Amazing Find at the Thrift Store

On 05/04/2015 at 04:52 PM by mothman

I frequently take a break at work and head off to Value Village which is a Goodwill type thrift store about a minute's drive from the office.

Usually I'm looking for used games but I always take a trip back to the electronics section on the off chance that someone has donated something worthwhile.

More often than not it ends in disappointment but Friday was an exception.

As I was looking elsewhere I heard the thud of something being put on the shelf behind me. I turned around to see these Paradigm bookshelf speakers.

Paradigm Titan 3

The first tell in a pair of high quality speakers is the fact that they have gold plated terminals that accept banana plugs.

These babies are about 8 years old and retailed for up to $299 back then. Value Village had priced them at $7.99, the same price they charge for their cheap plastic computer speakers. Needless to say I snatched them up.

I cannot imagine why someone would just leave these at a thrift store so I suspected they might be blown. The front grills are not removable so I had to wait until I got home to check.

Plugged them into my living room rig and threw in a CD. They sound just fine. Right now they are in the basement awaiting a budget integrated amp with a phono section so that I can listen to vinyl in the game room.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

05/04/2015 at 05:06 PM

Yay! Ive been overdosing on vinyl into the past few days. such a sweet death.

mothman

05/05/2015 at 08:01 AM

The vinyl is final. :)

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

05/04/2015 at 10:09 PM

Dude, I have a Value Village were I live too. I've stumbled across a few good complete Sega Genesis finds. Box, manual, and all. Great condition too. I could pass it up. Paid next to nothing for them.

05/05/2015 at 07:55 AM

I try to visit as often as possible for that very reason. Stuff comes in but if you aren't there when it does it's gone. I've had a few great Genesis finds from there too.

Ranger1

05/04/2015 at 10:13 PM

Sweet! Sometimes ya just get lucky!

05/05/2015 at 07:56 AM

Yep it was a very happy Friday. :)

daftman

05/04/2015 at 11:50 PM

I love thrift stores. Most times they won't have anything that great but when there's something good, it's really good. Awesome find, Mothman

05/05/2015 at 08:00 AM

When I realized what I was looking at I found it very hard to contain my excitement. I didn't want to leave them there to go get a cart so I somehow managed to carry both of them to the front of the store in my arms.

KnightDriver

05/05/2015 at 02:06 AM

I'm currently in the market for cheap stereo stuff. I'd like a turntable right now. I may get a USB one so I don't have to get an amplifier though. I just want to rip some vinyl for some hard to find stuff I know my used record store has.

05/05/2015 at 08:04 AM

I already have a Thorens table that needs a tune up and a new cartridge. I love analog sound and I want to get back in to listening that way again.

05/05/2015 at 04:32 PM

I'm making comparison listens between CD and vinyl rips. I know objectively what the difference is, but I really want to hear it. I need more reasons to spend money on a turntable.

Btw. My roomate in college had these Boston Accoustics speakers. They were small, but boy could they crank out the sound. LOUD!

05/05/2015 at 04:53 PM

Boston Acoustics used to make pretty nice speakers. Haven't heard any for a long while though.

05/07/2015 at 04:51 PM

I had those way back in like 1989.

GeminiMan78

05/05/2015 at 07:41 AM

Nice score.Good speakers will last a longtime if you take care of them. I have a pair of Polk Audio shelf speakers I got for graduation almost 20 years ago and they are still like new.

05/05/2015 at 07:52 AM

I had a pair of Polk 10b's for years. I sold them in the mid 90's because I was offered a pair of B&W speakers for a price I could not turn down. Definitely enjoyed my time with the Polks.

goaztecs

05/05/2015 at 11:01 AM

Awesome pickup man! Thrift stores are excellent places to find goodies. Its a shame reseller guy has also figured this out, but every once in a while you can still find some awesome stuff. Congrats on the pickup!

NSonic79

05/29/2015 at 02:54 PM

You'd be surprised. I had a sony home theatre system that sold for 399 three years ago.

I could only unload them for $50 despite that I never got around to using them.

PixlBit