Wow. A "new" QRX-9001?

[gvl_guy]

It's not my listing, but after seeing this, I had to post to the group.

Someone claiming this is an open box, new Sansui quad monster. See that pricetag?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sansui-QRX...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

 

[4-earredwonder]

Egads, sitting in a basement for over 40 years! NO RETURNS and over 5 Grand w/s/h and local taxes. Good luck with that!

 

[gvl_guy]

Egads, sitting in a basement for over 40 years! NO RETURNS and over 5 Grand w/s/h and local taxes. Good luck with that!

I was thinking the same thing! I bought a NOS JVC CD-4 demodulator thinking, "wow, cool, untouched!" The damn thing wouldn't turn on. I got it totally refurbished as a backup to my receiver, but I really bought hte package on eBay for the CD-4 cartridge. So it wasn't all that bad.

It didn't cost me nearly $5k though.

 

[par4ken]

While I wouldn't pay that much for it I just wonder what it cost new. If it went for say $1000 back then, in todays dollars that asking price might actually be reasonable? The odd time that I've bought a NOS quad component it has worked flawlessly but you do run the risk of failures, especially capacitors due to age. I think that seventies equipment is generally more reliable than eighties or nineties equipment though..

What I don't get is how someone could let such a beauty sit stored away for forty years!

 

[4-earredwonder]

While I wouldn't pay that much for it I just wonder what it cost new. If it went for say $1000 back then, in todays dollars that asking price might actually be reasonable? The odd time that I've bought a NOS quad component it has worked flawlessly but you do run the risk of failures, especially capacitors due to age. I think that seventies equipment is generally more reliable than eighties or nineties equipment though..

What I don't get is how someone could let such a beauty sit stored away for forty years!

Yeah, but for $5K today one can purchase a much more powerful receiver with all the latest technology and a great Universal player with warranties! Taking a chance on a 40 year old component which has been sitting in a subterranean environment is really taking a major risk....especially it it wasn't dehumidified!

 

[par4ken]

Yeah, but for $5K today one can purchase a much more powerful receiver with all the latest technology and a great Universal player with warranties! Taking a chance on a 40 year old component which has been sitting in a subterranean environment is really taking a major risk....especially it it wasn't dehumidified!

Yes but just like automobiles the new ones just aren't the same!

 

[Doug G.]

"Damn! I paid 5 big ones for this and three out of four channels don't work! Why, I oughta...!"

Doug

 

[Q-Eight]

Too bad they didn't have best-before dates on Electronic Equipment back then.

As an 8-track restoration service, I can attest that the tapes that require the MOST effort to get to play properly??? NOS/Sealed Tapes.

 

[par4ken]

"Damn! I paid 5 big ones for this and three out of four channels don't work! Why, I oughta...!"

Doug

I would expect that receiver would still be fully functioning, not that I would pay five big ones for it though! Also did I ever mention that I prefer separates!

 

[Q-Eight]

I would expect that receiver would still be fully functioning, not that I would pay five big ones for it though! Also did I ever mention that I prefer separates!

It probably does.... but I'd bet it's a ticking time bomb. Sure it hasn't had 45-50 years of use on the clock.... but it's still been exposed to oxygen and had 45-50 years of hot/cold cycles. I shudder at the thought of what the word "Basement" could mean. I live in a basement; but it's insulated, wood panelled, quite dry and stays relatively cool all year long.

But "basement" could also mean:

 

[Paul Pettegrove]

Finding unmolested or unrestored anything Quad is getting harder every year... amazing to see one in that condition, despite as others have said, likely to need much... I did look up references to prices...

"The QRX-9001 had a suggested list price of $1,150.00 in 1977".

I made $4.50/hr as a lifeguard that summer of 1977. Lavallette, NJ... Restaurant work in the fall... college courses, starving student... so playing that Quad version of Piano Man or Eat a Peach LP that I owned, neither was possible.

Back then used record stores were common. I live in Boston. No one wanted the used Quad records, they were cheaper than stereo equivalents in the late seventies and early 80's...

My first stereo; A Nikko NA-550 Integrated & NT-550 FM Tuner, Micro Seiki DD-20 Turntable, Micro Acoustics 282E cartridge and FRM-3 speakers... I remember that Quad was still unobtainable in my budget.

I have to agree about the "brand new", in the box, ;with those eBay finds... Reality is nearly 50 years stored in ambient heat, cold & humidity; with plastics, capacitors and dissimilar metals and solder joints.

 

[Paul Pettegrove]

Value of $1,150 from 1977 to 2022
$1,150 in 1977 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $5,455.93 today, an increase of $4,305.93 over 45 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.52% per year between 1977 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 374.43%.

 

[Owen Smith]

What I find hard to believe is the seller turned it on and checked it can receive FM, but didn't connect any speakers. It says no audio checked in the advert. Unbelievable! I can understand not checking every mode, but not checking that audio comes out at all? For that price? Ridiculous.

Also there are no pictures of the rear panel. For that price I'd want to see the condition of the connectors, they might be very corroded.

 

[HiFiMan]

Bought my 9001 several years ago on ebay. Truely lightly used and in pristine cosmetic condition (I AM anal). Cost me $850.00 plus shipping. I ran it for several years, no issues, really. Finally decided to take the plunge and have it upgraded. I say upgraded because "restored" means so many things to so many people. My guy in Chicago is one of the very few who specialize in this particular receiver. He goes through them and only does what is reasonably needed. Still very comprehensive, though. Cost me $1200.00. Tuner alignment not included as tuner has no issues! Most notable improvement is in CD-4 performance. Running for a little better than a year since; no issues. I would certainly say, strictly based on age, never mind the low miles, that 9001 will need/benefit from a good going over; just for the sake of reliability. That would bring the total cost north of $6000.00 for sure. I guess it boils down to what value one places on cosmetics. Whew!

 

[Raklein5]

I guess I should recap my QA7000, still works though I only used the Amplifier side for a year. Just use it as a pre-amp. Drives my Heathkit and Yamaha amps just fine!

 

[quadsearcher]

What I find hard to believe is the seller turned it on and checked it can receive FM, but didn't connect any speakers. It says no audio checked in the advert. Unbelievable! I can understand not checking every mode, but not checking that audio comes out at all? For that price? Ridiculous.

Also there are no pictures of the rear panel. For that price I'd want to see the condition of the connectors, they might be very corroded.

I've seen a lot of this kind of thing with different receivers over the years. Usually most of the other items the seller has for sale are knockoff clothing and knickknacks, and lots of them.
Some sellers say something like this: "I have no speakers so all I can do is see if it lights up and the meters move".
If anyone has a 9001 in their possession but no speakers, they are a flipper and they are choosing to be willfully ignorant of its true value to avoid liability for their actions.

Just my opinion of course. Maybe I'm wrong, and this is a fair way to sell something. "the car starts but I have no driver's license so I didn't put it in Drive". But it's getting to be too dang common for it to be believable. If it walks like a scam.....

 

[Imbobman]

Yeah, but for $5K today one can purchase a much more powerful receiver with all the latest technology and a great Universal player with warranties! Taking a chance on a 40 year old component which has been sitting in a subterranean environment is really taking a major risk....especially it it wasn't dehumidified!

Yes, 4-earredwonder, you said it all right there. A major risk & for $5,000; one is way better off with modern equipment. Wonder if there will be any takers? I can see this as a crash & burn sernario.. China Syndrome...

Though it's a beautiful piece of equipment to look at..

 

[MidiMagic]

Egads, sitting in a basement for over 40 years! NO RETURNS and over 5 Grand w/s/h and local taxes. Good luck with that!

Electrolytic capacitors usually go bad with age when they are not being used.

I have some 50-year-old equipment that works fine because it has always been in use. But equipment that was stored away for 20 years usually does not work. The electrolytic capacitors re-form when idle, with the capacitance going up and the working voltage going down. Then, when it is turned on again, BANG! Too much voltage and the capacitor explodes.

MOSFETs can also lower their breakdown voltage with non-use.

 

[barfle]

Value of $1,150 from 1977 to 2022
$1,150 in 1977 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $5,455.93 today, an increase of $4,305.93 over 45 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.52% per year between 1977 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 374.43%.

My dollars buy less than what my dimes used to.

 

[soesbeout]

Electrolytic capacitors usually go bad with age when they are not being used.

I have some 50-year-old equipment that works fine because it has always been in use. But equipment that was stored away for 20 years usually does not work. The electrolytic capacitors re-form when idle, with the capacitance going up and the working voltage going down. Then, when it is turned on again, BANG! Too much voltage and the capacitor explodes.

MOSFETs can also lower their breakdown voltage with non-use.

My QRX-7500 that I purchased new and brought back from Japan in 75 still works fine for me also but it also has been treated gently.