small tiller steer outboard.
I considered trading out the whaler project.
Nah,
The 17' is big enough to park.
Some guys leave their ads up for days,
even when there phone number is in the ad.
Curious to know what model these were.
This was another miss.
Great price for an 80 wpc receiver.
I texted back and forth with the guy,
at least 6 or 8 times,
then he says someone was on his way.
Thanks bud...
Some deals I shouldn't really even look at.
These are la scala cabinets,
we have a nice original complete pair.
People modify these to make JubeScalas.
I should say crazy people.
These are enormous.
Others replace the horns with altec 511 or others.
Which means this is an open ended project.
A big open ended project.
Just what I don't need.
Well I talked to the guy,
and he threw in a bunch of goodies,
like an old onkyo shop receiver.
At night I search for the missing components.
Like I said just what I don't need.

This deal hurt the most.
These are jbl c60 Olympus speakers.
The guy agreed to a deal of a price.
I drove past temecula,
so stoked on this score of the decade,
and not even 12 minutes from his house,
the guy reneged.
Noooooooo!!
Little did he know these speakers go for $2500-4500,
but someone sabotaged my score.
It was a long sad drive back!
To finish on a good note,
fortunately I've got rich friends.
A buddy scored this deal.
Sure it's a couple bucks,
however this was a score.
Keep on hunting!
TP

25 May 2015

persichetty - 1974 sansui goodness

The realization that this wasn't the right time for tube amplification,
left a gaping hole needing to be filled.
The broken dynaco st-70 was sent away,
and a week later another discovery appeared.
This is the first time I've received shipped stereo equipment.
No really!
There's a rule about double boxing,
but these guys didn't quite get it.
Typically the second box has a couple inch cushion all around...
...which means top and bottom too.
Just as important,
as that is where the throwing around impact is,
besides the fact this was on the porch upside down!
Fingers were crossed,
there was a healthy amount of bubblewrap.
Tada.
1974 sansui au-7700 integrated amplifier
and tu-7700 tuner.
Seemed to be in good shape!
The understated black was really a sign of things to come.
After a knob swap on the amp,
now appearing a bit more correct.
The tuner was missing the big knob already.
These knobs are solid aluminum.
Cool tray style connections over heat sinks out back.
Even cooler plastic RCA plug covers.
This was a really clean set.
The 80 watt sansui qrx-8001 was so heavy, 
it had busted the cheesy shelf.
The bright green now replaced by a single red dot.
But would it sound as good?
Thankfully the sound was clean,
no hum,
and at 50+ watts per channel,
this little amp cranked those big la scala speakers.
The tuner picked up FM without an antenna!
After a couple hours no overheating or screeching,
and 2 notches on the volume was already too loud!
Definitely more my style,
especially at half the cost of a broken tube amp!
TP

21 May 2015

Tube Foray

After letting go of the big mcintosh mc2300 amp,
I thought I'd be content with our current hoard.
Do I really need two unused sansui's for backup?
Or a third pair of klipsch fortes,
just in case?
Difficult to answer that.
For a brief moment I tried unloading stuff,
clearing the unneeded clutter to keep the good.
It was working until...
I met this guy,
a race car builder and tuner,
who also is heavy into vintage stereos.
http://www.agentfortyseven.com/harbinger/
He's got one serious resume!
When ya start dabbling in these old stereos,
people rave about solid state/transistor vs tube/valve amps.

Heath has a big collection,
and a deal was struck.
An early Dynaco st-70 was in the house.
Wow.
This thing wouldn't play loud,
but the sound was so soothing.
#####################################################



Ron Carter - All Blues
words can't describe...
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Running it was like driving a flathead,
a specific on and off routine,
nothing taken for granted.
Somehow the burning metal produced sound!
And after a couple hours,
poof...
Cringing screech and a puff of smoke.
When ya read about these things,
stability is not the main quality.
These guys live to be hot rodded,
there are dozens of upgrades.
Hundreds can easily be spent on tubes,
trick boards, capacitors...
The dim bulb tester was used for the second time!
After a brief foray I realized the stress involved listening to a time bomb wasn't worth it,
no matter how sweet it sounded.
Maybe later...
TP

14 May 2015

tail of the white van

You guys remember this?
It's like walking around with toilet paper tail 
hanging from your pants.
Also since the doors wouldn't shut right,
the light switch had to be rigged.
A temporary fix,
sometimes the interior lights wouldn't shut off.
I actually pulled out the bulbs.
Enough already!
The hunt was on for a replacement.
The first junkyard was a washout.
The second junkyard had a couple options,
and all white!
The first door looked great on the outside,
but the inside was hammered.
The second was from an earlier model.
Decent outside,
but the inside had a molester van feel.
Pass...
Fingers were crossed for the third van.
A little beat up,
but this one had a good work van vibe.
Make sure to bring a star wrench!
Last time we'll see this fancy grill on the road...
Back home I enlisted child labor.
So enthusiastic.
Once we got started,
Jake was unstoppable.
The issue with this door was the bottom lock was busted.
No problem for younger hands.
Sad to lose the stickers.
New yellow caution tape brightened up the rear.
Thanks Jakob!!
Now we'll not drag the neighborhood down...
TP