Hav you ever looked at used high end equipment and it looks like someone dragged the unit behind their car on a rope?

[Hart]

I think any equipment that goes to college might be heading into a war zone. I inherited my father's 1965 AR turntable, AR speakers and Eico receiver that was a kit he wired. Someone broke the delicate AR tone arm holder (remember those?). The speaker got knocked over during a party denting it badly. I felt awful as my father kept everything in pristine condition. I don't think I have put a scratch in any equipment since then. You do have to be vigilant at parties though, people will put glasses of spirits right on top of amps, etc. One spill and it can be game over.

 

[Marc v E]

Kids, spouces and other family.

A hifi device doesn't look like it's worth 5000. Therefor it's treated like a box.

The only way to deal with it is to place it in a cupboard, behind a door. Or out of reach. Or make it not rectangular like genelec speakers.

Btw my son hugs my speakers.

 

[Adaboy4z]

I think any equipment that goes to college might be heading into a war zone. I inherited my father's 1965 AR turntable, AR speakers and Eico receiver that was a kit he wired. Someone broke the delicate AR tone arm holder (remember those?). The speaker got knocked over during a party denting it badly. I felt awful as my father kept everything in pristine condition. I don't think I have put a scratch in any equipment since then. You do have to be vigilant at parties though, people will put glasses of spirits right on top of amps, etc. One spill and it can be game over.

Its funny you said that. When I lived in the dorm 29 years ago we had five rooms that made up a suite. All of us had stereo system different brands, levels and we took care of the equipment. One of the guys had some Advent speakers, he would never turn them up because he didn't want to damage the speaker. I'm like that's library volume haha. On the other end Snap had a AIWA boom system with lights like a disco that would shake the whole suite.

 

[Prana Ferox]

I ate it to keep the peace and not create a city wide spectacle. The amp worked fine it was apparently really hot though.

Braver man than I, I make a point not to eat anything that's been in a strip club

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Kids, spouces and other family.

A hifi device doesn't look like it's worth 5000. Therefor it's treated like a box.

The only way to deal with it is to place it in a cupboard, behind a door. Or out of reach. Or make it not rectangular like genelec speakers.

Btw my son hugs my speakers.

Kids, spouces and other family.

A hifi device doesn't look like it's worth 5000. Therefor it's treated like a box.

The only way to deal with it is to place it in a cupboard, behind a door. Or out of reach. Or make it not rectangular like genelec speakers.

Btw my son hugs my speakers.

My three year old Grandson did that, this Christmas. Sounds like they are still working.
Because he first expressed his opinion that the music was coming out of them, so is he!
I do jest, honest!

 

[eric-c]

I recall one retail stereo store in my area that sells the top tier stuff (6 digit speakers, 5 digit amps etc). Some of their super expensive demo gear (especially speakers) always seemed a bit banged up with dings, dents and scratches on them. Didn't make for a great impression.

 

[LTig]

Kids, spouces and other family.

A hifi device doesn't look like it's worth 5000. Therefor it's treated like a box.

The only way to deal with it is to place it in a cupboard, behind a door. Or out of reach. Or make it not rectangular like genelec speakers.

That's why I invested into the really expensive grills for my J&H O300D. You never know what might happen.

Once our nephews played with my Stokke/Varier Gravity seat and crashed it into the hifi rack. Luckily nothing was broken.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Ouch. Or people that stack equipment on top of each other. I lent a Krell amp to a friend who wanted to listen to it and I when I got to his house and there were other pieces stacked on top of it. Scratched the top. No good deed....

Then there are the Wilson owners who cut up and snort lines on top of their Watt Puppies. Putting them to their best use if you ask me.

 

[Hart]

Funny, the local shop here loves Wilsons above all others. Can something be somewhat accurate and just not sound good? At least for the money? Their sound just never grabs me for some reason.

 

[JSmith]

Dallas man’s speakers shot, and it’s got nothing to do with cranking up a stereo

He thought he’d bought insurance as he shipped some classic speakers by UPS, but there’s a difference between insurance and declared value.

www.dallasnews.com

Saxon sent me photographs of the speakers when they arrived back in Dallas after the third-party inspection. The pictures shocked me. The speakers looked like they were blown up. Parts spilled out in many pieces, as if a music lover rocked out too hard for too long.

JSmith

 

[Hart]

The Maxell guy must be in intensive care

 

[DVDdoug]

Not audio but I worked at a place that made an analyzer used in agriculture (it tested for toxins). It was a really nice looking piece of equipment and we were super-picky about it looking perfect before it could pass QA. I think it sold for a couple-thousand dollars. Sometimes we'd one back for repair and more than once the customer and written some numbers (maybe calibration numbers) on the top face with a magic marker! My thought was that we weren't charging enough for it if they didn't value it.

When I moved, the cover to my turntable got a big-ugly gouge in it. (That was a long time ago when I was still playing records.)

Also a long time ago I worked for a place that rented PA systems. 90% of the time we set it up and operated it, but it still got banged-up transporting and handling it. But most of it wasn't THAT banged-up... Just some little dents & scratches, and this was "industrial" equipment so mostly metal and no nice wood finishes to worry about. Oh... My boss was really upset when a singer was swinging the mic around by the cord like Roger Daltrey. I have some videos of The Who and the mic cable is doubled-back an electrical-taped to the mic so the connector isn't getting stressed but I'm pretty sure this guy didn't do that.

 

[sejarzo]

On Craigslist often I see items with a 1/2 inch think layer of dust on it that could just get wiped off before taking the photo. I guess this didn't occur to the seller. Also, I see speakers that are in "like new" condition where someone has poked in every single driver.

Some user posted these two laptops for over 3 years, same pic, same description. His other postings were for woodworking and drywalling tools/gear. Go figure?

 

[sejarzo]

Its funny you said that. When I lived in the dorm 29 years ago we had five rooms that made up a suite. All of us had stereo system different brands, levels and we took care of the equipment. One of the guys had some Advent speakers, he would never turn them up because he didn't want to damage the speaker. I'm like that's library volume haha. On the other end Snap had a AIWA boom system with lights like a disco that would shake the whole suite.

I snickered when I read "suite". I lived on the men's side of a large coed dorm at Purdue from 1975-79. Yeah, I'm elderly now. I lived in the farthest room down the hall rom the RA (for good reason) next to a wall across the hallway, beyond which were what had been the 4 double rooms at the end of the floor. Due to a housing shortage, they threw 10 freshman into them and called it a "suite."

My dad always said that the entire building would rise up and float away if not for the audio gear that was brought in on carts every move-in day. My system consisted of JansZen Z412HP hybrid electrostats, Apt Holman preamp, Sugden power amp, Kenwood KD500 with Grace G707 arm, Pioneer tuner, plus quite a few milk crates of LPs. You always heard music out in the hallway between 9 AM and midnight, day in, day out.

That wasn't the most exotic system on the floor. The guy I bought the JansZens and Sugden amp from had Rogers LS3/5as, driven by a Quad tube amp and a vintage Fisher tube preamp that had been modified at Audio Research, a Linn Sondek LP-12, SME arm with an Ortofon MC cartridge, a Harman Kardon Citation tuner and an Advent cassette deck. His speakers back at home were the original Quad electrostats.

One generation later...I couldn't believe how quiet our son's res hall was, especially as it was Cary Quad, the largest all-men's housing unit in the country (or so it is said.) Virtually no one had large speakers, as everyone used personal players and IEMs.

 

[anmpr1]

Ok, story time. This is all true, I swear.

That's a funny story. It is better than 99% of the 'intro' stories you read in Stereophile and the other influencer sites. You know, where a review has to start out with a 'human interest' anecdote about something that happened to the influencer--something that may or may not have anything to do with the 'review', and is usually boring.

On the other hand, thinking about your story, and on a personal note, If given the choice today between a Wilson loudspeaker and a late '70-ish F-150, I'd take the truck.