manufactured refurbished

I sell both new "A" stock, and refurbished, or "B" stock. As a rule, I have almost no problems with the refurbished products. Almost every piece of gear I have at home is "B" stock. I have never had a single piece of mine fail. In many cases, it is something that required a firmware update. In that case, you are less likely to have a problem than buying the "new" one that may not have the most current firmware. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.

Grab it. 1/2 price-effectively brand new. Their loss is your gain. Your warranty is from the same group that makes JBL, JBL Professional, Revel, Mark Levinson, Lexicon,DBX and numerous other professional products. These are the big boys and they have an enormous professional reputation to maintain. The 990 looks great. M/C cartridge input-with god overload capability,additional processing for digital-- and these guys basically own the processing market. Check out what Lexicon, DBX have in processing. Great power with 150 watts rms and it will put out instantaneous peaks of about 200 AMPs. EVEN a detachable power cord-that gives you great flexiblity and a great upgrade path! Plus it has balanced input. The older HK products never wore out- I know I had a Citation. I'm amazed at the overall value here. I don't think you can go wrong.

Wnbode, although your OP refers to a specific amp and manufacturer, the OP title asks an even broader question. That being whether one should consider buying refurbished goods from any company. In my case, I've bought re-furbed HP computers that hold up longer than I expected. The death-knoll is when my son trashes the computer -- not when the thing blows up.

In the audio world, 2 of my ARC pieces have come directly from ARC. My PH-8 phono pre is a "B" stock refurb that was used as a demo at shops. My Ref 5 SE is an upgraded, essentially remanufactured, unit that was literally hand re-built by ARC.

I have zero qualms about picking up stuff like that from a company like ARC because of the quality of the gear and ARC's A+ reputation. Based on conversations with Lenard and Kal, I know that ARC will not let anything it worked on out of its shop unless it meets original spec and passed Bill Gehls' listening test. They simply don't want defective ARC gear out there. I recall that it is ARC policy that it will not repair specially modded units unless all the mods are taken out and ARC components reinstalled.

I always get items that are from the company and not the 3rd party. I never want to deal with 3rd party stuff. For me that's like not having anything. The real deal is how much off? I bought a piece years ago that was reburb from the company that they sold through a store. They offered if for 15% off and I knew I could get new for 20% off down the street. They didn't spend any time with me as I knew what I wanted. I told them I'll take it new for the 20% off or reburb for 30% off. They must have wanted to move stock...;)....just figure out what it's worth to you and if they do it, go for it. Good luck and let us know.

I've had an excellent experience, especially with Sony products. I've purchased over ten items and have never been disappointed. The value is unbeatable, the risk almost non existent given returns are always free. Sadly in the last year there have been few audio products offered by SonyStyle. I am sure that since Sony has struggled to turn its electronics products to profitability, we will not be seeing many more offerings. I think the lesson in all this is only buy refurb's directly from the original manufacturer. Avoid third parties at all cost.