For me it's a case of the greater the number of moving parts the greater the need to buy new when it comes to audio.
With speakers there's always the concern with surround rot and invisible damage to drivers (esp tweeters) and voice coils. I think piano at reasonably high volume is a good test for coil damage. You'll definitely know it when you hear it. A tremendously non musical screechy sound.
With amps there might be issues with calibration and imminent dry joints etc. My Creek Destiny amp I bought used soon developed issues with the pre/out bypass switch. Luckily I was able to bypass it with the use of jumper cables.
With the rest there's also the risk of various tweakery applied beforehand too. Frankly I'd rather buy a product as it was designed - not as a failed tweak job.
Having said that there was no other way of buying my current 1970s speakers than buying used. Thankfully the previous owner seemed to pay great respect in keeping it in original spec.
In any case it would always be good ethical practice to declare all mod history when selling. I had to when I sold my LP12.
Despite that the buyer couldn't seem to get it off my hands fast enough.
With speakers there's always the concern with surround rot and invisible damage to drivers (esp tweeters) and voice coils. I think piano at reasonably high volume is a good test for coil damage. You'll definitely know it when you hear it. A tremendously non musical screechy sound.
With amps there might be issues with calibration and imminent dry joints etc. My Creek Destiny amp I bought used soon developed issues with the pre/out bypass switch. Luckily I was able to bypass it with the use of jumper cables.
With the rest there's also the risk of various tweakery applied beforehand too. Frankly I'd rather buy a product as it was designed - not as a failed tweak job.
Having said that there was no other way of buying my current 1970s speakers than buying used. Thankfully the previous owner seemed to pay great respect in keeping it in original spec.
In any case it would always be good ethical practice to declare all mod history when selling. I had to when I sold my LP12.
Despite that the buyer couldn't seem to get it off my hands fast enough.