Sony TC-164SD good price?

Hi everyone, first post here.
Don't know if this is the right forum but here goes.
I have a chance to buy a sony TC-164SD from an electronics lab. They claim it is like new with very few hours on and has been serviced. The price they are asking is 250$. I have not been able to find any pricing on the on ebay and such so nothing to compare it with. Do you think this is a good price?
Would go great with my TC-D5M and WM-D6.
Appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

 

At the end of day it comes down to the question "Are you willing to pay $250 ? Is this the right price for you ?" This is something only you can answer.
I don't like to give statements about how much a device is worth, because anyone reading this post in the future can take this value as a market price.
And I'm not in a position to give market prices, that only buyers can do by the amount they are willing to pay.

Even if you could find ebay listings, that won't tell the whole story as those are not completed sales. I can list on ebay at any price I want and keep that listing for years.

Can they provide a statement of what was exactly done on the device ? In my opinion a service should include the following items:
- a complete cleaning of the mechanism's rotating parts and re-lubrication;
- new rubber (belts, pinch roller, idlers);
- a Dolby level calibration for proper Dolby decoding;
- a rec bias and rec level calibration (prefferably on the tape you want);

I would try to negotiate the price, even more so if the service includes just a new belt.

 

They claim belt change and relubrication but no calibration. They claim it is as new, less then 10 hours used.

 

I'm not in a position to decide what the market price is for a device that's very rare and I have not seen any completed sales prices.
Hence why I'm not going to say a YES or a NO, only give you information to help in your decision.

The fact that unit is like new and has been re-lubricated and re-belted is obviously a plus but just that.
Do keep in mind that if you want to either play Dolby encoded tapes or record with Dolby, calibration will be needed.

If the price is non-negotiable, the decision is very simple: if you want it bad you have to go for it as the chances of finding another one (soon) are pretty small.

P.S.: You don't need to quote the previous message, please type in the box below the post and press "Post Reply" instead of using the Reply button (which quotes automatically).
Quotes are useful when you only quote part of the message (like I did with your questions, but you need to edit the quote for that) or when you quote an older message.

 

Thanks so much. It does seem like a rare one. I am going to see it on Wednesday, hopefully won't be sold by then.

 

Oh you are going to see it in person, perfect. Take tapes with you and you can test it, if you like what you see and hear go for it if it's worth $250 to you. Good luck.

 

For me each time a device comes with a serviced sticker its price goes down.

The less technicians have meddled with the stuff I buy the better.

 

why bother checking the net for prices of a hard-to-find unit ? once one of those pops up, you either pay what they ask for it, or you leave it. a monetaire „value“ of something is that, what somebody is willed to pay for it, not what somebody wants to have for it. it all depends on your budget…

i have never ever seen a TC-164SD before, nor heard about it in all those years, the design reminds me a bit on my TC510/2 reel to reel, some switches an vu‘s look the same. if i had the chance to grab it for that price, i probably would scratch the bucks together

pic 1 is my TC-510/2, pic 2 TC-164SD from hifiwiki:

 

Kinda wondering what the rest of the story turned out like. Such a downer when there are no updates.

 

yes, the bagger - now after he made me want one of those, too

 

I would definitely pay 250$ for it, even if it'd require some servicing.
Waiting for my one to arrive, as bought it only last week (don't ask how much I paid, but a little bit more...)

I also own TC-510-2, they would look great together I hope

 

Arrived...

 

wow, great score