I recall picking up cheap 2nd hand to reconfigure in the 1970s when on a project in Liverpool, there was a comprehensive music shop nearby where you could test out deck, styli, amplifier, speaker combinations for a lot for, visiting the new shop was a disappointment, display cases of standard products and nothing else, I called in a model shop whilst passing through Peterborough recently to find supplies I had never come across before, the specialist trade has moved on for those that want more than shiny boxes.