What's that? Rotel?

So the final piece of equipment from the trip to the 23rd/MacArthur thrift store is one of my prized posssesions, a mint condition Rotel RC-972 preamp. I've wanted a higher end preamp for some time but they were few and far between, not to mention the fact that they're outlandishly priced. This coupled with the fact that I'm always broke, and don't really want to spend any more than is necessary...this not being a necessary item and all.

Anyways what excited me the most about it was the $5.98 scribble across the top in red wax pen. Rotel... six dollars.... wait what? That's akin to my Cadillac having a sticker price of $1000. A quick google shows this as an almost $900 unit.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/preamplifiers/rotel/rc-972/PRD_118380_1591crx.aspx

How does it sound? Great. It's neutral. I turn all tone controls off on it. I like that its remote controlled (I still have to find one...). It replaced my NAD preamp and I haven't looked back. I could probably flip it for $400 or so, but I've always wanted something of this caliber, and I probably will keep it until I find something better, like a McIntosh or something.

Currently this is attached to my NAD214 amplifier and B&W DM2000's. Awesome :)

Ratings:

Price: $6
Status: Keeper
Condition: 4.50Stars
Cost: 1 Star
Flippable: 4.5 Stars
Potential Income: 5 Stars

MMM Yam..Yama...Yamaha

So yesterday I posted the nice MK VX-7 sub I found at the Community Thrift on 23rd and Macarthur. Well some other things came with that package. The main thing that drew me there (and prompted Nolan to call me) was this huge stack of Yamaha equipment. There was an awesome amp, the MX-830 along with an Equalizer EQ-630, dual tape deck KX-W602, and 5 disc CD changer CDC-815. I drove there nervously, Nolan warned that if I did not show up on time a horde of Mexican thrifters (its right next to the Mexican discoteca) would swarm my prize. I plugged them in quickly and tested, all working. I packed them up and took them home. Hooked them up and wow, this stuff is great! The EQ has awesome bars, but is ultimately useless to me since I don't like tone controls on my 2-channel rig. The amp is powerful, but I don't need it. I test it and list it. It sold a week later. The rest of it works great and has great sound. The tape player had a dent in the top that i popped out and reassembled.

The rest of it now sits in the closet. I will probably integrate these into the hidden audio rack thats behind the wall in the living room, since it all matches.

A great find at a great price. Still not the best of this particular bunch, but pretty damn close. The amp alone paid for the whole setup and then some.

Ratings:

Price: $60
Status: Partially flipped
Condition: 4.00 Stars
Cost: 1 Star
Flippable: 5 Stars
Potential Income: 5 Stars

Some rumble bumble

So I get a call one day back in September or August from Nolan, one of my partners in crime for thrifting. Well I'm sitting at work while he and his friend Philip are out doing their own thrifting. They find this awesome Rotel Preamp and Yamaha setup, so I tell them to hold it while I run over from work. Upon arriving I notice this little gem sitting on the floor with the grille on. It just looked like some cheap $20 subwoofer until I took the grille offf and googled the model. MK VX-7. It's a 50 watt 8" powered subwoofer with some very nice looking gold RCA plugs. It's missing the fuse holder cap but I figure it's an easy fix. I wheel this and all the other stuff with me out. Nolan takes this gem home for a month and does nothing with it!

Well a month passes and I ask for it back so I can work on it. Of course it doesn't power on. I search high and low for a fuse holder to no avail. I even purchase a replacement holder with cap. The old one is very well attached so I decide to open up the plate amp, and install the new fuse holder in place of the old one, but I did not affix it to the outside plate as it was not an easy removal. I put the appropriate fuse in and powered it on. It works! This thing moves a ridiculous amount of air. There's an odd whistling however, coming from the original fuse holder. I've got nothing to put on it so I fill the hole with liquid nails, and put another fuse in it to fill the void. Problem solved.

I plug this into my 2 channel system with my B&W DM2000 towers and let it rip. It's being fed a secondary RCA preout from my Rotel RC-972 preamp. The bass is tight and powerful. It certainly feels and sounds more than 50 watts. What a great find. Retail on this thing is somewhere in the $599 neighborhood, but MK is no longer in business. Still, for $5.98 this was one of the best finds to date. I have yet to decide whether I'm keeping it or not.

Ratings:

Price: $6
Status: Undecided
Condition: 3.75 Stars
Cost: 1 Star
Flippable: 5 Stars
Potential Income: 5 Stars

Another Klipsch find!!

So I get bored a little bit in early Thanksgiving and head over to the Unique Thrift over on NW 23rd and Meridian. I'd only been here once before, but luck usually plays out better when you only frequent them seldom (yes I understand that was oxymoronic).

I walk in and see nothing, there's some old PS1s that don't have analog outputs soldered on (something I'd been looking for, for about a year now). I walk up and down the electronics aisles. There are old DVD players, about five tape players, and other useless junk. My eye did notice a medium sized USPS shipping carton that was open, but I had no idea what was in it. I pick it up off the top shelf and peer inside. My, a pair of Klipsch Quintet II's. I pull them each out, pull off the grilles (which are in great condition). Their wax pen markings say "5pc set 39.96". Wait a minute, a $499 set of speakers for 90% off? Sold. I'm not even checking them out any more than this. I walk to the front and pay for them. The kind lady behind the counter tries to see if they're classified as "furniture" to get me 50% off. Shoot I don't care, but 50% is even better. No go on that, but I get them anyways. She mentions someone else came in the previous night and eyed them but thought it was too expensive. Idiot.

I take them home and hook each one up individually. All of them work. The stands are floppy, but a quick twist of a small hex wrench solves that. After that they were put back in that USPS box for four months until I traded them for an EIKI projector and extra bulb. The projector alone is about $500, and the bulb about $300. Not a bad trade I tell you what.

No use for them so they were flipped.

Ratings:

Price: $40
Status: Flipped!
Condition: 4.55 Stars
Cost: 1 Star
Flippable: 5 Stars
Potential Income: 5 Stars