I think mine was the Sony SCD1 around the time it came out. Sony demo unit. You ever had an an audio opportunity you just Had to act on or you knew you would regret?
When Philips came out with their DCC player...I thought, yeah this is it! Must get this! Well I still have mine but maybe used it for 1 or 2 years...I learned a lot from that 'experience' .
In general there's always a better deal on something better if you're patient, do your homework, save up, and can enjoy what you've got for now. Imho.
Got a mint sl1200mk2 w/ a nice v15 mk4 about 5 years ago for $350 from my local store. Got a Yamaha cr2020 in need of repair not too long after that from another local shop for around $150, it needed a little bit of work but nothing I haven't done before. A td160 mk1 off a nice member of this board that needed a little tlc, I forgot what I paid but far below what you find on ebay. All three in happy regular use still. Some people find stuff like this at their local thrift stores for $20 or free by the dumpster apparently.
A practically new Modwright SWP 9.0 SE phono preamp for $900. Sent it for upgrades, but that wasn't much; it sounds way better now and still a good deal.
I already had a 300B version of the "Siegfried" amp made by David Berning I bought new from him, but about 2003 when I came across an ad for another used "Siegfried", this time the version that used the Svetlana 811-10 triode output tube, I knew I had to act. I've never seen one of these come up for sale on the used market before, or since. The price was for just under $4k, so I had to stretch my pocketbook and immediately bought it. Since then I came across some difficult times financially, and felt I had to sell my 300B version "Siegfried" (a decision I regret very much to this day). But I still have the 811-10 tube version (I prefer and use the Svetlana 572-10 triode tube which can be substituted for the 811-10) in use in my main system, and feel fortunate every time I see (and hear) it that I stretched that one day and snagged that most rare beauty of an amp!
I guess I’m also talking about having the chance to get something in a price range you would not have considered spending. Only problem is the dreaded domino effect that could (and probably will) follow. Win lose win I guess.
I feel like getting my current speakers for 60% off retail, light usage but 8 years of warranty remaining - and they showed up in literally perfect condition - was truly my FOMO moment that ended up being truly a good call to purchase.
If I'm recalling correctly from a different thread (Pass Labs amp maybe?) you mention a domino effect caused by certain changes. That's the only downside to these things - they reveal, a lot. And the domino effect they have wrought has been profound, yet enjoyable.
My khorns would fit that category. I knew bringing them home would mean getting rid of my Bozak Concert Grands but the k's were just too good of a deal to let it slip away.
The last thing I need would be more speakers but a great deal on khorns, I wouldn’t be able to pass that up. Same with Altec Model 19’s or any altec with a 604 driver.
For me it’s a used Marten Duke 2 that was totally mint going for less than 50% of retailing price and a used Cary Audio SLP-05 going for like 35% but in good condition. Can’t say no to that!
Used Clearaudio Nano v2 for $250. Still the best bargain of all time. The ergonomics aren't perfect, but phono stages are usually like that (DIP switches, jacks too close together, etc etc) but for a MM cartridge, there is no better $250 to spend IMO. And though the MC section was a little noisy, it still sounded very nice.
I picked up a Nad c372 integrated amp for free here in the for sale forums that was fully functional several weeks ago.
I've taken advantage of the occasional seemingly too-good-to-be-true markdowns over the years. For instance, when the original Vann's was still in Montana but having problems, I was able to get a sealed box Marantz PM8004 for about $680 with free shipping and no tax. This was back when the 8004 was the current model in that series. So that was about half of MSRP. Also, ended up spending more for a turntable than I was going to spend when my client, Sweetwater, offered me a Technics SL-1210GR at dealer pricing (a shade over $1300 IIRC). I wasn't going to spend that kind of dough because I don't play records enough to have justified spending more than $500-700. However, I play my records a lot more often due to how much the table is to use and how well it performs (using the VM95ML cart). Lastly, I picked up a couple pairs of NHT speakers when Amazon was selling them for half of what NHT charged on their many in-house sales.