Rene,
Pier's vintage hifi glory days were over for at least two years now. High-income Americans and Europeans are buying straight from Hifido and other online sources. The English guy who talked to me over the phone from HK two years ago was a lawyer for Lloyd's. Instead of going home straight to London, he traveled to Tokyo just to buy a Sansui a907 amplifier whose used price could go over 200,000 yen for premium models.
Rich Chinese, Thais and Vietnamese are buying from their traders vintage Japan gear at higher than Tokyo prices. Kaya dun na pumunta yung magaganda. Sa atin yung dumadating kung meron pa, mahinang klase, laspag na ang faceplate or cover, at faulty units -- difficult to recycle. Sa madaling salita, true hifi junks na. Kaya kapag merong dumating na maganda, kahit mahal, kuha na -- parang yung Sansui a607 MOS Premium (45wpc) ko at P9K. Medyo masama ang loob ko dun, kasi yung presyong yun dati a907 series na.