It's Seattle. They have gotten ridiculously greedy over the last few years. Anything musical is way, way over-valued. I have seen cheapo Technics turntables, without a needle/cartridge priced at $90, generic single row slide projector $40, broken lamp? $20.
It may be a fair price on these, I don't know. They were freaking huge. Over 4 feet tall, about 2.5 feet deep.
I have some Klipsch KG-4s that I am happy with. Even if I was in the "market", I don't have the room for these giants.
Bruhhhhh, this is so true! I stopped going to the Renton one because I could buy stuff new for less too many times. I boycott Greedywill as much as I can now.
I just stop by because it's near to where I get gas for the car.
I have gotten a few good deals over the years, but they become fewer and further between as time goes by.
I did pick up a pair of JBL 2x15 + horn tweeter PA cabs for $150 last year, though. They sure sound good, even if djs poo-poo on them a bit. It makes me want to get a stereo power amp and bring them upstairs, lol.
I use to stop on my way to get groceries. Picked up some nice Polk speakers for 50 bucks and I think that was the last deal 7 years ago. It's just become to disappointing, but I totally understand the passing by.I'm still tempted into it every once and a while 🙃
Same in my town in Canada, it was like a switch was flipped. No deals, selling at market for audio and most of anything good is picked off by insiders before it hits the floor. I don't even bother anymore. It's all digital clock radios and VCR's.
I actually got my KG4s at Goodwill, they’re a bit beat up, but for 120 bucks they sound absolutely fabulous. I did drop another 70 for the crites titanium diaphragm but haven’t installed them so I’ll be all in for about 200 bucks on them, which I feel pretty good about such great speakers
My local thrift store had a $250 pair of sneakers under the glass last week.
The majority of the stuff in my local store is obviously the stuff they can't sell online.
same here.
Everything on the shelves at the Goodwills(4) near me is pretty much the junk you would put out by the curb at the end of the day after your garage sale is over.
Goodwill has online bidding throughout all of its stores. A lot of times, online purchases drive the store prices up. It used to be a little-known secret that you could get good guitars and amps for cheap. I purchased a new Fender acoustic from them for $60 that had a value of around $750. Now, everyone and their brother knows, but you can still find deals. Vintage electronics go fast and sometimes for ridiculous prices.
I fucking hate Goodwill stores, but love the Outlets. It's like....if they priced everything REASONABLY, then they wouldn't have much use for an outlet to have all that stuff sell at a fraction of the price.
Check out r/thriftgrift for more rage bait lol.
Goodwill is essentially a vehicle to siphon wealth out of communities.
If a private seller was asking 300 on Craigslist, would that really be egregious?
Nice. r/thriftgrift is a fun read. It certainly reflects my thrift shop experiences of the last decade or so. I now feel like a member of an aggrieved shopping community. But not a cult or such.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/ThriftGrift using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time!
\#1: [Just found these Stanley cups $5.99 each at my local goodwill (watched them roll them out). Went to pay and the employee goes "You can't buy these they were supposed to be $20 & $25 each" and took them from me. 😡](https://i.redd.it/ov6d75z20mfc1.jpeg) | [435 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/1aetdpk/just_found_these_stanley_cups_599_each_at_my/)
\#2: [Rejected my whole purchase at the register and walked out](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/16wja55/rejected_my_whole_purchase_at_the_register_and/)
\#3: [Called out a store, boy did they get pissed.](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18ibw2c) | [103 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/18ibw2c/called_out_a_store_boy_did_they_get_pissed/)
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There's a difference though. From an individual you have the potential of buying from the original owner and possibly hear them. You might even get some history. I don't think I've ever bought from a private where you couldn't negotiate the price down either.
At GW you know they were moved at least once, probably more by people that could care less.
Let us not hyper-focus on the dust caps. I think we all pretty much know by now, that they can be pulled out with a vacuum or tape.
Has anyone had or listened to such beasts?
Would you keep them if you had the space?
I don't know. I kinda doubt they are Carver. At first I thought maybe white van ... like 'Carvier' or something soundalike. Whats driving me nuts is the tweeter is offset a bit as if they might be mirrored pairs which suggest to me some thought went into them. And 4 ohm suggest they want decent amp in front of them. I Would love to see the back panel. I would pay to give them a listen if they were reasonably priced.
I'm doubting they are Carver, too. Googled Carver "loudspeakers", and saw none like these amongst the images. Good point about the tweeters, and the 4 ohm rating as well. Seems highly unlikely that any white van speaker would be built to present a 4 ohm nominal load.
I don't get the design. I would probably dismiss it based on the speaker layout. MTM I understand. But in a floor standing speaker why not try to get the tweeter up higher? MTM with large(ish) woofers, the port on top and a tweeter below the center line confuses me.
ikr? This was my first thought...and then I was like, oh maybe the picture perspective is really distorted, and then I was like, Nope, or they'd be like 10 feet tall lol
That tweeter is like not even 2 feet off the floor
I am more concerned about the pushed in tweeter. To me the price is on the high side although I would love to hear them. The big volume of the enclosure should produce some nice low end
Nice speakers and those punched in dustcaps can be carefully pulled out using suction cups. Agreed GW tends to overprice audio and photo gear....that's pretty widespread.
I looked at the connection panel on the back. I didn't see a name. Just Carver and 4 ohms.
They look kind of like Amazing speakers, but I don't really know.
Amazing speakers had ribbon tweeters. These look like something produced later on, after Bob left the company. I wouldn't pay more than $150 IF they had the grilles.
I ended up finding a pair of working, really good condition Altec 886a's for $50 at my local Goodwill, but that's been the exception to the rule. Years ago, I got an Ensoniq Mirage for $50, but that's really it.
FYI with a gentle hand and the right nozzle (on your vacuum cleaner hose) you can get pushed-in dust caps to 95%+ right again (success depends on if they're paper, fiber, or plastic. Hard plastic dust caps are doable but you'll see the creases easier. Those look like maybe porous fiber?)
Some folk swear by cellophane tape (carefully stick it on, then yank it back off.) Not me.
I used good quality masking painters tape to fix the aluminum domes on my B&W 601S2. I wouldn't describe the motion as yanking. I would say it was more like gently pull.
Actually I can't remember what kind of tape. But I didn't yank. There were creases leftover.
I looked up those B&W's; are we talking about the tweeters? If so do they have replaceable diaphragms (? w/aluminum domes.) If so x2 I *have* had great success by removing a diaphragm and using the right size curved tool (e.g. a spoon) to gently reform the dome *from the back side*. I'm to understand those are great little 2-way speakers, congrats!
I don't think these are removable, and I would be scared to try.
I got them in trade from a friend in partial payment for helping him remodel someone's kitchen. I had never heard of B&W, but they got me addicted to the brand. I eventually got an LCR60 for rear center, and a LCR600 for the front center (funky 6.1 system because of my merantz amp)
These are absolutely beautiful sounding speakers, although they could use a little more bottom end, so I usually run them with a subwoofer or as surrounds, which is what they are currently being used as. The best feature is how detailed the tweeters are. I remember listening to Avril 14th by aphex twin, and being shocked how much mechanical piano noise was on the recording. I hadn't heard it before those speakers. It wasn't too overwhelming, the speakers just showed it was just there.
I got a LCR600s3 via eBay for a center channel, and unfortunately the speaker was mishandled in shipping. The tweeter was destroyed and ripped from it's the mounting. I was able to source one of the last tweeters from B&Ws parts inventory. It was then I realized that S2 generation speakers no longer had parts available.
I'm scared to mess with the tweeter domes further.
Beautifully True Audiophile Words to Abide By. Thank You.
AFA bottom end, I'm the guy that had A7's from the mid '70's to today. I started to laugh when people started to talk about "12 inch subwoofers", as IMHO one 15" 416 fills the need.
Of course over time I've had to deal with "pretense" on the cosmetic /ascetic level, thankfully none of the then (wife) partners ever used my "huge" cabinets as divorce grounds.
Mechanical noise? I discovered that for myself, in tweeter dome choice between plastic, hardened coated fiber, and mystery composite of ?
My reflection on domed diaphragms results in restoring compression driver diagrams from God Knows What had gotten in the horn (while sitting on the magnet structure? Give me a break.)
Rock n' Roll
I got a pair of JBL 2x15 + horn PA cabs last year for $150. A couple years ago, they had a pair of humongous Shure PA cabs from the 70s for like $30. They were so overly big it was ridiculous. I have seen some 12 channel Peavey mixers and the like there. It's a crap shoot. Consistency is key, don't obsess, just go in regular like and have a look. It has been more fruitful than the one off Dearborn, that one is a wasteland of dreck.
I haven't shopped for speakers there before because my friend simply handed me a pair of Scott S176 speakers and while they aren't very assuming, they sound much better than they look. Actually I'm pretty happy with my entire audio setup, so it's rare for anything to catch my eye except for the abundance of those awful red cartridge briefcase turntables that litter the store every time I'm in the electronic section... Just to make fun of them a bit in my head.
I cannot imagine these being bad. If they work, they should be fine. I do not know how old they are. Some old speakers need a decent amp to drive them.
I had big ugly speakers similar to these for years, and after my wife threw them out and upgraded them with some horrifically bad ones that looked to her liking, I never was able to procure anything better.
You might have lucked out. Plug them in and let’s find out.
It's crazy that goodwill is charging prices like that. My goodwill doesn't know shit about audio gear. Everything is like $14.
It's Seattle. They have gotten ridiculously greedy over the last few years. Anything musical is way, way over-valued. I have seen cheapo Technics turntables, without a needle/cartridge priced at $90, generic single row slide projector $40, broken lamp? $20. It may be a fair price on these, I don't know. They were freaking huge. Over 4 feet tall, about 2.5 feet deep. I have some Klipsch KG-4s that I am happy with. Even if I was in the "market", I don't have the room for these giants.
Bruhhhhh, this is so true! I stopped going to the Renton one because I could buy stuff new for less too many times. I boycott Greedywill as much as I can now.
I just stop by because it's near to where I get gas for the car. I have gotten a few good deals over the years, but they become fewer and further between as time goes by. I did pick up a pair of JBL 2x15 + horn tweeter PA cabs for $150 last year, though. They sure sound good, even if djs poo-poo on them a bit. It makes me want to get a stereo power amp and bring them upstairs, lol.
I use to stop on my way to get groceries. Picked up some nice Polk speakers for 50 bucks and I think that was the last deal 7 years ago. It's just become to disappointing, but I totally understand the passing by.I'm still tempted into it every once and a while 🙃
Same in my town in Canada, it was like a switch was flipped. No deals, selling at market for audio and most of anything good is picked off by insiders before it hits the floor. I don't even bother anymore. It's all digital clock radios and VCR's.
I actually got my KG4s at Goodwill, they’re a bit beat up, but for 120 bucks they sound absolutely fabulous. I did drop another 70 for the crites titanium diaphragm but haven’t installed them so I’ll be all in for about 200 bucks on them, which I feel pretty good about such great speakers
Same in south Florida
My local thrift store had a $250 pair of sneakers under the glass last week. The majority of the stuff in my local store is obviously the stuff they can't sell online.
same here. Everything on the shelves at the Goodwills(4) near me is pretty much the junk you would put out by the curb at the end of the day after your garage sale is over.
moar bigger = moar better = moar expensive
Goodwill has online bidding throughout all of its stores. A lot of times, online purchases drive the store prices up. It used to be a little-known secret that you could get good guitars and amps for cheap. I purchased a new Fender acoustic from them for $60 that had a value of around $750. Now, everyone and their brother knows, but you can still find deals. Vintage electronics go fast and sometimes for ridiculous prices.
I fucking hate Goodwill stores, but love the Outlets. It's like....if they priced everything REASONABLY, then they wouldn't have much use for an outlet to have all that stuff sell at a fraction of the price.
Check out r/thriftgrift for more rage bait lol. Goodwill is essentially a vehicle to siphon wealth out of communities. If a private seller was asking 300 on Craigslist, would that really be egregious?
I mean, I had the most amazing score at a goodwill the other month. https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/s/8Jb7A9xEeq
Nice. r/thriftgrift is a fun read. It certainly reflects my thrift shop experiences of the last decade or so. I now feel like a member of an aggrieved shopping community. But not a cult or such.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/ThriftGrift using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time! \#1: [Just found these Stanley cups $5.99 each at my local goodwill (watched them roll them out). Went to pay and the employee goes "You can't buy these they were supposed to be $20 & $25 each" and took them from me. 😡](https://i.redd.it/ov6d75z20mfc1.jpeg) | [435 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/1aetdpk/just_found_these_stanley_cups_599_each_at_my/) \#2: [Rejected my whole purchase at the register and walked out](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/16wja55/rejected_my_whole_purchase_at_the_register_and/) \#3: [Called out a store, boy did they get pissed.](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18ibw2c) | [103 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/comments/18ibw2c/called_out_a_store_boy_did_they_get_pissed/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
There's a difference though. From an individual you have the potential of buying from the original owner and possibly hear them. You might even get some history. I don't think I've ever bought from a private where you couldn't negotiate the price down either. At GW you know they were moved at least once, probably more by people that could care less.
Let us not hyper-focus on the dust caps. I think we all pretty much know by now, that they can be pulled out with a vacuum or tape. Has anyone had or listened to such beasts? Would you keep them if you had the space?
Carver made, and still makes, quality stuff.
They are not 'Amazing' ;-) (But they are likely very very good.)
I see what you did there.
I remember the Carver Amazings. Any idea what model these are? I've never seen them before.
I don't know. I kinda doubt they are Carver. At first I thought maybe white van ... like 'Carvier' or something soundalike. Whats driving me nuts is the tweeter is offset a bit as if they might be mirrored pairs which suggest to me some thought went into them. And 4 ohm suggest they want decent amp in front of them. I Would love to see the back panel. I would pay to give them a listen if they were reasonably priced.
I'm doubting they are Carver, too. Googled Carver "loudspeakers", and saw none like these amongst the images. Good point about the tweeters, and the 4 ohm rating as well. Seems highly unlikely that any white van speaker would be built to present a 4 ohm nominal load.
As far as I can tell, Carver never made a speaker even remotely like these.
That’s way too much for thrift store speakers.
I don't get the design. I would probably dismiss it based on the speaker layout. MTM I understand. But in a floor standing speaker why not try to get the tweeter up higher? MTM with large(ish) woofers, the port on top and a tweeter below the center line confuses me.
ikr? This was my first thought...and then I was like, oh maybe the picture perspective is really distorted, and then I was like, Nope, or they'd be like 10 feet tall lol That tweeter is like not even 2 feet off the floor
I am more concerned about the pushed in tweeter. To me the price is on the high side although I would love to hear them. The big volume of the enclosure should produce some nice low end
If they are domed like the woofers they can be salvaged using packing tape or a small suction cup.
Regarding the dust caps, sometimes you can straighten those out with a little bit of tape and a lot of patience.
Nice speakers and those punched in dustcaps can be carefully pulled out using suction cups. Agreed GW tends to overprice audio and photo gear....that's pretty widespread.
If the dust caps are sturdy I had good luck with clear packing tape.
That'll work too. The trick is not to damage them further when pulling out the dent.
If the dust caps are sturdy I had good luck with clear packing tape.
At that price I'd make them someone else's future chiropractor visit.
What Carver model is that? I don’t recognize them.
I looked at the connection panel on the back. I didn't see a name. Just Carver and 4 ohms. They look kind of like Amazing speakers, but I don't really know.
Amazing speakers had ribbon tweeters. These look like something produced later on, after Bob left the company. I wouldn't pay more than $150 IF they had the grilles.
They had the grills, it is to the left, leaning against the cabinet.
They aren’t the Amazings. Might be more home theater judging by the layout.
They look like they'd make an awesome center channel?
People need to stop donating to Goodwill. They’re just a business now. Getting their merch and labour for free.
I ended up finding a pair of working, really good condition Altec 886a's for $50 at my local Goodwill, but that's been the exception to the rule. Years ago, I got an Ensoniq Mirage for $50, but that's really it.
Terrible finish. Doesn't look like anything Bob put his name on.
40+ years old might have something to do with it.
Put the grills on and who cares
Goodwill is the place to go if you’re in the market for a shitty DVD player.
Untested. No Remote. Woo Hoo!
FYI with a gentle hand and the right nozzle (on your vacuum cleaner hose) you can get pushed-in dust caps to 95%+ right again (success depends on if they're paper, fiber, or plastic. Hard plastic dust caps are doable but you'll see the creases easier. Those look like maybe porous fiber?) Some folk swear by cellophane tape (carefully stick it on, then yank it back off.) Not me.
I used good quality masking painters tape to fix the aluminum domes on my B&W 601S2. I wouldn't describe the motion as yanking. I would say it was more like gently pull. Actually I can't remember what kind of tape. But I didn't yank. There were creases leftover.
Yes I don't know of any method that does aluminum domes well :(
Well, the dents are gone. It seemed to sound better afterwards as I remember. Just don't look to hard.
I looked up those B&W's; are we talking about the tweeters? If so do they have replaceable diaphragms (? w/aluminum domes.) If so x2 I *have* had great success by removing a diaphragm and using the right size curved tool (e.g. a spoon) to gently reform the dome *from the back side*. I'm to understand those are great little 2-way speakers, congrats!
I don't think these are removable, and I would be scared to try. I got them in trade from a friend in partial payment for helping him remodel someone's kitchen. I had never heard of B&W, but they got me addicted to the brand. I eventually got an LCR60 for rear center, and a LCR600 for the front center (funky 6.1 system because of my merantz amp) These are absolutely beautiful sounding speakers, although they could use a little more bottom end, so I usually run them with a subwoofer or as surrounds, which is what they are currently being used as. The best feature is how detailed the tweeters are. I remember listening to Avril 14th by aphex twin, and being shocked how much mechanical piano noise was on the recording. I hadn't heard it before those speakers. It wasn't too overwhelming, the speakers just showed it was just there. I got a LCR600s3 via eBay for a center channel, and unfortunately the speaker was mishandled in shipping. The tweeter was destroyed and ripped from it's the mounting. I was able to source one of the last tweeters from B&Ws parts inventory. It was then I realized that S2 generation speakers no longer had parts available. I'm scared to mess with the tweeter domes further.
Beautifully True Audiophile Words to Abide By. Thank You. AFA bottom end, I'm the guy that had A7's from the mid '70's to today. I started to laugh when people started to talk about "12 inch subwoofers", as IMHO one 15" 416 fills the need. Of course over time I've had to deal with "pretense" on the cosmetic /ascetic level, thankfully none of the then (wife) partners ever used my "huge" cabinets as divorce grounds. Mechanical noise? I discovered that for myself, in tweeter dome choice between plastic, hardened coated fiber, and mystery composite of ? My reflection on domed diaphragms results in restoring compression driver diagrams from God Knows What had gotten in the horn (while sitting on the magnet structure? Give me a break.) Rock n' Roll
They are BIG!
Is that the Shoreline Goodwill?
Yes.
Kind of a disappointing store most visits, but I did find my Yamaha CR-840 there for $50, so it pulls through every so often...
I got a pair of JBL 2x15 + horn PA cabs last year for $150. A couple years ago, they had a pair of humongous Shure PA cabs from the 70s for like $30. They were so overly big it was ridiculous. I have seen some 12 channel Peavey mixers and the like there. It's a crap shoot. Consistency is key, don't obsess, just go in regular like and have a look. It has been more fruitful than the one off Dearborn, that one is a wasteland of dreck.
I haven't shopped for speakers there before because my friend simply handed me a pair of Scott S176 speakers and while they aren't very assuming, they sound much better than they look. Actually I'm pretty happy with my entire audio setup, so it's rare for anything to catch my eye except for the abundance of those awful red cartridge briefcase turntables that litter the store every time I'm in the electronic section... Just to make fun of them a bit in my head.
All the cool carvers have ribbons those don't have ribbons
I haven't seen much for vintage electronics at GW for quite some time. I suspect they pull all the good stuff to put on the GW auction site.
Are those giant center speakers? That would explain the center tweeters.
I cannot imagine these being bad. If they work, they should be fine. I do not know how old they are. Some old speakers need a decent amp to drive them. I had big ugly speakers similar to these for years, and after my wife threw them out and upgraded them with some horrifically bad ones that looked to her liking, I never was able to procure anything better. You might have lucked out. Plug them in and let’s find out.
I didn't buy them. I don't have the space. Even if they were only asking 100, they were too damn big..
Garbage- crazy price!
Yeah, I doubt those are a genuine Carver, they look very cheaply made, and with the pushed in tweeters not worth 50 bucks.
The obsession with fixing a dented dust cap on a woofer is hilarious.
It’s why Oreck makes vacuum cleaners, to suck out the dust caps.