I frequently take a break at work and head off to Value Village which is a Goodwill type thrift store about a minute's drive from the office.
Usually I'm looking for used games but I always take a trip back to the electronics section on the off chance that someone has donated something worthwhile.
More often than not it ends in disappointment but Friday was an exception.
As I was looking elsewhere I heard the thud of something being put on the shelf behind me. I turned around to see these Paradigm bookshelf speakers.
The first tell in a pair of high quality speakers is the fact that they have gold plated terminals that accept banana plugs.
These babies are about 8 years old and retailed for up to $299 back then. Value Village had priced them at $7.99, the same price they charge for their cheap plastic computer speakers. Needless to say I snatched them up.
I cannot imagine why someone would just leave these at a thrift store so I suspected they might be blown. The front grills are not removable so I had to wait until I got home to check.
Plugged them into my living room rig and threw in a CD. They sound just fine. Right now they are in the basement awaiting a budget integrated amp with a phono section so that I can listen to vinyl in the game room.
Yay! Ive been overdosing on vinyl into the past few days. such a sweet death. 
The vinyl is final. :)
Dude, I have a Value Village were I live too. I've stumbled across a few good complete Sega Genesis finds. Box, manual, and all. Great condition too. I could pass it up. Paid next to nothing for them.
I try to visit as often as possible for that very reason. Stuff comes in but if you aren't there when it does it's gone. I've had a few great Genesis finds from there too.
Sweet! Sometimes ya just get lucky!
Yep it was a very happy Friday. :)
I love thrift stores. Most times they won't have anything that great but when there's something good, it's really good. Awesome find, Mothman 
When I realized what I was looking at I found it very hard to contain my excitement. I didn't want to leave them there to go get a cart so I somehow managed to carry both of them to the front of the store in my arms.
I'm currently in the market for cheap stereo stuff. I'd like a turntable right now. I may get a USB one so I don't have to get an amplifier though. I just want to rip some vinyl for some hard to find stuff I know my used record store has.
I already have a Thorens table that needs a tune up and a new cartridge. I love analog sound and I want to get back in to listening that way again.
I'm making comparison listens between CD and vinyl rips. I know objectively what the difference is, but I really want to hear it. I need more reasons to spend money on a turntable.
Btw. My roomate in college had these Boston Accoustics speakers. They were small, but boy could they crank out the sound. LOUD!
Boston Acoustics used to make pretty nice speakers. Haven't heard any for a long while though.
I had those way back in like 1989.
Nice score.Good speakers will last a longtime if you take care of them. I have a pair of Polk Audio shelf speakers I got for graduation almost 20 years ago and they are still like new.
I had a pair of Polk 10b's for years. I sold them in the mid 90's because I was offered a pair of B&W speakers for a price I could not turn down. Definitely enjoyed my time with the Polks.
Awesome pickup man! Thrift stores are excellent places to find goodies. Its a shame reseller guy has also figured this out, but every once in a while you can still find some awesome stuff. Congrats on the pickup!
You'd be surprised. I had a sony home theatre system that sold for 399 three years ago.
I could only unload them for $50 despite that I never got around to using them.