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General consensus on buying used eq.

First I like to thank everyone whois ever contributed in this forum. It has really lessen the learning curve in this complicated often times expensive hobby. Now that I know alot more and will be buying equiment to try out in my system I was wondering what in the general rules in buying certain equiment. Are there certain items that shouldn't be brought used? What other pitfall should I be aware of when buying used equiment? Thanks guys.
daimbert
porziob
316 posts
 
Try to only buy in your area so you can demo & avoid defective units. This also negates shipping damage which is more prevalent than one would think.
reubent
6,990 posts
 
Be cautious when buying used speakers. Speakers are difficult to ship because of their size and weight. Make sure you verify that the seller has adequately packaged the speakers so the shipping company can not destroy them. Sometimes this may mean that additional material needs to be added to the original shipping material that may have come with the speakers from the factory.

Turntables are also extremely difficult to ship without damage. If you buy a TT, verify that the seller has all of the original shipping material and verify that they know how to repackage the unit as it was from the factory.

Personally, I would not buy a CD or DVD player that is more than a couple of years old. The transports are mechanical and do fail frequently on aging units.

BTW, the advice from Porziob is sound. I'm going today to audition a CD player at a local AgoN'rs home.

Enjoy,

TIC
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dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
All good advice. However, just so you know that it can be done if you're careful. I've bought/sold/shipped five TTs, several 100+ lbs. amps, preamps, phono stages, etc. with no problems.

One thing I will never do is purchase a used phono cartridge unless it was from someone I knew very well.
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