High prices of PV5!

[celo]

Here is my story.

I purchased a PV5 three years ago. At the time the sold prices averaged $500-$600. I bought mine for $500. Then I had to sell it shortly because I was moving. When I was checking the prices to see how much I should price it at, I saw someone selling for $800, some one sold at $900! I was surprised to see all this because I even saw a sold price of $300 before I purchased mine. So, I listed mine for $1100 on Ebay and it sold! I was shocked. Since then the prices *never go below $900 for the PV5. Why is that? Is there a reason why all of a sudden, PV5 values a lot more? I even saw sold at $1400!

*There was one sold for $700 last week which I was surprised to see such a low price.

[roberto]

Hola Celo,

The PV-5 is a collector item. The one who pays that money for al old piece, is because he just wanted...not necessary because other thing. Don't get me wrong here...the PV-5 challenges a lot of preamps out there costing twice that price. But with much respect, it is a whim, a caprice.

It is designed with regulated power supply stages, and also has all resistors at 1% of tolerance. The quality parts inside are very good. And you do know its sound quality too. Judging you, you never thought that you could get that money for it, right? As you can see, to own a Conrad Johnson gear is an investment. (lol).

Happy listening!

[AnotherJohnson]

1. Stimulus checks.

2. Rich Chinese are starting to chase them.

The PV 5 was an affordable unit when it was introduced for around $1500. It was also good enough for audio reviewers/writers to use as a basis for reference.

I enjoyed mine for three decades.

FWIW, I sold a McIntosh MX110 on eBay a few years ago ... the winner was a Chinese export company and they beat out a second Chinese export company in the final second of the auction. The MX110 has even more “aging out” issues than the PV5. It was, like all McIntosh, gaudy and highly featured. I sold it for four times it’s original msrp and it would be worth more today.

As CJ focuses on their high end market, these less expensive legacy products will go up. Especially the ones that were actually good when they were introduced, like the PV5, PV8, PV11...