Welcome to Andy's (OrphanStereo) Me Page

Several years ago, I needed a new stylus for my turntable; my 2 year old trashed the current one trying to play something. One Saturday morning, I walked outside and found my neighbor setting up a garage sale. Lo and behold; there was a pile of stereo equipment, including some JBL speakers and a Dual turntable (with cartridge). I asked her what she wanted for it and she said 50 bucks; I said SOLD! The rest is history. The JBLs were parted out to three different folks, as was the Dual, and the receiver was a Marantz 2230 with a wooden case that I kept for several years. Soon I was selling all my upgrades from my computers, old software, old records, etc. If I didn't need it, why not get it to someone who treasured it?? I began to go to estate sales, garage sales, church, school and charity sales and found all sorts of wonderful items. I'm especially fortunate as my adjacent county is very affluent and folks here have excellent, high end items they simply want to move out. So OrphanStereo was born, as I take the orphans from all these well to do homes and place them in homes where they are loved and appreciated, rather than cast aside into some landfill.

What about me?

I guess I'm your classic, eclectic baby boomer. I like classic rock (Allmans, Stones, Dead, Doobies, Van Morrison, etc.), most blues but especially Chicago and British blues, some jazz, big bands, folk, country rock (but not country), classic stereos, classic motorcycles, travel, woodworking, real leather goods, stone, natural fibers, wind chimes, distelfinks, street fairs, cold beer, live music, bicycling, the outdoors, computers, Green Bay Packer football (Wisconsin born and raised!!) and, of course, my two young children.

My current personal sound system is a Kenwood Basic C2preamp ( as a switchbox/phono stage), an Almarro A205A SEP tube amp, custom made JBL LE14A speakers with a constant directivity horn using Selenium DT210 drivers, a Pioneer DV-563A DVD player as a CD source, an Onkyo T-9 tuner, a Revox A-77 reel to reel, a Nakamichi BX-100 cassette deck, and a Denon DP-57L turntable w/ Denon 301 MkII cartridge. The garage shop features a Pioneer SX-828 driving a set of Altec Valencias, EPI 500s or JBL L60T and Dynaco A25s via a Niles switchbox, with a Nakamichi BX-100 cassette deck and a Yamaha CDC-765 CD carousel and a Dual 1225 turntable player.

A Word about Parting and "Garage Sale" items

Some items I sell as parts rather than as whole units, especially speakers, either due to the rarity, desirability and/or quality of the individual drivers, or the added weight and shipping cost of the cabinet. Other times the cabinet will be too damaged to ship or restore. While this may seem offensive to some purists, it doesn't bother me as the parts are going to restore another unit, or to build a unique system. This usually happens with vintage JBL and EV items, and in some cases EPI, ESS, Advent, etc. I'm not here to pick the bones, but to offer life to others.

Sometimes items I find wind up not being as advertised, so I wind up offering them as "garage sale" items. These items may or may not be repairable, but often will contain parts that may be used to restore/complete another unit. Any collector knows that knobs, face plates, cases, lights, etc. all may suffer some issues over the years and are expensive or impossible to find. These items I offer are usually complete units that may cost significantly less than a single part, if it were available.

So while some may question these practices, my buyers certainly are pleased that they are able to restore or enhance their units, and keeping these great old units in circulation and available is what this is all about.

A Word about Shipping

Just a few words about shipping here. I use what I find is the least expensive method possible and that usually is Fedex Ground. They provide good rates, real tracking, and free insurance coverage to $100.00 all at reasonable prices. I also bubble wrap all my goods to provide an extra margin of safety. Your quote includes the Fedex Ground rate, including home delivery and fuel surcharges, bubble wrap costs and little more.

I recycle cartons and packing materials from work, so there is no expense charged there. This has worked out very well as I have had only a few incidents in over a thousand items shipped; check out My Feedback; it's loaded with praise for my packaging.

There are no added handling charges unless your item requires unusual measures (floor grinder, unique shape, etc). and I have to purchase packing materials to accomodate it.

Unfortunately, big heavy items require command, big heavy rates. Fedex, UPS, and the USPS all charge by weight and SIZE. They also require 2" of packing materials on all 6 sides for protection, otherwise the coverage is voided. A package that is over 84" in girth (longest side + 2x the 2 shorter sides) defaults to 30 pounds, even if it weighs less; over 108" defaults to 50 pounds. So if you buy a large, light item (10 pounds) that winds up in an 85" package, the freight is based on a 30 weight. This can add up to some significant freight, especially to the West Coast. There have been several times the freight cost exceeds the bid price; recently a set of speaker enclosures w/o drivers sold for $24.99, but cost $70.00 to ship to California as it reqiured 2 large 40 pound packages at a 50 pound rate.

So please when you bid, realize that shipping costs may be substantial due to freight rates. I don't aim to make money on shipping, just break even, unlike those lowball computer folks that charge $10-15.00 for Priority Mail shipping on processors and memory chips (the cost is $4.00 tops as supplies are free from USPS). So don't faint if that quote comes in huge and you live in CA, WA or overseas; you're probably getting a big box on a 2500 mile journey

• Create or edit my About Me page
• View Reviews & Guides by this member
• View the Member Profile