Stuff you bought on Audiogon, but never have seen another?

A pair of MBL radialstrahler 121 omni monitors.

I always lusted after the big 101s but could never afford them.   Years ago a pair of 121s appeared on audiogon for a ridiculously low price because they had been damaged in shipping - losing one of the grills (which I’d never use anyway).

i snapped them up - the price was low enough hat I didn’t even care if I could never resell them.   Been extremely happy with that purchase.   Like others I habitually monitor the various audiomarts and have never seen the 121s appear again (before or since) on audiogon.  I don’t think I could part with them due not only to their sound, but on the grounds I would be so unlikely to replace them if I let them go and regretted it.

elizabeth,

When I was thoroughly in MBL fever many years ago, I was seriously considering how to wrangle a pair of 101s. Then I heard through another audio pal/writer that someone was getting rid of a pair of 101Ds due to a divorce. They were something like $45,000USD new at the time, and these were fairly new and in mint condition. My audiopal talked to the seller who said he’d sell them to me for $12,000 ! That actually put a mint pair in financial reach. But I hummed and hawed on it a bit too long not totally sure if I could go for it. Then when I decided "hell, yes, I must own these" it was too late. They owner had put them on audiogon auction!

Cursing myself, I decided to bid for them. Starting price was lower than $12,000. As the bidding was drawing to a close, I had the impression I was bidding against someone else...even if by proxy bidding. As the last minute of bidding wore down, and the bids were going up by increments, I planned to totally leapfrog the other bidder with a final big bid. I had my finger on the mouse as the counter got to the final seconds and sent off the bid. But...a glitch in the system made my final bid not go through!

So...the other guy got it for his final bid, which was well below what my final bid was going to be!

It was devastating. I even found out that the other buyer was not even an audiophile per se, but more of a rich guy who "just thought they looked kind of cool."

That one has nagged me for years, and I’ve never seen 101s for anything approaching the low price those ones went for. They are permanently out of my reach after that. :-(