Shopping around for used computer audio gear

[Tubetec]

Id been looking for a way to connect Firewire audio interfaces to the Mac Pro cylinder ,
Apple once made a Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire adapter ,but they fetch well over 100 euros secondhand ,
Instead I found a TB2 dock for 35 with a 1394 port ,
Basic functionality with Windows compatibillity drivers was a surprise ,
Its a bit power hungry though , requiring its own 12v6A supply .

I also grabbed an external TB2 raid enclosure , sold as faulty/missing PSU/no hard drives ,
The guy couldnt remember the exact history of it and let me have it for 20 ,
I installed and formatted a couple hard drives I reclaimed from SKY TV set top boxes and it works perfectly .

The Thunderbolt 2 interface is limited to 5K video , but for audio its still has massively adequate bandwidth ,
TB Audio interfaces are also starting to drop in price ,

[mediatechnology]

Where do you find this stuff? eBay, pawnshops?

We used to have a lot of surplus computer and electronic parts places in the DFW area.
Not so many now.
My brother's store, the original KA Electronics, started out in a mini warehouse selling surplus bought from TI.
That was around 1971.

My recent project after the major IT upgrade has been to remove and replace older hard rives that had low fitness due to the large number of hours on them.
I think one of the oldest, which wasn't returning errors, was about 10 years old.
Speedfan showed performance of 97% and fitness at 1%.
It was a WD Blue and I have quite a few WD black.
I just replaced one of them with a Seagate IronWolf 4TB and it's thinner and has less heat.

[Tubetec]

I keep an eye on local for sale websites ,
Prices are often 50% of the buy it now price on ebay , even less at times ,

Theres a network of high street stores here who buy and sell computer gear but you can order online with delivery by standard postal service from any branch in the country .

Then theres what I find at the recycle , thats always a mixed bag ,