Wow. A "new" QRX-9001?

[Doug G.]

Suffice it to say that a unit placed in a box and stored even in a perfect environment for 40 years is almost assuredly not going to be the same as a unit purchased new 40 years ago. Components, especially electrolytic capacitors, which chemically break down just sitting, are affected by age even if the unit is not used. Oxidation, corrosion, and such.

Doug

 

[HiFiMan]

Hey all, Just got an offer from the seller "because I showed interest", aka; looked at it. $388.08 off. What kind of offers are you all getting ????? No infighting, please.

 

[Owen Smith]

They'd have to move the decimal point to the right (of how much they're reducing it by) to even get the time of day from me.

 

[Jeff ss]

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!

I can almost guarantee that this unit has issues. Every one that I have purchased and refurbished has has issues. Intermittent sound, bad switches, fried resistors and of course bad electrolytics. This seller must just be going for it!

 

[Jeff ss]

Hey all, Just got an offer from the seller "because I showed interest", aka; looked at it. $388.08 off. What kind of offers are you all getting ????? No infighting, please.

I think I received the same offer! What a deal!

 

[par4ken]

I can almost guarantee that this unit has issues. Every one that I have purchased and refurbished has has issues. Intermittent sound, bad switches, fried resistors and of course bad electrolytics. This seller must just be going for it!

I'm not trying to talk anyone into buying it but I think that all the cries that there has to be something wrong with it just because it is so old, have been greatly overstated. Bad switches are easily cleaned with DeOxit. Because the unit was hardly used they are unlikely to be worn out. Capacitors do go bad but that is far rarer than most here seem to think. Fried resistors (and transistors) are usually found in the power amplifiers if the unit has been abused.

What I never understand is why sellers don't hook it up and verify that it is working without issues. Then maybe they could justify their asking price. I wouldn't always trust it when they say it's been refurbished either. I watched a YouTube video about recapping a receiver and all the guy did was replace the main power supply filter capacitors!

 

[Soundfield]

What I never understand is why sellers don't hook it up and verify that it is working without issues.

I may be cynical in my old age but I suspect that many do try hooking things up and find it goes phuttt so claim they haven’t been able to!

 

[par4ken]

I may be cynical in my old age but I suspect that many do try hooking things up and find it goes phuttt so claim they haven’t been able to!

Yes but they likely get caught when the sell it that way. With eBay and Paypal it's not hard to put in a dispute and get your money back! Actually makes things risky for the seller!

 

[Soundfield]

Yes but they likely get caught when the sell it that way. With eBay and Paypal it's not hard to put in a dispute and get your money back! Actually makes things risky for the seller!

Really? I'd no idea, I'd just assumed that all those oceans of dodgy looking junk were being sold on an 'as seen' basis.

 

[par4ken]

Really? I'd no idea, I'd just assumed that all those oceans of dodgy looking junk were being sold on an 'as seen' basis.

Often it is, to me though in that case the price listed should be rather cheap. Often sellers will list as not working but in the text they imply that it should work but are just unable to test it, so are selling it as not working. In reality they are just trying to protect themselves. As a buyer I'm sure that eBay and Paypal will tend to side with you.

In this case the seller is obviously trying to protect himself with his comments, but I don't think that he would have much of a case if there was a major problem with the unit! The seller is describing this unit as flawless!

 

[gvl_guy]

Just my opinion but....
If this were about $3k...maybe a little more, it might be worth it. Pristine condition, even just the front panel and case, would be wonderful to have. If it needed repair, it would still be worth it if you planned to keep it and use it. Always a beautiful machine.

One thing jumped out at me. Only $72 shipping to me? When I sent my QRX to the QRX Restore, it was somewhere around $250. I realize it's across the country from me, but still..... $72 seems like a deal. (The QRX Restore, made a custom shipping box which is freakin' awesome.)

And I just realized this is in Woodstock GA. Just 3 hours from me.

 

[Jeff ss]

I'm not trying to talk anyone into buying it but I think that all the cries that there has to be something wrong with it just because it is so old, have been greatly overstated. Bad switches are easily cleaned with DeOxit. Because the unit was hardly used they are unlikely to be worn out. Capacitors do go bad but that is far rarer than most here seem to think. Fried resistors (and transistors) are usually found in the power amplifiers if the unit has been abused.

What I never understand is why sellers don't hook it up and verify that it is working without issues. Then maybe they could justify their asking price. I wouldn't always trust it when they say it's been refurbished either. I watched a YouTube video about recapping a receiver and all the guy did was replace the main power supply filter capacitors!

Some may be true...but these units have known issues. If they are not present now, they will be. So it makes sense to restore it...recap it. I would not spend 5k on this and expect it to last any length of time without issue. Would anyone buy a 10,000mfd capacitor sold as new with a date of 1976 on it? Its only a matter of time...

 

[Imbobman]

Some may be true...but these units have known issues. If they are not present now, they will be. So it makes sense to restore it...recap it. I would not spend 5k on this and expect it to last any length of time without issue. Would anyone buy a 10,000mfd capacitor sold as new with a date of 1976 on it? Its only a matter of time...

First, let me say: I'm no expert in the field of electronic repair/diagnostics.....but, & this is a big butt ( thank you to Scotty Kilmer for the use of that line) I know a few things from past experience.
This component, no seller in good conscience could promise it to work satisfactorily & to specs for 5 seconds or 5 years. If they did, it would just be empty words....& that's for all the reasons others stated & especially what you said Jeff ss. That's definitive!
As an example, I purchased a pair of 35 yr.old AR-9 speakers about 6 yrs ago. They sounded OK (..I mean, sounds came out of them). Both the seller & I knew what these were & were not. No promises made & none asked for. Only thing he did was recone the two 12" & one 8" speakers.
Since I had recapped/ rebuilt & reconed a pair of my own a few yrs. earlier, I assumed the caps/ resistors would need replacing. The other things maybe....
I windup doing them all. Afterwards measuring the capacitance/esr or resistance on all the old ones removed.
A couple were bulged & obviously bad. A handful of the others were also bad (measuring out of tolerance/spec). Surprisingly, most were still within the ± tolerance range. But all were at least 35 plus yrs.old & were likely to fail sometime no doubt.
.... So it was good to do them at that time. Now, all is well with the speakers & I'm glad this was done.
The cost to do similar work would need to be figured in the qrx-9001's value. This is going to be pretty much the same for any vintage receiver of that age

 

[Doug G.]

Despite what I wrote above, if I were rich, it would be almost impossible for me to resist plucking that QRX-9001 out of time, opening it up, and witnessing the appearance of a new one. And really, the only components, admittedly a lot of them, degrading over time are the capacitors. Resistors, not likely. Switches remain unworn and oxidation would be removed with the first few movements. If it was enclosed in the box, dirt probably not an issue.

About the only thing is if that basement was really damp. Then, no.

I mean, I could buy it now but it would not be financially safe.

Doug

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Despite what I wrote above, if I were rich, it would be almost impossible for me to resist plucking that QRX-9001 out of time, opening it up, and witnessing the appearance of a new one. And really, the only components, admittedly a lot of them, degrading over time are the capacitors. Resistors, not likely. Switches remain unworn and oxidation would be removed with the first few movements. If it was enclosed in the box, dirt probably not an issue.

About the only thing is if that basement was really damp. Then, no.

I mean, I could buy it now but it would not be financially safe.

Doug

I think your new personalized license plate should read QRX 9001

 

[Doug G.]

Back in the seventies, it read "WB0WXZ" my ham license call.

Doug

 

[Kodaline]

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.

He's lying. They powered it up and it has problems. You have plausible deniability to say you did not know it had problems if you say you never checked it out. There is literally no reason to not check it out, like you say, to confirm basic function, so it stands to reason that they DID, and it has issues, so this is the sanitized report which says something better than "it doesn't work."

This thing needs about 500 dollars of work with a good tech.

 

[Owen Smith]

He's lying. They powered it up and it has problems. You have plausible deniability to say you did not know it had problems if you say you never checked it out. There is literally no reason to not check it out, like you say, to confirm basic function, so it stands to reason that they DID, and it has issues, so this is the sanitized report which says something better than "it doesn't work."

This thing needs about 500 dollars of work with a good tech.

Either that or the seller knows so little about audio they don't have a proper pair of speakers to hand and think all speakers are made by Apple. Which would be an equally bad sign.

The "no returns" part is ridiculous for something at that price. $300 and no returns sure, you know the risk you're taking and the potential upside if it is OK or repairable.

 

[Soundfield]

Of course if you want to spend some serious money on risky vintage equipment there are always plenty of options, how about this for example (what could possibly go wrong?)....

 

[par4ken]

He's lying. They powered it up and it has problems. You have plausible deniability to say you did not know it had problems if you say you never checked it out. There is literally no reason to not check it out, like you say, to confirm basic function, so it stands to reason that they DID, and it has issues, so this is the sanitized report which says something better than "it doesn't work."

This thing needs about 500 dollars of work with a good tech.

Possible but I doubt that most sellers would have the gall to try something like that. Again I'm sure the purchaser would have eBay and Paypal on their side. If the seller insists on the no returns part he could end up without the unit and without any money. Hopefully the seller and potential purchaser are both reasonable and if there is a problem the seller would reimburse the purchaser for any repairs.

It will be interesting to see if it sells for such a high price. It could sit on eBay for years unsold.

Myself I can't imagine asking that sort of a price without having fully tested it and possibly even rebuilding it beforehand (by a good tech).