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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/31/2023 in all areas

  1. In the recent issue of Downbeat magazine.
    1 point
  2. just a thought on this..., (Take it as free advice, worth nothing, and feel free to ignore it...) Anything on Ebay, is going to be suspect. Ebay sellers can say anything, and Ebay is "buyer beware." Ebay is great to find an amp with a solid core, good or better cosmetics, etc. However, a seller can say anything..., like "performs okay" or can say "tested", or "powers up"..., or, "tested by powering up" or my favorite, "worked fine when I last used it..." (not finishing that sentence that it was over 20 years ago it was put in a storage locker! 😉 Unless a seller can give provenance to who, when, and what was done to recently (last 5 years or so) refresh the amp, any core amp 30+ years old is going to likely need to be refreshed/restored. There are "consumable" components in vintage amplifiers that degrade over time. The quality of the sound produced if things like the 30-year-old capacitors are not replaced, or service bulletins are not applied, is going to be less than what the amp is capable of producing. Simply stated, the quality of capacitors produced 30 years ago is much lower than those available (and installed by the top two authorized servicers) today. And many amps never had post-production service bulletins applied, making them less valuable. Occasionally, an amp comes up on Ebay that the seller says was rebuilt by HiTech Audio, or Nelion..., but if they don't also show in the pictures a copy of the service invoice, or sticker, or something, that proves what was serviced, and when that work was done, you should take that into consideration. anyone can say anything in an Ebay listing. Just my opinion, but want to throw it out there, so you are not disappointed. And, to be clear, I'm sharing this from experience. I have bought (and overpaid) more than one pretty poor specimens on Ebay, and Greg @Nahash5150 at Nelion slogged through what I purchased and restored it sonically - I dealt with the poor cosmetics, myself. For me, when I pick up a component, I assume nothing has been done. And the amount that I am willing to pay for that component is adjusted accordingly... (And, as well, LOTS of other factors go into what I will pay, including budget, rarity, availability, distance to ship, and so on...) BUT, I always go into an amp, considering the added cost that I'll send it out for refreshing and internal electronics restoration. No matter how good an ebay seller says the amp sounds, if it's been untouched, even if it has been sitting on a shelf new in original box, it's going to have aging components or other reasons to have it looked at. And you should bear that in mind. Look at it like this..., If you were buying a vintage automobile, and came across a barn find that had never been driven since it was manufactured, sat covered in a garage for 30 or 40 years..., wouldn't you change the oil, and have a mechanic look at it before taking it out on a road trip?
    1 point
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