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Originally Posted by oatmeal769 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And you're right as well about used gear, Let me know if you see any Wadia's!
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You know, when you're on the hunt, you gotta keep all the forums and eBay up on your screen and Google constantly, etc. The alerts don't cut it -- you have to be ready to pounce.
So at the office we have this big deal audiophile who put a room on his house, has cables the size of baby's arms ($1K/meter), concrete slab for his TT, speakers the size of Frankenstein's coffin, the works. I'd say he's spent $500,000 easy, not counting the construction. In the men's room a while back he says "Well I just added a Meridian 861 Surround Sound Processor, list is about 16 grand but I got a deal from [our local high end shop] and only paid 12. Ah, in trifield mode the sound is fantastic"
Now I barely listen to speakers, and my center channel speaker wasn't even connected, but I had to do something. So the hunt started ... all the forums, etc. Took weeks, but I finally scored a used Meridian 561 off eBay for $599. And even though it was past it's 10-year life support, Meridian gave me new software, basically making it a baby 861 (like baby Orpheus is to Orpheus). But $600!
"It's stolen! It's broken! It's unsupported!" ... those were his anguished cries when I told him of my $600 purchase. But none of those are true ... works great. Got a tube mono pre-amp from a DIY'er (lets me get double duty from my 12AU7 collection!), a nice inexpensive monoblock (just one - digital Class D ICE), hooked up the center speaker ... trifield happens! (Probably didn't need the pre-amp, but just looking at the Meridian you can tell it needs some tube love, and I wanted a real volume pot for the center channel, not some menu).
I never actually use the 561 in daily life, but it was worth every penny. $12000 vs $600.
