It could be stupid to say there is no audiophile scene in Russia.
This scene is huge all over the country, Moscow is just the biggest city.
You can find all the rarest analog audio gear locally, the only problem is the price. For foreigner buyers another problem is language barrier, for this reason very interesting gear available mostly on local sources. People collect serious vintage high-end gear and this is mostly import from Japan, Europe or USA. All the stuff imported in the past 15 years, before 2004 it was impossible, not only because of the payment methods (paypal was unavailable in Russia), but also because of the internet. In the Soviet days it was simply impossible, you can’t imagine how rare was VCR all the way til the 90’s, you could have it only if your father is a diplomat or a big boss in communist party (or some criminal), especially in the mid 80’s. Basic hi-fi import appeared on the market (for everyone) in the early 90’s after the crash of the USSR, but it was overpriced stuff like VCR, TV, double cassette decks, boomboxes etc.
DIY scene now is huge too, not everyone can afford import, for this reason secondhand audio gear is very popular.
On the other hand we have so many High-End shops and distributors of all the modern high-end stuff for insane prices, but this is for another category of people (they don’t count money).
P.S. I think most of the local dealers on ebay are honest, they know their stuff and you can’t cheat people on ebay with paypal payments (it’s simply impossible). The problem is idiots and they are everywere (wolrdwide), last year a dealer from France tried to rip me off for neatly 2500 EUR, but paypal penetrated him very well and refund my money within a month, it wasn't ebay deal, but paypla always protect buyers from scammers.
This scene is huge all over the country, Moscow is just the biggest city.
You can find all the rarest analog audio gear locally, the only problem is the price. For foreigner buyers another problem is language barrier, for this reason very interesting gear available mostly on local sources. People collect serious vintage high-end gear and this is mostly import from Japan, Europe or USA. All the stuff imported in the past 15 years, before 2004 it was impossible, not only because of the payment methods (paypal was unavailable in Russia), but also because of the internet. In the Soviet days it was simply impossible, you can’t imagine how rare was VCR all the way til the 90’s, you could have it only if your father is a diplomat or a big boss in communist party (or some criminal), especially in the mid 80’s. Basic hi-fi import appeared on the market (for everyone) in the early 90’s after the crash of the USSR, but it was overpriced stuff like VCR, TV, double cassette decks, boomboxes etc.
DIY scene now is huge too, not everyone can afford import, for this reason secondhand audio gear is very popular.
On the other hand we have so many High-End shops and distributors of all the modern high-end stuff for insane prices, but this is for another category of people (they don’t count money).
P.S. I think most of the local dealers on ebay are honest, they know their stuff and you can’t cheat people on ebay with paypal payments (it’s simply impossible). The problem is idiots and they are everywere (wolrdwide), last year a dealer from France tried to rip me off for neatly 2500 EUR, but paypal penetrated him very well and refund my money within a month, it wasn't ebay deal, but paypla always protect buyers from scammers.