Guys, I'm still pinching myself over this one.
I stopped into the Crack House this afternoon. (For those of you who haven't been following the recordings threads, the Crack House is a local thrift shop that was nicknamed by my son for the addictive way it draws me in to search for records & CDs.
) Their prices are all over the map (they get 69 cents for original RCA "Shaded Dog" LPs and at the same time have a price tag of $1500 on a 12 year old EAD CD player, go figure.) So anyway, you just need to stop in and see what they have at what price on any given day (hence, the addiction.) I stopped by today on the way home and found the EAD player still on the shelf (no surprise at that price), and what did I see sitting right next to it but a like new Audible Illusions Modulus 3A preamp with a price tag on it of only $149! There are 4 of them currently listed on A'gon, with asking prices ranging from $1075 to $1499! It was a final sale item, but all the tubes lit up when it was plugged in and it gave off no unusual smells. And beside I figured what the heck, even if I had to put a couple of hundred into repairs I would still be way ahead of the game. I called by son Bobby to tell him about it and his response was "Don't move, I'm taking my bike to the ATM and I'll be there with the cash in 20 minutes. I assured him that his credit was good with me and I would float him the cash until he could get to the bank over the weekend and proceeded to make the purchase. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that Thursday is customer appreciation day and everything at the Crack House is sold for 25% off!!!
Which means I walked out the door with it for $122, tax included.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time!
Brought it home and checked it out on the main system. Everything function absolutely perfectly. The sound was a little on the dull side, but I am sure that will improve with a fresh set of tubes, which luckily I have on hand since my SP-9 also uses 6922s. Brought it up to Bobbys room and put it into his system and it was a huge improvement compared to the Hafler 110 preamp that he was previously using, even without the new tubes.Needless to say, he is a very happy camper right now.
