Anybody watching this?

[lassoharp]

My apologies if this is seen as too off topic. I thought it of interest to tube amp fans considering the rarity of these things.

FAIRCHILD AMPLIFIER MODEL 620 2A3 300B PP EXCELLENT - eBay (item 250722093940 end time Nov-14-10 17:45:12 PST)

[athos56]

I doubt I would get my money back after I parted it out and put the iron in a DIY amp that would kill it in a terms of sound quality... I got some magic beads, hard wood bases, and special silver cables to sell to the guy who wins...
Athos

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by athos56

I doubt I would get my money back after I parted it out and put the iron in a DIY amp that would kill it in a terms of sound quality... I got some magic beads, hard wood bases, and special silver cables to sell to the guy who wins...
Athos

Have you heard a Fairchild amp? Any Fairchild amp? Had you the opportunity you might be eating your words.. I have to admit I am stunned to see a pair of these selling for this sort of money though.

Some of their bigger domestic PP UL amps (25W and up) command > $10K a pair when you can find them and are regarded as being extremely collectible. I don't own any, as they have always been outside of my price range, but I know people who collect them.

This is one of America's most obscure brands, very premium in its day, and about 10 times rarer than most Marantz gear. They made amps, pre-amps, and turntables that even today are quite well regarded. They might have been the first to have an electronically controlled TT back around 1957..

The company today is known for its semiconductors.. (Yeah it is that company.)

[Tubologic]

FAIRCHILD made excellent quality pro gear but regardless how rare these are, over 50K$ (at the time of writing) is just... insane ! The reputation of the world's most expensive and sought after compressor-limiter (The FAIRCHILD 670 @ 30K$) certainly helped pushing up the value of this brand which was almost unknow to most audiophiles so far. Still... 50K$+ for old industrial looking amp's with leaky "black stripe" caps, aged selenium rectifiers and only 2 ohms and 600 ohms output taps ? Just imagine the 2A3PP amp you could build (or buy) for (half) that money .

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by Tubologic

FAIRCHILD made excellent quality pro gear but regardless how rare these are, over 50K$ (at the time of writing) is just... insane ! The reputation of the world's most expensive and sought after compressor-limiter (The FAIRCHILD 670 @ 30K$) certainly helped pushing up the value of this brand which was almost unknow to most audiophiles so far. Still... 50K$+ for old industrial looking amp's with leaky "black stripe" caps, aged selenium rectifiers and only 2 ohms and 600 ohms output taps ? Just imagine the 2A3PP amp you could build (or buy) for (half) that money .

They've always had a following here in the Northeast, and in the 30yrs or so I have known about them, nothing made by Fairchild has been affordable unless you got lucky enough to run across some uninformed or desperate family member selling a deceased audiophile's collection. They also made domestic hifi gear which is equally or even rarer.

I would think you could build a pretty spectacular pair of PP 2A3/300B amps for about $5K - $6K.

[athos56]

IMO, fetish items like this rarely live up to their hype. Leica cameras for example. However, I was being cheeky , and yet I really do believe that many of DIY amps that the experienced builders here (not me )build are better than much of the commercial offerings past and present. I've owned nice gear, not 50k gear, but I'd listen to my own creations over all of it. To a collector 50k might not be much, your buying history, not to be touched.

Athos

[jimbo51]

Given the payment being accepted by wire transfer only (despite suggesting eBay Buyer Protection applies) and all his other sales accept PayPal ........

Caveat emptor!

[astouffer]

At this point its more than worth it to turn out fakes in my garage and sell one every 18 months or so..

[Huntingdon 361]

Sold (apparently) for $57100, an impressive amount.

I really have no objection to people paying this kind of money for rarities, even though they may not be considered perfectly suited for everyday use. In the same way as the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 sold for millions – nobody would claim that it’s the best car you can buy for that kind of money, but if you want it, that’s the price you’ll have to pay.

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by astouffer

At this point its more than worth it to turn out fakes in my garage and sell one every 18 months or so..

Google AN or Kondo Ongaku or Gaku-On, or Keegon, and see what those go for.

The Paypal fee on $57,000 would be about $1600 which is probably why he is not accepting Paypal on this item. Were I selling something like this I wouldn't use Paypal either..