Surplus and audio stores in the LA and Sf area

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madswitcher

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Feb 6, 2010
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Hi folks,

I am on a road trip holiday next week landing in LA and driving up Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, back down to Phoenix and then back to LA.  I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for audio/electronics  surplus stores that are woth visiting - particulary for test equipment and the like. 

The obvious one is Apex in LA - "Thats where the mad scientists go to equip their labs" - but what others do you folks know about?

Thanks for any pointers

Mike
 
apex as of lately has been over picked, It's getting harder and harder to find any real deals there these days.
But worth the trip as you never know....

I would b curious about surplus stuff in the bay area, I never been to one up there and I am sure there are plenty being so close to silicon valley and all.
 
If there is a chance you will be in the vicinity of the bay area on Saturday, April 8, that's the morning of the electronics swap at DeAnza College in Santa Clara, which is still pretty good.

http://www.electronicsfleamarket.com/

The only actual surplus store in the bay area I've been to pretty recently is HSC Electronics in Santa Clara, which is still pretty good to browse, but their test equipment is usually marked pretty expensive.  They will negotiate on items like that (just ask one of the guys at the counter), but not always into the territory where I would buy it.  These days, they also have a display case full of tubes and some other vintage stuff, but I'd say their prices are pretty average on that stuff, no real bargains to be had, at least not last time I was there (about a month ago).
 
Lots of the old stores in the bay area are gone, but I did just discover that this classic page has been updated fairly recently (September 2016):

http://bluefeathertech.com/technoid/calswapindex.html
 
Thanks for the pointers folks,

I don't get to SF until Monday the 10th, so De Anza isn't on for me unfortunately: it looks good and on my old stomping ground of Cupertino.

HSC look promising and I'll put them on my list.

Another one - WierdStuff looks and it it may be worth a visit. Does anyone have any experience of them?

Regards

Mike
 
I go to Apex about once every 6 months but almost never buy anything, the prices these days are optimistic to say the least.  Still, I find it a rather beautiful and soothing place to be, I love technical junk.

All Electronics in L.A. might come up, not worth a visit IMO.  I really enjoyed Murphy's Junk in San Diego and made a massive score there a few years back.

C&H Surplus in Duarte is another, went a few weeks ago for the first time.  Again, felt overpriced for what it was.

 
I haven't been to Weird Stuff since I worked in that area years ago, but if I make it to DeAnza on Saturday, I'll probably skip HSC this month and try to hit Weird Stuff and also Excess Solutions in San Jose.

If I do make it to either of those this weekend, I'll post my impressions on here, although that will obviously be while you're already traveling...
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the steer about Apex jr - they were not on my list but certainly worth a visit having looked at their web site.

I might try and bend my plans a bit to get up to De Anzo as it does look really good and I could do some nostagla trips around Cupertino as well.  So if you see a crazy brit with a salt n' peper beard wearing a straw hat and a leather back pack, say Hi. :)

Cheers

Mike

 
madswitcher said:
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the steer about Apex jr - they were not on my list but certainly worth a visit having looked at their web site.

I might try and bend my plans a bit to get up to De Anzo as it does look really good and I could do some nostagla trips around Cupertino as well.  So if you see a crazy brit with a salt n' peper beard wearing a straw hat and a leather back pack, say Hi. :)

Cheers

Mike
Click to expand...

I will be at the De Anza flea market too., so if you see an exhausted long haired youngin in his early 20s with glasses picking through everything, feel free to say Hi too.  ;D
 
looks like the flea market is back, but too long of a drive for any unknown especially with the current price of gas.
Apex is still alive and kicking and getting even harder to find anything. I miss the old days before the fire marshal came, when we had piles of stuff and the guys behind the counter knew what was in every pile.
 
HSC moved (the entire large "block" they were in was redeveloped into a massive multi-story commercial/housing complex), then a year later they closed shop. Excess Solutions on the south side of SJ bought most of HSC's inventory. Anchor is the only other place in Santa Clara valley as far as I'm aware. I miss the 90s when there were a lot of good places to shop for junk. Most places got priced out of their buildings.
 

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