new gear vs used gear

used,mint cond,less then 50%retail, nuff said....... ...... ..... in what other hobby can you get gear that looks and operates like new (no scratches, no nicks, original manual, box, sales receipt, packing material), for less than 50% off of retail or more, often with pieces not that old and still have most of it life and usefulness left in it? Cars? nope. Not mint, and defintely not 50% off. car audio? trashed to hell (scratches, broken glass in heatsink fins, etc) and 25% off at best, clothes (not really), houses (yeah right), computers (not in mint shape and not 50% off for desirable items). So basically high-end audio is an anomally. And to me high-end is a commodity. That's why I buy used.

I'm also basically 50% new, 50% used.

50/50 only because sometimes used is not readily available. like 31 foot Kimber shot gun 8TC biwire speaker cables.

Wow, lets see...

- 4 pr spkrs, 2 from dealers, 1 review pair from the importer, and 1 (the main rig pair) from A'gon
- 4 sets of speaker cables, all but 1 from A'gon
- 6 amps, 1 from a dealer, 5 from A'gon
- 3 pre-amps/pre-pros, 2 from dealers, 1 from A'gon
- 2 CD transports, both from dealers
- 2 DACs, 1 from dealer, 1 from A'gon
- 1 tuner from A'gon
- 1 TT/tonearm from dealer
- 2 cartridges from dealers

Wouldn't even try to guess about other cabling. The interesting part from my perspective is that if I actually think about the % of $ I've spent on A'gon v. dealers, its waaay different in A'gon's favor. In #s of pieces, I'm 12/25, or 48% A'gon. But, in terms of $s spent, I'm... er, wait a minute... about 60% A'gon. Do people find they tend to buy more expensive big-ticket items things on A'gon or cheaper ones? I think my major purchases tend to be A'gon, with the exception of mechanical stuff like TTs and CDs.

Interesting...

Tuner new...well it was in 1982
Universal player-new
Pre/pro dealer demo
speakers..5/7 new
subwoofer. demo
power conditioners all 3 used
receiver. new
DVD Player 3/3 new
Replay TV new
TV new
Amp….7/7 used

WOW, I'm also a retail/demo buyer!!!!!

15 of 27 (55%) new or demo…..not bad, I’m working on dropping the new/used ratio though