Mint Fosgate Gavotte in Original Box

[clbolt]

I've decided to sell one of my fosgate Gavotte Pro-Plus 360 Degree Digital Space Matrix. For those of you who don't know, this was the first surround processor for car audio, designed by Jim Fosgate and sold by Fosgate Inc/ Fosgate Audionics. It's still considered by many to be the best analog surround processor ever built. This is the Model 2, with front and rear inputs, and 5 channels of output plus either a stereo or mono subwoofer out. THis second (and final) incarnation of the Gavotte was also supposedly minus the noise problems associated with the earlier model.

This particular unit was shipped to Ivan Berger when it was new, for a review in Audio Magazine. It was then packed away for the next couple of decades, till I picked it up. The Gavotte is dead-mint, it was never mounted and doesn't have a mark on it that I can find. It comes in the original box, which is heavily shelf-worn and has had it's shipping labels removed.

This unit can work with only two channels of input. Each channel of input and output is individually adjustable for level/ gain. It also has adjustable front separation and bass EQ. Besides all that, it's treated with Tweek! (look that up for fun). It also includes the original instructions, just as Fosgate Xeroxed them, in a clear Mylar slip-on binder.

There is one negative with this unit. The original tester doesn't remember it ever coming with a separation control. I suspect it may have come with it originally, but that it got lost somewhere in the intervening years. It's a simple control, just a 5-pin DIN plug with a length of clear lamp ford, soldered to a mini toggle switch. I've ordered the plug, and I'll duplicate the controller as exactly as it can be done. That is to say, it'll be exact minus the little plastic plate that tells you what position it's in.

That's about it. This is an extremely rare unit in exceptional condition, truly hand-built in the USA when that was the norm in high-end car audio, and with a bit of magazine provenance. The price is $250 shipped anywhere in the US, PayPal only unless you have something seriously cool to trade that I just can't live without.

[veleno]

Try taking a picture without the flash and a little closer so we can see what the diagram shows.

[SAABsonic]

NO, Dont sell it! Take it to your local frame shop and have them build a gold gilded shadow box picture frame that is backlit from the inside, and display it in your living room. THIS is piece of car audio history!

I'll never forget that sunny day in Tulsa when I sat inside Leo Smothers Chevy Astro Van (more google fun), after he got the Gavotte installed. In 1988, Leo placing first in the alpine Grand National, with all TOBY speakers, Zapco Amps as I recall, and the Gavotte. THAT was a system!

[kmarei]

to get rid of the flash brightness
try to take the picture at an angle
not straight on top,but to the side
so you are looking diagonally down on the product

[BassAddictJ]

i wouldnt sell it bitch is nicccce

[roduk]

Wow never seen one of those before - It's lovely

[clbolt]

I have a second one that's brand new in the box, or I wouldn't be offering this one for sale. I'll try to get some better pics later.

[dtm337]

wow ........i remember that from car audio mag when i was in h/s .....and i thought i was a hoarder with all my hafler gear collecting dust that i will never use but wont sell either ....

[clbolt]

Here are a few more pics. I did my best, but better pics will require daylight. Those of you who own FD Mavicas know how overpowering the flash is, and no angle will tame it on this surface.



And the guts. This may just be the most elegant board I've ever seen, in high-gloss piano black with the screening in gold. The perfect rows of hand-soldered electronics without a surface-mount device in sight speak to the old-school craftsmanship involved. Somewhere in my literature I have a brochure with a photo of a fosgate tech soldering on one of their home surround processors during this same period.

[clbolt]

Here are a couple of scans from a one-sheet brochure for the Gavotte. Notice that this is a different unit than what I'm selling; this is the original, not the Model 2.

[clbolt]

And here's a cool scan of the cover of another fosgate Audionics brochure from the same period. That's Peter Scheiber on the left, the man who created Matrix Surround Sound, and Jim Fosgate on the right, the man who made it work properly.

[clbolt]

Up^^^

[Ţĥıπģ₣ıѕђ]

Wow, just wow......


Talk about a major flashback.


I agree with not selling it, framing it and displaying it..... I would NEVER part with that piece of history.

[clbolt]

Originally Posted by Ţĥıπģ₣ıѕђ

Wow, just wow......


Talk about a major flashback.


I agree with not selling it, framing it and displaying it..... I would NEVER part with that piece of history.

This one's my spare, I have another one that's still wrapped in plastic. I'm just at a point where it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep things I won't use.

[Ţĥıπģ₣ıѕђ]

Originally Posted by clbolt

This one's my spare, I have another one that's still wrapped in plastic. I'm just at a point where it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep things I won't use.

Wish I could swing one. It was always a dream to have one, and that dream never came true.......

[Pillow]

You always have the coolest stuff FS!!!

GLWS, I am sure someone will snatch this collectors item up.

[dbphelps]

It's a refurb with a refurb box...

A bunch of us have been around since "way back when" and remember exactly how a bunch of this stuff was sold...

Sony had the exact same packaging for thier refurb stuff as well... I have two refurb Sony XEC-1000s that are both in the same kind of boxes...

It doesn't change the fact it is a good condition piece of history... Just represent it as it is. I HATE IT when people don't represent things as they are. And that isn't to say you knew it was a refurb.

If you wanted to sell it as new and have another in the original box, you should have sold it with the box, then no-one would have known.

If you didn't know it was a refurb, well, now you know.

[clbolt]

Originally Posted by dbphelps

It's a refurb with a refurb box...

You're wrong. If you've never owned a Gavotte, it's an understandable mistake. These were shipped directly from fosgate iInc/ Fosgate Audionics in these boxes, there was never a proper "retail" box. All of them had a simple Fosgate shiping label pasted to the box for the trip, but no other markings other than the word Gavotte and the serial number hand-written on the end in permanent marker.

I've been around since "way back when" as well, and I know how these were packaged from the factory. Don't ever accuse me of misrepresenting something if you don't have the evidence to back it up.

[clbolt]

Originally Posted by dbphelps

If you wanted to sell it as new and have another in the original box, you should have sold it with the box, then no-one would have known.

That statement in particular really pisses me off. You come into my thread and crap all over it with your assertions that I'm trying to pass something off as something it's not, then suggest I could have perpetrated this fraud by selling this unit in the brand new box. Here's a photo of the other box, complete with it's original shipping label. It's exactly the same, with the same handwriting on the end, of course the serial number is different.

I'm keeping this box because the shipping label is still intact, because the serial number matches the unit inside, and because that unit is still sealed in it's original plastic.

[dbphelps]

Originally Posted by clbolt

I've been around since "way back when" as well, and I know how these were packaged from the factory. Don't ever accuse me of misrepresenting something if you don't have the evidence to back it up.

Wow, internet tuff-guy, eh?

Sorry, you have no way of proving jack either... Plenty of manufacturers sent refurb'd product in boxes like that, and that is a PROVEABLE fact. I can post up a Sony box that looks identical. And Sony NEVER sold anything other than refurbs that way.

Hmm, don't even have an original manual either, eh?

Nothing to prove, other than you spinning a wild tale to make a few extra bucks. You have a piece of history in nice shape, but that is it. All this BS of it being a test product, etc, etc is nothing more than antique-slinging BS.

[dbphelps]

Originally Posted by clbolt

That statement in particular really pisses me off. You come into my thread and crap all over it with your assertions that I'm trying to pass something off as something it's not, then suggest I could have perpetrated this fraud by selling this unit in the brand new box. Here's a photo of the other box, complete with it's original shipping label. It's exactly the same, with the same handwriting on the end, of course the serial number is different.

I'm keeping this box because the shipping label is still intact, because the serial number matches the unit inside, and because that unit is still sealed in it's original plastic.

All that proves is that you have one that was sent back to fosgate and shipped back to you. Probably a unit that needed a repair for a noise issue. Or possibly a first gen unit that was sent in because of noise and they replaced it with the new version.

Unless you have a receipt for that item, showing it was purchased from Fosgate, with serial number and all then your story is jsut that a story. And you have no way of proving it.

[clbolt]

Originally Posted by dbphelps

All that proves is that you have one that was sent back to fosgate and shipped back to you. Probably a unit that needed a repair for a noise issue. Or possibly a first gen unit that was sent in because of noise and they replaced it with the new version.

Unless you have a receipt for that item, showing it was purchased from Fosgate, with serial number and all then your story is jsut that a story. And you have no way of proving it.

I do have the receipt from the one that's still sealed in plastic showing when it was shipped to the retailer from Fosgate. I've also discussed this subject at length with a number of collectors of Jim Fosgate's equipment. Fosgate, Inc. was a small company, and in those days hadn't invested in fancy boxes or big marketing campaigns. The pre-Rockford amps were packaged in the same way.

Why exactly are you crapping on my thread again?

[OldOneEye]

I'm closing this due to post crapping. Let's start over and the expecation is that the seller can expect people to follow forum rules regarding post crapping.

I've owned one of these as well, and it was close to 20 years ago they came out so I'm not sure why the big deal about how the item is packaged.