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Two pair of JBL studio s26 in the trash behind a pub. Three out of the four speakers worked perfectly.
As Stephen Mejias <A href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/020408junk/" target=new>found recently</a>, there really are audiophile gems and deals to be had in the "junk" store. Have you ever found audiophile treasure in junk shops?
One Bang & Olufsen S75 speaker with stand in absolute perfect condition, like it just came out of the box, just one. I got it for five bucks at Goodwill, hoping to find the other eventualy. Some other guy across town probably has the other one thinking the same thing.
Audiophile treasures in junk shops can be found like finding (and buying by spending a lot of money) junk treasures in audiophile shops. Finally a junk piece of equipment will find its own place in a junk shop. As discussed previously, one man's junk is another mans hi-fi.
A GAS Son of Ampzilla, GAS Thoebe preamp, and Yamaha T1 tuner, all for $75. That was about 15 years ago and they all worked and still do! I've replaced electrolytic caps in all of them, and other parts as needed (or not) and they all give me great audio joy from time to time to this day (IF I can find an FM station worth listening to.) The preamp in particular is amazing, really a miniature clas- A power amp, with resistor ladder volume control, balance control (essential!) and evil tone controls! No remote of course, but its sound surprises me as how similar it is to current products, the bass is a bit colored yet extended and powerful. Since then I have found fewer and fewer components out there, the vast majority of folks have true junk for audio equipment. The ones that have good stuff know it and don't give it away. Sure, you can still find '70s import receivers but how many of those can one have? The last thing I found was a pair of Advent Prodigy Towers for $10 with woofer foam rot but otherwise great condition. I replaced the woofers but overall they were built cheaply (the X-overs—OMG!) and I gave them away. Still looking for a JBL Paragon for $5...
A Yamaha CX-2 preamp with a very good phono section and 3 tape loops and a M-60 power amp (160 watts/ch) both for $100. It sounds very nice, even better when you consider the amount of money ($ per watt). Found it at a pawn shop just browsing around. It is now my home office system.
My first real high-end purchase was in a literal pile of other gear at a pawn shop in a small town in the Ozarks, an Audionics BT-2 preamp. Most recent was a Denon DRA-600 at the local DAV. I looked at it, put it down, and began to walk away. I stopped and thought, wait, it's a Denon. It is now the heart of my "main" system.