Your best Audio Deal?

Well, my current set up isn't a typical "best audio deal", but I think that it would qualify based on value for the money spent.

Mains: B&W CDM1-SEs, purchased from a partner for $600 in immaculate shape.

Receiver: Sunfire Ultimate Receiver, retail is $4599, purchased for $3000 (no tax) shipped, then burned out by Comcast during installation (hot plugged). The receiver is still under warranty for another 4 months, but I'm not sure if it will be considered covered since it's improper use. I offer them a deal to pay for shipping ($45) or shipping plus repair ($45 + $265), whichever it ends up. It turns out Comcast figures it's easier to just pay the cost of the item and move on. I end up sending it back. Final cost of Sunfire Ultimate: $45.

Sub: Sunfire TrueSub Signature, retail $2299, paid $1100 (again no tax) shipped.

Surrounds/Center: I'm still working on upgrades, so I'm using Cambridge Sound Works Towers (retail $1599, purchased for $1199), Center Stage ($399, purchased at $299) and The Surround (S) ($399, purchased for $299).

Display: Sony Grand Wega, retailed $8500 that first year, purchased for $4000 at One CALL FOR $4000 SHIPPED,

Some decent deals all around, but I'd have to go with the $45 Sunfire Ultimate Receiver. LOL

My best deal was on my Pio 1014

I got it as an open box closeout from Best Buy. The retail was around $500, since it was an open box and closeout it was marked down to $300, then I had a 25% off coupon which brought it to $225. I then had $100 worth of gift certificates, so I am now down to $125.

I then sold an old Pioneer 512 for $100 (I had bought it a year earlier as another open box, closeout for $125).

So that brought the total out of pocket cost of the 1014 down to $25.

Not bad, if I do say so myself.

So far mine has been the Point5 system for $95 nib incuding shipping.

Somebody got an awesome deal the day I bought my Def Tech sub. I put my old Athena sub out with a "free" sign on it.

Open box pair of Athena F2's for $284.

Bought a pari of Mirage M3s which retailed for $2500 for $1500 in 1992.

They had a few dings in shipping.
The owner store sold them to me for cost andd he kept the insurance money.

I got some pretty good deals on speakers on the used market...

Kef Ref 2s in Rosetta Burr(perfect condition) for $700 from Audiogon(retail $2800)

Wharfedale Evo 30s for $399 from ebay

Brand new Aurum Cantus AC-782s(William Schaeffer design) in beautiful rosewood for $740 from ebay(retail $1499) ...so far the best sounding speakers I've owned to date! I'm now sold on ribbon tweeters!!

Open box pair of Athena F1's for $96 incl tax. Probably my best audio purchase ever!

Free used 80's Tannoy HPD-315 speakers from local TV station; used as monitors - very nice speakers IMO, and apparently the used drivers sell for around $1k on ebay. I don't intend on parting with them anytime soon though.

Well I guess I'll chime in here.
I wanted to get some speakers for a second surround sound system in my living room. So while browsing on fLeabay I found a company with a bunch open box/ close out deals on some JBL E30s. They had a total of about 20-25 different auctions. Bought one pair for a surprised low "best offer" that they accepted. $75 shipped for a pair. The speakers came and one was damaged in shipping, a busted edge on the outside cabinet, the other speaker looked good. So I call them and cry DAMAGED! So they say send pictures and I do. Of course I tried making the pics look as BAD as possible. Then they say ok, we have a NEW pair we'll send you. "ok?", I said. Waiting to see if they'd make me pay to send the others back. They NEVER said a thing about sending them back. The new ones came in perfect condition... new. Then I did get another single speaker in great condition for I think $35 shipped.
So to sum up, that's five E30s for a grand total of $110. RETAIL VALUE = $700
My wife asked me, "Where the hell did you get so much extra money to buy all those speakers?" When I told her how much they cost, she said "Oh, ok, but aren't they a little too big for the living room?" Pfffftt, wives...

These transactions were on NEW gear (getting a deal on used isn't a "deal," it's depreciation):

1 Pair B&W CDM 1NT's; $600...retail $1,200

1 Pair Von Schweikert VR-1's; $650...retail $1,000 (at the time, now $1,200)

Cambridge Audio 540c & 540a; $500...retail $800

1 pair Mission 780a's; $900...retail $1,999

I traded 4 first class round trip tickets from Los Angeles to Sydney Australia for a brand new 61" Pioneer Elite Plasma that retails for over 10 grand. I fly for one of the majors and get free passes...Good deal for me!

My JBLs weren't used, they were open box items, absolutely flawless. The only thing wrong with one was the shipping damage, which I will gladly keep since it's minor damage thats easily fixable. The only thing depreciated was the price.

Lets see. Just about everything I buy in audio is some type of deal.

Cadence XSUB - $189 with free shipping (new). Grill slightly nicked, they sent a new grill (kept the old one). Amp had a slight hum, they sent me a new one (still have the old one). That amp developed a slight hum, they sent a new one (still have the old one)... I need to build myself a few DIY subs with these extra 250W amps!

Design Acoustic 10" subwoofer - given to me. Old school passive sub with level inputs. Weighs a ton and sounds very good - very efficient.

Syntax LT37HVS LCD. Retail $1475 last October. With three rebates, paid $875 including tax at Microcenter.

Sony STR DE 925 110x5 receiver. Top of the line Sony surround receiver back in the early part of the 90's - won a sales contest at work and got the unit for free. Not a bad entry level unit (until I bought the Denon).

Denon 3805 bought 4 months after it came out over 2 years ago off Ubid for $730. Couldn't find it anywhere else for less than $1100. B stock, arrived in like new condition. Got the old black remote. Called Denon, they swapped it for the new silver remote.

Sansui 4 way floor speakers with 12" woofer. Old school. Given to me. Gave them to a buddies mom, she loves them. Very heavy.

Polk floor models from Circuit City.
RTi10's retail $1140 paid $300 for the pair
CSi5 retail $480 paid $220
FXi3's retail $420 paid $150
RTi4's retail $320 paid $150

The grill and one panel was nicked on the RTi10's. Called Polk, they sent me a new grill and panel for $25 shipped.

I cringe when I think what I spend for cable, internet, cell phone and gasoline. Audio is such a great deal!

A Harman Kardon Citation I, II, IIIx (all tube preamplifier, 60 watt amplifier, tuner set) for $325. It was an amazing setup with my Magneplanars but I sold it a year or so later for nearly triple the price.

you win.









can you get me one?

Used stuff is still a deal if purchased considerably under the "normal" pricing for the model and condition.

For instance, I think many would say I got a deal when I picked up a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's and a Servo 15 for $1K even though they were used.

Got a pair of brand new Energy C-3 of off audiogon for $200 SHIPPED, and a couple of weeks ago i got a PSB Subsonic 5i off of ebay for 147 shipped, pretty much in perfect condition. those are my great stories. Ebay is great for cheap prices..but you have to have the time to wait. I have never figured out how one sub goes for 255 + shipping, and the next exact same one is 125 plus shipping. you just have to be willing to wait for a great deal.

Salk Veracity HT3.. got it for $5400 shipped... beat a pair of Vandy 5A ($15k), JM-Lab Electra 1027 ($7.5k), JM-Lab Micro Utopia ($6k), Legacy Focus ($6.5k), Linkwitz Orion ($7k), all I've listened to. The latest price revision on HT3 will means that someone else now have to pay at least $6700 for the same thing that I got..

What a bargain!

Got my Krell Showcase 7.1 Pre/Pro (black) brand new from an authorized Krell dealer for $2500. Bought a used Krell SACD (black) off Audigon for $2000 but the good deal part was it later needed service from Krell they couldn't fix the problem properly so they replaced it with a brand new updated V5.2 SACD Standard...........

I got a great deal on some Krell gear too. Showcase pre/pro and Showcase amp - 5k for the pair!

Quad ESL63's $425.00...Unfortunately I damaged them by leaving amp on when changing out connectors.

Celestion Sl-700 SE's New with a tiny ding on side rear of one for $400.00

2 Pair of original Infinity Modulus as new $556.00

Too bad the places I found these deals at have disappeared. One was a salvage store that had a deal with UPS on damaged and "lost" stuff.

I bought a set of Infinty IL60's for $600 SHIPPED. That was four years ago when they were in the retail stores for $1500 ea. They were both left speakers but WHO CARES FOR THAT PRICE!

well today i got what i believe to be a pretty good deal. I picked up a pair of PSB Image T45 for $435 (list 750). They were demos with less than a month on them and the store was going out of business. Still has full warranty so I'm pretty happy.

I'm not sure thats a deal. 4 first class round trip tickets to Sydney are worth well over 10 grand - probably retail for more than the TV.

Umm, the tickets were free to him... that he traded for the TV... netting a FREE TV! Fantastic deal, no doubt!

The tickets were buddy passes I haven't paid for an airline ticket anywhere since I started flying for the airlines 23 years ago.

You totally win. It's not even close.