It was a good day at the thrift shop


I was out running errands with my 20-yr-old stepson, whose quiet persistence got me back into vinyl after a 25-year hiatus. He spotted a large thrift shop. We turned around and stopped in. He didn't find anything he wanted--there was no Alice Cooper, and I'd already bought him a sealed reissue of In-a-gadda-davida. I with the eclectic tastes, however, came away with 10 gems. All were in like-new condition at 49 cents each, including:

-- An RCA shaded dog (mono) Van Cliburn Tchaikowsky piano concerto (reissued as 3-channel SACD, which I also have)
-- Manhattan Transfer's self-title debut album which includes Tuxedo Junction and Java Jive. Superbly performed and recorded on Atlantic in 1975
-- Musical Heritage Society of two Bach violin double concertos
-- Everest (not 35 mm) very nice London Symphony recording of Handel Water Music and Royal Fireworks music
-- Mercury Living Presence recording of Rossini overtures
-- Phoebe Snow's 3rd album "Looks Like Snow"
-- Michael Ponti recordings of Scriabin, one side a concerto with full orchestra, the other side solo sonatas
-- Bernstein & New York Phil on Columbia Masterworks of two Haydn symphonies, The Bear and The Hen
-- A real icon of the '70s: Richard Harris reading Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" with musical accompaniment on Atlantic at the height of their recording and mastering art (my wife is a HUGE Harris fan)
-- Steve Winwood, "Back in the High Life," his last recording (1986) for Island, his original label. Would make a great demo disk of how LP sounds better (even in transients and dynamics) than CD

What treasures have found you lately?
johnnyb53
I bought a nice pair of Klipsch Cornwalls for $130 at a local pawnhop and the salesman paid the tax.
Housing Works Thrift Stores in NYC is affiliated with Gay Men's Health Crisis and has about 10 stores in Manhattan. The quantity and quality of donations is amazing and their stores are well designed with a boutique look. Alot of donations are from stores that donate inventory from last season. In addition to great audio equipment, I've picked up new (never fitted-hemmed) Armani, Hugo Boss, Vestimenta suits for 65-70.00. You never know what they will have, but it is not junk. They have auctions and you can shop/bid on-line

http://www.housingworksauctions.com/program/stores.cfm
Huey Lewis-sports 50 cents-perfect
Cars-greatest hits 1$-perfect
Heart-Heart 1$-perfect
Jackie Lomax 1$-sealed
Rolling Stones-Hot Rocks-1$-NM

That was a good day!
Johhny- Sorry I haven't answered for a while. I haven't been able to try it as a pre amp yet as I have no amps. Mostly integrateds and receivers. The decent used store I used to shop at got robbed and the guy now just works out of his house. But soon I hope. Dan