What's this worth?

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
Gents, I need your help here, but I need to keep this vague for now.

I'm on the last leg of a trip from Vancouver to San Diego and back, on an equipment buying spree. I was invited to go see 'some A/V equipment'. Turns out it's about 12,000 square feet of about 80% film related equipment, from 16mm to 70mm stuff, followspots, etc. A couple of 100 year old vintage projectors that should be in a museum. 100s of new in the box vacuum tubes, from B/W TV sets, but also 5U4 rectifiers and KT66 tubes. Power amps, 2 McIntosh pieces. I"m guessing over 20,000 items easily.

The piece de resistance (and again, I need to be vague) is a Presto 3 channel 1/2": reel to reel from about 1958 that belonged to a world famous artist. All I can say is 'crooner'. Along with the deck that stands about 6' tall in a rack, completely vacuum tube, and in mint looking condition, come about 30-40 first generation copies of master tapes. I saw these first hand, and took a couple of pictures that I cannot post at this time.

Now, I love RTRs, but have no idea what this machine would even be worth. The owner was in the film industry for 50 years, and amassed all this stuff over the years. He wants to sell everything, and the price he set didn't seem unreasonable... unless every one of the maybe 100 total projectors are worthless, then the lot is probably overpriced. I'd estimate that it would take a new owner with 5 guys maybe a total of 6 months to list everything on eBay. I can estimate value of the audio stuff, but I have no idea what the projectors and thousands of parts are worth.

If anyone could possibly have a serious interest in what's available, PM me. I'm back in Vancouver on the weekend, and will downscale some of the pix I took and will post them here. I've seen a lot of surplus stuff in my time, but this lot takes the cake. I was completely speechless, and spent 2 hours looking and snapping pictures.

I';d love to be involved with this, but don't have the time or cash. What I really need is someone that knows the worth of movie projectors. I was told that South America still buys them en masse due to their economy. They can't afford to go digital. Comments are welcomed.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Since film projection has suddenly shut down in US, I suspect there will be a glut of them for overseas market so I would not count on much value there. Other than this tidbit, I don't know much else about this topic :).
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
If you are inferring that you have Frank Sinatra's personal tape deck and some of his master tapes (Which I doubt with regards to the master tapes. They might have given Frank first generation copies, but they wouldn't have given him the master tapes) you just might have something valuable on your hands.
 

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
Did I say anything about Sinatra? No I didn't. :)
 

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
As I said in the first post, I can't divulge what artist is involved, I was trying to get some kind of feel for what the deck and tapes might be worth. From my understanding, the artist used the tapes to review his recordings, and there's no question that the deck genuinely belonged to said artist.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
You used the word "Crooner" just to throw us off the trail then. So how many Elvis master dubs were there?

Judging by the description of the tape deck and "crooner," I took it to mean Frank Sinatra.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
we did have a thread here about 6 months ago with photos of Sinatra's room with his R2R


And the tape deck was identified as the same type mentioned in this thread. And I never heard of Elvis being referred to as a "crooner," but that word has certainly been used to describe Sinatra.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator

Bill Hart

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
2,683
174
1,150
Sounds like you need somebody with some expertise in old projection equipment to give you a sense of value, since, unless you plan to go into business selling parts or old film gear, your real interest in the R2R, the tapes and a few miscellaneous things. Maybe the trick is to find someone in that business in Los Angeles to whom you can pay a modest consulting fee under a simple contract that prevents the consultant from cutting you out before you've made a decision.
One of the fun things about buying old stuff is that you are often forced to buy 'lots' that have mucho stuff you don't want, just to get the few things you do. Then again, if you have the space to store it, and the price is reasonable enough if you discount most of the projector gear to near zero, you should just write the check. :)
Good luck, I couldn't begin to help you.
(And fwiw, there were other crooners, e.g. the Bingster).
 

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
Sorry, I've been away out of town. As I said, I have to be vague of the person that originally owned the machine, but it does look very similar to the one in the B/W pix above, although it's in a taller rack, about 6' tall.

I'm passing on this whole slew of stuff. I'd need 5 guys working out of the warehouse that all the stuff is in, and all indications that I've done about the film stuff is that it's more or less worthless unless it got shipped out of North America, plus, I don't have the time to sit in the warehouse for 6 months selling and listing the tremendous amount of stuff there. Heck, even if I could cherry pick, it's not worth hauling a 1 ton truck up from LA to Vancouver with the stuff I would want to take. But thanks for the input.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing