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melv16 | 10:21 Mon 15th May 2017 | Music
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Are there any experts on the above.
There's a sale at my local auction house and I was wondering on which ones to bid on.
I'll put a link up if I get any response.
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wont it depend on what you want out of your hifi?
What is on offer melv ? I have a Mission Cyrus system at home, which is now about 25 years old, and its still sounds wonderful.

Very cheap second-hand on ebay as well.
some words of wisdom from Michael Flanders.....

Who made this circuit up for you anyway?
You bought it in a shop?!
Ooh what a horrible shoddy job they fobbed you off with
Surprised they let you have it in this room anyway
the acoustics are all wrong
If you raise the ceiling four feet
Put the fireplace from that wall to that wall
You'll still only get the sterophonic effect if you sit at the bottom of that cupboard
I see you've got your negative feedback coupled in with you push-pull input/output
Take that across through ya red-in pick-up to ya tweeter
If you're modding more than 8
You're gonna get 'wow' on ya top
Try to bring that down through your preamp rumble filter through ya woofer
What'll ya get?
Flutter on ya bottom
"Hi-fi" can mean different things to different people....systems that cost thousands, ones that cost hundreds and even one-piece units costing less than £100.
Last summer. I visited somebody who had a Audio Research set-up. It was easily the most impressive Hi-fi system that I have ever heard !

http://www.audioresearch.com/en-us/products
Where's this link then?
I'm not particularly knowledgeable about hi-fi units but Ido know quite a bit about buying electrical items at auction, so I'll throw in my tuppence-worth here anyway:

See if you can find out where the hi-fi units have come from. My favourite auction house is happy to tell potential buyers whether items have come from house clearances or have been entered into the sale differently. (Not all auctioneers will provide that information though). With things like hi-fis they'll most usually be in full working order if they've come from a house clearance (unless the grime on them shows that they've actually been stored in a shed or garage). If someone else has entered a hi-fi unit into a sale though it could well be because (for example) the CD player sometimes skips. (Remember that the electrical safety 'pass' sticker on an item only means that it won't kill you; it doesn't mean that the thing actually works!)

Most auction rooms add on a buyer's premium (typically 15%), with VAT to be paid on that as well. (You normally only pay VAT on the buyer's premium but if an auctioneer is selling NEW items, perhaps from a sale of bankrupt stock, there can be VAT to pay on the price of the item as well). So, for example, if you bid £50 for an item it will actually cost you an extra £7.50 (buyer's premium) + £1.50 (VAT on that premium), making a total of £59 to pay. [My favourite auction house is one of the few left which refuses to charge a buyer's premium, which is probably why so many people go to their sales].

For specific advice on hi-fis, you'll need to make it clear whether you're seeking hi-fi separates to fill a large room with sound or, say, a micro-system solely to listen to music via headphones.
My favourite kind of thread.
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http://sheffieldauctiongallery.com/Catalogues/2017/gs190517/page003.html
Thanks for your replies.
Lot 116. Hope the link works.
If I were at home I may have popped through and outbid you.
As I wrote before, I'm not a hi-fi expert but I do know about buying such items at auction and I've also done a bit of googling (to find out the specs of those units and to check eBay prices). So, for what it's worth, here's my input:

The amplifier and tuner are both mid-80s vintage, so they're getting on a bit. However at 2 x 65W RMS the amp has enough power for anyone's domestic needs. (Indeed, it's good enough for a small hall).

The tuner obviously doesn't have DAB (which, particularly with the planned switch-off of FM radio services, isn't great) but it should be of good quality.

The cassette deck will obviously be of around the same vintage as those two items as well. (Old cassette decks can be OK but they generally exhibit signs of wear of the tape heads).

The CD player is obviously more recent and should be a good'un as long as it doesn't skip (as many older CD players tend to).

Any record deck from B&O is bound to be of highest quality (as long as the cartridge is OK - they're not cheap to replace!).

There are no speakers included, so you'd need to source those separately. (Charity shops can be an excellent source of good speakers but make sure that you get a pair which can handle 65W per channel).

If the lot goes at the lower end of the auctioneer's estimate, you'd be getting the collection at under half of the aggregate price you'd have to pay on eBay but, unlike eBay, you can't get your money back if the items don't work properly.

You need to remember as well that the auction room charges a whopping 18% buyer's premium but the VAT on that means that you actually pay 21.6% above what you bid. (So a successful £50 bid would really cost you £60.80).

If you want to be able to play vinyl, and you've already got decent speakers (or you can source them cheaply) lot 116 might be worth bidding for. If you don't want to play vinyl, lot 117 might be a better buy, especially if you can get hold of a cheapish CD unit from eBay or a charity shop.

To be honest, I'd be a bit wary of buying stuff that I don't know works as well as it should. I'd prefer to look out for suitable hi-fi separates in the British Heart Foundation stores which specialise in furniture and electrical goods. They're usually reasonably priced and, importantly, sold with a guarantee. (Your local store is on Arundel Gate).

So how much of a risk are you prepared to take?
Question Author
Thanks for your replies. In for a penny in for a pound, Chris. I'll give it a course of looking at on Thursday, ask some questions and if I like it I'll make a bid on it.
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It went for £150-00 + commission. Bidders were interested in the B&O record deck.
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Someone paid £1,500 for a turntable!
Lot 174

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