Was I too harsh

[wiicrackpot]

Saw an ad for a modded Yamaha A-S500 amp that looked tasty, fired of an email to say he was way overboard with his pricing,
and that value of modded items drops like a stone, besides he won't realise any of the outlay for the mod components when it comes to re-sale,
finished with only to reply to my mail if he would accept £100.00, what do you guys think. :scratch:

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/upgraded-yamaha-a-s500-with-dual-triode-valves-and-elna-silmic-ii-capacitors/109688964

[YNWaN]

In that case, I doubt you will receive a reply.

[synsei]

A tad harsh methinks, I'll be surprised if you get a reply Andy. Mind you, it'll be a bit of a bargain if he accepts your offer :)

[wiicrackpot]

In that case, I doubt you will receive a reply.


A tad harsh methinks, I'll be surprised if you get a reply Tim. Mind you, it'll be a bit of a bargain if he accepts your offer :)
Ah well, seems unanimous then i'll jog on, but it does look interesting though, anyway i've got enough to play with and not a must have item.

[YNWaN]

Well, you are asking him to accept nearly a quarter of what he wants - that he will do so seems highly unlikely given his recent expenditure on the mods. I doubt that he will agree with you regarding the value of the mods as he has recently paid someone to make them for him.

To be honest, the modifications are the interesting thing about this amp because, as standard, (despite the What HiFi accolades) it is definitely in the 'nothing special' camp.

[wiicrackpot]

To be honest, the modifications are the interesting thing about this amp because, as standard, (despite the What HiFi accolades) it is definitely in the 'nothing special' camp.
Absolutely agree with everything you said above Mark, especially the quoted part ^^, thats why i am in the point of view if you want to mod anything,
make sure you start with something with good foundation or to revive good vintage gear to it's former glory,
to buy a circa £300.00 amp and give it £330.00 worth of upgrades is mad.

[sq225917]

Gotta love a try'er. To be honest you've got no chance.

The price of modded gear depends on the mods and modder. Well known mods adds value to gear. To assume all mods devalue kit is just plain stupid as it assumes your value judgements are shared by everyone else.

[Stratmangler]

I'll be surprised if you get a reply Tim

Tim? :scratch:

[wiicrackpot]

Gotta love a try'er. To be honest you've got no chance.

The price of modded gear depends on the mods and modder. Well known mods adds value to gear. To assume all mods devalue kit is just plai. Stupid as it assumes your value judgements are shared by everyone else.
Well Simon, i needed something to batter it down, my offer was way beyond lowball, agree with your modder covenance, maybe i should've worded it better,
it's more like a ankle kicker offer and i wouldn't have the cheek to turn up to pick up if he had posted back and said ''yeah when do you wanna pick up'',
i value my haw maws too much. :D


Tim? :scratch:
Chris, i know who Dave meant.

[Stratmangler]

Chris, i know who Dave meant.

I gave up on mind reading long ago :D

[wiicrackpot]

I gave up on mind reading long ago :D
Well i am Gypsy Andy and appearing at a fairground near you. ;):D

[Stratmangler]

Well i am Gypsy Andy and appearing at a fairground near you. ;):D

I'm heading North of the border next week for a weeks R&R - how did you know you'd be near me (or at least nearer)? :eek: :D

[wiicrackpot]

Blame Frank and Roberta Sparrow......oh keep looking over your shoulders my friend. ;):lol:

[jandl100]

Interesting mods on the amp - I had a Ten Audio modded Marantz cdp, and it was a stunning music machine, so I think they do good stuff.

£380 does seem a bit steep - but offering £100 is defo cheeky! :lol:

[synsei]

Tim? :scratch:

Fixed :eyebrows: Blonde moment :doh:

[wiicrackpot]

Interesting mods on the amp - I had a Ten Audio modded Marantz cdp, and it was a stunning music machine, so I think they do good stuff.

£380 does seem a bit steep - but offering £100 is defo cheeky! :lol:
S'pose it was Jerry, i feel bad about wasting the guys time,
i just wanted him to know it was over priced, ah well nobody died.

Googled Ten Audio but couldn't see anything on the mods they offer.

[wiicrackpot]

Maybe i was hoping for a deal like i got a month ago, spotted a pair of speakers for sale at £50.00, from mobile phto looked suspiciously like Kef T52,B110 and B200 so fired of a email to the seller to say if it was still for sale and that i was only able to answer his reply when i finish work at 7pm, came home to find reply if i was interested i was to hurry up as his mail was going bananas, i said i wasn't too bothered if he wanted to sell to others but he said it's mines as i was 1st on the scene.

kept it quiet incase anyone on here was onto them, turned out to be Spendor SP100 clones and all 40kg each,:eek: seems 12''inch driver was used at some point but changed to B200.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9808/dscf2953x.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/145/dscf2953x.jpg/)
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2140/dscf2955t.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/dscf2955t.jpg/)
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/846/dscf2957d.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/221/dscf2957d.jpg/)

[istari_knight]

Cant see any point in the "mods" myself :scratch:

They have replaced perfectly good 2 year old caps with audiophool equivalents.... waste of time IMO. The tube circuit looks to be a buffer between the pre/power sections, again pointless considering the preamp uses opamps... You could get exactly the same change in sonic character by putting cheap electrolytics in the signal path.

If it were me I would have changed the rectifier diodes for schottkys (+decoupling caps), add film bypass caps to the main filter electros, change the dc blocking input electro caps for films & fit DIP8 sockets for some opamp rolling.... That lot would have cost about £30 max & would make a larger improvement than what has been done.

Your offer of £100 isnt too far off... Wouldnt pay more than £150 for it myself :)

[wiicrackpot]

Cant see any point in the "mods" myself :scratch:

They have replaced perfectly good 2 year old caps with audiophool equivalents.... waste of time IMO. The tube circuit looks to be a buffer between the pre/power sections, again pointless considering the preamp uses opamps... You could get exactly the same change in sonic character by putting cheap electrolytics in the signal path.

If it were me I would have changed the rectifier diodes for schottkys (+decoupling caps), add film bypass caps to the main filter electros, change the dc blocking input electro caps for films & fit DIP8 sockets for some opamp rolling.... That lot would have cost about £30 max & would make a larger improvement than what has been done.

Your offer of £100 isnt too far off... Wouldnt pay more than £150 for it myself :)
James, that was what i initially offered but i downgraded it to £100.00 at the last minute.

I am impressed at your identifying all the foo parts just by looking at it. :cool:

[istari_knight]

Even then I reckon you could do better for £100 ! .... I've wasted far too much time messing around inside different amps you get to learn what needs improving for the biggest return (sound wise) If the power supply stinks, the amp stinks..... And theres alot of stinkers out there !

[maz]

Seen this one myself Andy but thought it was a bit steep!

There's a chap in Dennistoun selling some Mordaunt Short Pageant 2's at the moment, says he will take £45 but I'm gonna give it a miss :)

[Reid Malenfant]

There's a chap in Dennistoun selling some Mordaunt Short Pageant 2's at the moment, says he will take £45 but I'm gonna give it a miss :)
For £45 they'll blow you away :eyebrows:

I know as I own a pair ;)

[maz]

For £45 they'll blow you away :eyebrows:

I know as I own a pair ;)

You reckon? I might try em out then :)

[wiicrackpot]

Seen this one myself Andy but thought it was a bit steep!

There's a chap in Dennistoun selling some Mordaunt Short Pageant 2's at the moment, says he will take £45 but I'm gonna give it a miss :)


You reckon? I might try em out then :)
Martyn, i saw that ad for MS Pageant 2's and i can walk to Dennistoun is 5 minutes, as you'll have gathered i am tripping over speakers here, :lol:
go on fill your boots and buy them.

P.S. did you notice the pair i bought from the post above?.

[wiicrackpot]

For £45 they'll blow you away :eyebrows:

I know as I own a pair ;)
Mark, there's seems to be a host of cracking speakers appearing in Gumtree Glasgow lately,the week after i got my mega deal,
there was a absolute belter of a pair of IMF Professional Monitors MK4 going for £180.00, needless to say i saw it 1st and spoke to the old guy selling it,
hummed and hawed over it but i was awfully glad when he contacted me the next day someone had come along after me and bought them ,
kid you not if i hadn't bought that pair a week before, they would be mine, as it stands i am happy as a pig in shit with mine's at the end of my wee Nait2. :)

[walpurgis]

You reckon? I might try em out then :)

Definitely go for it. They were one of the best compact speakers of their time and still good by modern standards. I've owned them!

[wiicrackpot]

Geoff,

Been keeping track on your speaker wadding thread as i want to upgrade the stuffing inside my recent purchase,
the builder has stuffed it to the hilt with broken pieces of foam from an old settee i think,
i've pulled some out so far but gonna empty it and line the inside with soundproof felt and use a single sheet of foam to break up standing waves,
it's infinite baffle so thank you for the thread. :)

[southall-1998]

A good budget speaker are the JPW P1s. Very musical speakers with a good sound.

[maz]

Martyn, i saw that ad for MS Pageant 2's and i can walk to Dennistoun is 5 minutes, as you'll have gathered i am tripping over speakers here, :lol:
go on fill your boots and buy them.

P.S. did you notice the pair i bought from the post above?.

Yea nice find!

Glasgow Gumtree's had a few little gems in the past few months. I've always just been too skint at the wrong time though!

My plan was to buy my first budget valve amp next month so the Pageant 2's might be ideal for it to start off.

[Lodgesound]

With reference to the OP.........the price of "retro" equipment at the moment is through the roof due largely to folk jumping on a bandwagon which is thankfully unsustainable even in the short term.

This is not to say that some vintage equipment is not worth considerable sums of money - on the contrary in fact. It's just that the genuinely desirable equipment is hard to find now and having it's actual real value (albeit deservedly high) multiplied by a factor of 10 by greedy dealers.

I personally think that your offer was entirely realistic and more importantly what the item was worth to you.

Standing one's ground in these situations can very often pay off.

[wiicrackpot]

Yeah but nearly broke my back carrying the beasts up the stairs, i didnae need any more speakers but the drivers along are worth 3 times more at least than what he was asking for the set, no brainer.

Yes, snap up that pair of pageants. :)

[wiicrackpot]

With reference to the OP.........the price of "retro" equipment at the moment is through the roof due largely to folk jumping on a bandwagon which is thankfully unsustainable even in the short term.

This is not to say that some vintage equipment is not worth considerable sums of money - on the contrary in fact. It's just that the genuinely desirable equipment is hard to find now and having it's actual real value (albeit deservedly high) multiplied by a factor of 10 by greedy dealers.

I personally think that your offer was entirely realistic and more importantly what the item was worth to you.

Standing one's ground in these situations can very often pay off.
Thanks Stewart, don't think i'll get a reply anytime soon though. :)

[wiicrackpot]

My plan was to buy my first budget valve amp next month so the Pageant 2's might be ideal for it to start off.
Martyn, i don't know what your budget is for your 1st valve amp, there's a chap called Chops54 who was selling a couple of AVC EL34 integrated's,
was selling at a keen price and this amp is a good place to start, he posts on the PFM and crossovernetwork.

[maz]

Martyn, i don't know what your budget is for your 1st valve amp, there's a chap called Chops54 who was selling a couple of AVC EL34 integrated's,
was selling at a keen price and this amp is a good place to start, he posts on the PFM and crossovernetwork.

Just had a look Andy, cheers. Decent prices indeed.

Budget for future valve will be about 200-300. I know it's not much but I do like to try and get great sound on a budget :P Thanks for the heads up!

[southall-1998]

Just had a look Andy, cheers. Decent prices indeed.

Budget for future valve will be about 200-300. I know it's not much but I do like to try and get great sound on a budget :P Thanks for the heads up!


If you can stretch more, try either an Audio Innovations 500, or Leak Stereo 20.
Both are great amps and sell on very easily.

[walpurgis]

Geoff,

Been keeping track on your speaker wadding thread as i want to upgrade the stuffing inside my recent purchase,
the builder has stuffed it to the hilt with broken pieces of foam from an old settee i think,
i've pulled some out so far but gonna empty it and line the inside with soundproof felt and use a single sheet of foam to break up standing waves,
it's infinite baffle so thank you for the thread. :)

The type of damping required depends rather a lot on what type of cabinet you have.

Simple methods are:

Sealed boxes, walls lined with foam and the remaining space filled with loose fibre, BAF, wool etc.

Reflex cabs, again line the walls, but just ball some loose fibre at the opposite end to the port, you can use a sheet of foam diagonally down the cabinet to damp standing waves though, but keep it away from the port.

Transmission lines, foam just on the walls around and behind the bass driver, rest of line filled with loose fibre.

Horns, many do need a bit of damping here and there despite the trend otherwise.

This is just a simple summary of basics, but there are many more elaborate options.

If you line walls with foam use spray adhesive to bond it to the walls, it then helps damp wall resonances.

[wiicrackpot]

Just had a look Andy, cheers. Decent prices indeed.

Budget for future valve will be about 200-300. I know it's not much but I do like to try and get great sound on a budget :P Thanks for the heads up!
Good starting price point, Chops54 was offering his fully checked and biased and also service back up and bang on budget, Daytona600 is selling a Dared,
i am sure he would let you hear it and decide, one that doesn't get mentioned around here is the WAD KEL84,
my 1st valve i tried and i set my limit to £300.00, got mine's for £250.00 with some upgraded Blackgates,Wima's,shunt mod and cracking sounding,
keep your eyes peeled, something will pop up least expected.



Sealed boxes, walls lined with foam and the remaining space filled with loose fibre, BAF, wool etc.
Yes, staple gun at the ready just waiting for my felt to arrive to line the walls, got some wadding 15mm already from craft shop,
will tease it out a bit and eveything is good to go, we'll see what it sounds like, cabs are braced and proper jobs,
i was surprised when i loosened the B200 to find big chunks of broken up foam jammed up tight to the bass basket/magnet assembly.

[walpurgis]

Andy,

Depending on the type of wadding you use, it can sometimes pay to put fine mesh around the back of the main driver backet/chassis to prevent the wadding touching the cone. Its a method some manufacturers use.

Also, I'd be inclined to use spray adhesive rather than staples to lag the cabinet walls. This gives a more uniform overall surface contact between the lagging and the walls, improving damping.

[wiicrackpot]

Andy,

Depending on the type of wadding you use, it can sometimes pay to put fine mesh around the back of the main driver backet/chassis to prevent the wadding touching the cone. Its a method some manufacturers use.

Also, I'd be inclined to use spray adhesive rather than staples to lag the cabinet walls. This gives a more uniform overall surface contact between the lagging and the walls, improving damping.
Geoff,

I just bought a 2 metre piece of synthetic wadding and plan to tease and place it inside loosely, plenty to experiment with,:)
by fine mesh do you mean the ARU method that Goodmans employed back in the day?.

Funny you said spray adhesive, i've had a pokey of the insides of my Wharfedale W3 and Goodmans LS3/5a metal baffle items (mr Briggs knows a thing or two);),
and it conforms to what you said and noted on my findings, heavy long haired wool stuck to all sides with PVA glue,
i just thought staples was cleaner and easier to remove if the stuff i bought is pants.

[walpurgis]

No, I meant use something like a pair of tights or the kind of mesh bag you get fruit in just to prevent wadding touching the back of the cone.

The Goodmans ARU (Acoustic Resistance Unit, if I recall) was a porous panel that was used in place of a bass reflex port. Celef (later Proac) had a similar idea years ago with the port packed with drinking straws.

[wiicrackpot]

Geoff,

Thanks for clarifying, yes i do intend to cut excess so when i place it inside the cab,
it will be forced into a shallow concave shape (away from from drive unit) and contact with sidewall felt will hold it in place,
so no contact with driver envisaged. :)