A Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer believed to have been owned and played by electronic music pioneer Vangelis has sold for £401,465, setting a new benchmark as the most expensive synthesizer ever sold.
The instrument was listed on Reverb by a seller based in Athens, who claimed it was used by Vangelis on his 1977 album Spiral and was his very first CS-80. The listing, which has since been removed, described the synth as fully functional with its original stand and lid, in excellent condition aside from a distinctive cigarette burn on one of the A keys and minimal cosmetic wear. It also noted the absence of a serial number, identifying the unit as an early prototype.
In a 1984 interview with Electronics & Music Maker, Vangelis said:
“the most important synthesiser in my career” and “the best analogue synthesiser design there has ever been.”
The sale follows other high-profile auctions of historic electronic music equipment, including the $256,000 paid last year for Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider’s Kling Klang Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder.
Vangelis, who died in 2022 at the age of 79, was a pivotal figure in bringing synthesizers to mainstream audiences through film scores such as Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner.
