Ridiculous resale price of vintage equiment


The price of used vintage is downright beyond ridiculous nowadays.

It seems like many hispters are buying crap based on the looks and many flippers are happily milking them.

As an audiophile and collector this really pisses me off... sure I could sell my collection for stratospheric numbers but then what would I do with my hobby?

When I see good looking stuff, like an ARC D70 MkII selling for as much as a crappy sounding, unrestored Marantz 2240.. well, I croak. Heck, I gave one of those away because they are not very good.

Today I was comparing my really recently rebuilt ( and I mean, really rebuilt, not just "recapped" ) Marantz 2325 and Sansui G-7500. The Marantz is dark but warm, the Sansui,which sounds a lot better than the Marantz, paints a nice musical landscape but has no real depth, etc... I gave them both the best chance, driving them from the pre-out of my CJ preamp so they are getting an outstanding source... and yet, well, they sound vintage.

Is the Marantz worth $2500? Is the Sansui worth $1500? From an audiophile point of view, nope. They look good, but my DIY Aleph 5 monos, my ARC D70 MkII, and a bunch of my other amps/preamps sound far better... and yet, they are not overpriced.

OK, except for the buffoon in eBay who was asking for $26K for his Pass Aleph 2 amps.

At least the poseurs have not found Quad yet.

What do you think? Are these prices interfering with your hobby?  

esporma

It can tell you 2x4 ain’t 5 which can be helpful .

90% of cut your head off guys would not have a Foundation which was not taxed at 5%. .

Who knew it was a Rockefeller's fault that an old Sansui integrated was worth more today than 5 years ago? 

You think that you are spot on about me with your sarcasm...You are not completely beside the target for sure... 😁😊

And i thank you because your two posts are very good and humorous and witty and SHORT...

But one this is said, yes the impact of the Rockfeller foundation in america education is so huge, that uneducetad mass specialization is one of the cause of audiophile ignorance beside marketing snake oil method...

Then we are BOTH right...

Save i spare my sarcasm when i can do it at the expanse of others....

I am less humble than you are for sure though ... And i say it WITHOUT sarcasm....

Truth matter most than my own post to me though....it is because of that that my posts had some CONTENT over any arguing with or without sarcasm....

i spoke too  much for my own good and i will mute myself now....😁😊

Who knew it was a Rockefeller’s fault that an old Sansui integrated was worth more today than 5 years ago?

 

Wow. Maybe it’s me but I don’t see where the confusion is coming from.

Just like cars , the new ones will be better in every way for less money, and true with many other things. 
Perhaps the confusion is the audiophile folks here think purely in terms of buying something with no emotional involvement and only it’s performance matters? 
I have a very nice main system, all “ new” stuff but also have vintage gear, Marantz  2325- Pioneer 1050- Yamaha 640- JBL L100 - Apt Holman- Adcom etc and love it all and the sound because it brings me back to listening to music when I was young. BTW some of it sounds really good! 
Yes the prices are getting high but have you noticed a BMW 2002 from the 70’s is big money? 
Some buy vintage to get something they wish they had, some to revisit stuff they had and then the hipsters want a look and some rarity. 
They all are enjoying it and isn’t that the point?

The prices can vary widely. I’ve seen at least one shop that specializes in fixing up vintage gear and they sell for a very reasonable price, sometimes a small fraction of what some others similar might ask. Depends on the local economy.