I've been curious about the number of ads for used equipment that indicate the piece has been checked and certified by the factory. It seems like a great deal of expense, inconvenience (some of our stuff is heavy!!!) and time for the seller to round trip ship it. I recognize the value perceived by the buyer (if it's true), but it kind of a red alert to me whenever I see it, like a "only driven to church on Sundays" ploy.
Would appreciate thoughts and feedback from someone that's either done this, or bought a piece of equipment listed as such. Did they provide paperwork?
Oh, and I've got a rare Hummel listed on eBay. It was made in 1883 and is of Spiderman. Best offer.
I recently called an authorized service rep who knew more about the brand than the people selling it. There are only two places in the US to repair this brand. When I called on an ad that claimed "all panels replaced" I decided to check with this same repair guy. He knew the seller well and offered that he had replaced all the panels in one speaker but not in the other. At $500/panel it adds up fast at 6/per speaker.
I sent my Jeff Rowland consonance preamp to him after a boneheaded move on my part. (after increasing the gain, I put the module back in one pin off, powered it up and got to smell some expensive smoke). Called them & was able to talk to Jeff himself. He replaced the module with an upgraded one, upgraded the power supply & brought the entire unit up to factory specs. That is incredible service for a 26 year old preamp.
The preamp now sounds better than it ever has :-)
If it is a reputable manufacturer then I would be more influenced by the recent service to make the purchase. I would be confident the unit had been reviewed and tested by the manufacturer. No different than purchasaing a used house or vehicle.
Ask for paperwork and or call the manufacturer- these are generally very small firms and recent service will be remembered..... i am currently sending a rare phono preamp across the pond so it’s creator can not only repair it but give it a clean bill of health before I sell it.... not needed on everything for sure...
I would think the factory could verify. I think on some items it is worth doing, on others not so much. I bought a small Audience Power Conditioner that had a factory check, cost the seller very little to do, and made a difference to me as buyer...
I just had my Krell MCX350 monos serviced, 1 had an issue and both had all capacitors replaced. $2k later they are like new. However I will be selling either these or MC601 monos after I see which ones I like better. The Krell's are now factory spec fresh and I would rather have those with invoice of what was replaced if I were buying Krell's.
What difference does it make? As long as the seller provides a bill of sale, you now have a product just serviced. I would take that over another one that hasn't been serviced recently.
I think they are repairs. When the seller says "recently checked out" along with "clean bill of health" means to me that it is now, but not before they sent in the piece.
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