$60 garage sale find. Luxman PX-100. Threw a Ortofon RED on it. Fully auto. Plays damn sweet. FYI: You don't need to break the bank. You do need to do a bit of research, so you can recognize an audio gear "Score" when you came across one.
I really envy you Americans, with your 'Thrift Stores" and "Garage Sales" - you seem to get some real gems at bargain prices. Here in the UK we have "Charity Shops" which, whilst once may have had the odd bargain, now only sell utter garbage. And perhaps the closest thing you'll find to garage sales are "Car Boot Sales" (where numerous people gather to sell stuff) at which you'd be really lucky to find anything good for cheap. Recently I've setup alerts on Gumtree (both local and UK-wide) for vintage turntables but all you ever get are quite basic, less desirable models being way overpriced.
For me, I start with absolute focus on the music and no other distractions, especially lights glaring in my eyes. I know McIntosh is great equipment, but too many components do not allow you to turn their lights off
UK folks don't have divorces and family passing away? I reckon that's how most "Scores" happen. Ex- wives/survivors selling things off w/o a clue what they are actually worth. One doesn't need to break the bank. One does need to do a bit of research in order to recognize audio "Scores" when they present themselves. I'd say at least half my gear falls into that category.
You just have to find the right boot sale and get up very, very early, although depending on what you are looking for South Wales may not be the best location, I got my 301 last year although it did cost proper money and I have been looking for one for 30+ years, I also picked up a TD-160 or 166 for £3, it was in need of some work, I let my friend have it for the £3, otherwise lots of Duals, Pioneers and lesser decks, I'd say boot sales are better for amps and speakers, I see tons of good speakers, TDLs, Tannoys, Kefs, JPWs, Wharfedales etc., I've even managed to pick up two separate pairs of B & Ws and the matching centre channel for my brother, it took about 18 months to get the five, but five B & Ws for around £100 can't be bad. The only thing is you have to be really on the ball and early otherwise the eBay flippers and Hi Fi dealers will beat you to it and for every bit I found I know of something equally good I missed.
I once saw some very expensive Neumann microphones at a garage sale. I asked, with surprise, "Are these for sale?" and the woman said. "Those are my boyfriend's, and he has not shown up for three years. $5"
This light here Eye Protection LED Clamp Clip Light Table Reading Lamp USB Dimmable 36 LEDs B9M2 | eBay
Speaking of thrift shops. $15 in immaculate condition with a Shure 91-ED cartridge. (Haven't had a chance to take pics yet. This pic is googled.)
Out with the old in with the new Turntable : Rega RSD17 Cartridge : Ortofon 2m red Av Receiver : Pioneer VSX - 529 Pre Amp : Cambridge Audio CP 1 Speakers : Cambridge Audio SX - 50
After the ease of set up and convenience of a the standard arm it was a bit of a culture shock. Before the 1210 my previous experience of arms was RB300's on a Planner 3 and a Funk Firm Vector. The Audiomod's V takes some setting up but sounds sublime once you've taken the time to do so. I went for the V over an SME as it just drops in to the 1210, has on the fly vta adjustment and the value for money ratio is so high
In this case, might've been better to leave it as a link since it's such a huge picture at 4.3 megabytes.
It shows in my browser (Chrome) at the same width as any other image and with the same loading speed. Did it cause any problems on your end? 4.3MB isn't that huge. I'm not sure what the issue is.
