Eighties Prices

[Cholly]

I ran across a newspaper insert from sometime in the 1980's the other day. It's an ad for Hart Electronics in Vestal, NY, which closed a few years ago. It's interesting to see the prices on gear from that period.

Polk Audio RTA11T tower speakers: $425 each
Polk Monitor 5 Jr. bookshelf speakers $150 each
Panasonic CTJ-2770R 27 inch color TV w/remote - reg. $950, sale $699
Sony 27 inch Trinitron Stereo Monitor/Receiver - Regular $1120, sale $899
Panasonic PV-320 VHS camcorder - Reg. $1550, sale $1147
Panasonic PV4760 4 head Hi-Fi MTS Stereo VCR - Reg. $700, sale $519
Sony CDP750 Remote Control CD player with 4X Oversampling - Reg. $370, Sale $288
Sony STRAV450 AM/FM Stereo Receiver with Remote Control, 35 watts/channel - Reg. $300, sale $197
Onkyo TX82 AM/FM Stereo Tuner/Amplifier with Remote, 45 watts/channel - Reg. $360, sale $299
NAD 7240PE AM/FM Stereo Receiver, 40 watts/channel - Reg. $478, sale $429
Technics SAR921 80 Watt Remote Control AM/FM Stereo receiver (40 watts/channel) - Reg. $300, sale $186
Technics SLBD35K Fully automatic Stereo turntable - Reg. $150, sale $99

Those are just a few of the many items in the 8 page ad. Of course, those prices are in terms of eighties' dollars! :grin:

[Brandon428]

Technics SLBD35K Fully automatic Stereo turntable - Reg. $4150, sale $99

That's what I call a discount!

[Stuart Sweet]

I worked at a place that sold some home theatre gear in the early '80s and I remember the VHS VCRs going for $699 and that was a steal! Keep in mind we were renting a whole house for $175/month and you could still get a decent car for $6,000.

[CKNAV]

I ran across a newspaper insert from sometime in the 1970's the other day. It's an ad for Hart Electronics in Vestal, NY, which closed a few years ago. It's interesting to see the prices on gear from that period.

Polk Audio RTA11T tower speakers: $425 each
Polk Monitor 5 Jr. bookshelf speakers $150 each
Panasonic CTJ-2770R 27 inch color TV w/remote - reg. $950, sale $699
Sony 27 inch Trinitron Stereo Monitor/Receiver - Regular $1120, sale $899
Panasonic PV-320 VHS camcorder - Reg. $1550, sale $1147
Panasonic PV4760 4 head Hi-Fi MTS Stereo VCR - Reg. $700, sale $519
Sony CDP750 Remote Control CD player with 4X Oversampling - Reg. $370, Sale $288
Sony STRAV450 AM/FM Stereo Receiver with Remote Control, 35 watts/channel - Reg. $300, sale $197
Onkyo TX82 AM/FM Stereo Tuner/Amplifier with Remote, 45 watts/channel - Reg. $360, sale $299
NAD 7240PE AM/FM Stereo Receiver, 40 watts/channel - Reg. $478, sale $429
Technics SAR921 80 Watt Remote Control AM/FM Stereo receiver (40 watts/channel) - Reg. $300, sale $186
Technics SLBD35K Fully automatic Stereo turntable - Reg. $4150, sale $99

Those are just a few of the many items in the 8 page ad. Of course, those prices are in terms of seventies' dollars! :grin:


These prices are not from seventies. They are from 1987. For starters there were no CD players of HiFi VCR's in the seventies.

[Cholly]

These prices are not from seventies. They are from 1987. For starters there were no CD players of HiFi VCR's in the seventies.

Thanks for the correction. The ad was undated, and senioritis set in, causing me to think it was the 70's time frame. :eek2: :bowdown: :bang

[Richard King]

Title changed to reflect senioritis. :)

[Richard King]

I worked at a place that sold some home theatre gear in the early '80s and I remember the VHS VCRs going for $699 and that was a steal! Keep in mind we were renting a whole house for $175/month and you could still get a decent car for $6,000.

I worked in a place that sold some stereo equipment (the term "home theater" hadn't been invented yet) in the early/mid '70's that carried no VHS decks at all (VHS also hadn't been invented yet). I was there when we took delivery of our first Sony Beta machine though ($1250 - timer optional).

[Cholly]

Title changed to reflect senioritis. :)

Thankew!:D

[bertman64]

I got my first VHS VCR "on sale" for 729.99. A JVC with not 2 heads but 4 and not a wired remote but a wireless! My 1st DVD player was also a JVC with a built in dolby digital decoder all for only 400.00 or so! Last year I got my 1st HD DVD player on closeout for 99.00: the Toshiba A30 and just got my 1st blu-ray, a Sony BDP 300 factory refurbished for 164.00 so I'm not the big spender I used to be or maybe just smarter!