I usually only buy through Audiogon, TMR, USAM and have had very good results, with only a couple of disappointments on shipping issues. I am transitioning from a full suite of Dali Helicons in my main A/V system to Aperion Audio speakers. I found a pair of the excellent 6Ts just an hours' drive from home on Audiogon and will pick them up this weekend (they had been listed for several months and had gone unsold because seller was not willing to ship, evidently). The 6C center came up on ebay, and it looked like the seller knew his stuff.....the speaker was priced very reasonably and was in pristine condition, with a shipping charge of $83. This was a FL to NC deal (700 miles), and that seemed fair due to the size/weight of the speaker. I couldn't afford to pass it up, because this model is seldom seen for sale, especially in this condition at the listed price ($175). A one-inch layer of solid Styrofoam underneath the speaker would have prevented the damage from happening, and the seller used pieces of that elsewhere in the box, but almost as as afterthought, not strategically placed. He (somewhat) over-protected the top of the speaker and under-protected the bottom.....I should have hired carlsbad2 to warn him that most damage comes from below, not from above. That damage being the result of being dropped from too great a distance, in most cases.
When Will We Learn?
I retired in 2020 and have been selling much of my higher-end equipment while it still has considerable value. A few of those pieces were replaced by more mid-fi pieces, but ones that usually punch way above their weight. That lessened the pain of losing the higher SQ of the more expensive gear. This past week, I bought a very nice Aperion 6C center speaker that was in pristine condition before it shipped. It arrived today, with all kinds of protection on top of the speaker and almost none underneath. The speaker weighs 40 pounds, and one of the front corners got smashed. What was so galling was that I communicated my concern to the seller before making the purchase, because how you pack an item has a lot more to do with protecting it than how much padding you add. This seller obviously was not familiar with that concept (it was not an Audiogon purchase, BTW). The damage did not affect the sound of the speaker, but since it was a front corner, it will be a constant reminder of the unnecessary incident. The kicker was that I agreed to pay an $83.00 shipping charge to avoid this from happening, but there is no way to insure against stupidity.
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- 25 posts total
- 25 posts total