| Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
October 23, 2007 - 9:07pm
#1
Buying new or used equipment?
| Loudspeakers Amplification Digital Sources | |
Analog Sources Accessories Featured | |
Music Columns Retired Columns | |
Show Reports | |
Features Latest News Community | |
Resources Subscriptions |
© 2024 StereophileAVTech Media Americas Inc., USA
All rights reserved
I have bought a lot of used gear in the last two years and been very happy with it. I bought some of it on Ebay, and some from Audiogon. 'Even bought some from the local dealer, and it was all pretty much as described. I bought a Mac 6100 Integrated Amp that was just immaculate for 450.00. I have been playing it for 18 months now and cannot find a "wart" on it. Last week I bought a pair of Class A Mono blocks off of Audiogon that took my whole system to another level. If you see what you want used, I would say get it! Your results may vary.
I'm glad to hear of your good experience. I've explored the used gear world, and find it attractive. I don't need the latest features, and I'm glad to avoid paying the premium for 'new' in other areas of life. However, I find a few barriers. Perhaps you and others can advise.
- Are there some types of audio equipment that you shouldn't buy used? For example, I wonder if cassette players hold up all that well (e.g., rubber parts like belts and pinch rollers) after 10+ years. I haven't found anyone around here who repairs audio equipment, and I don't want to get into anything more than very simple repairs myself.
- None of the local high end dealers has used equipment in their shops. It doesn't show up on Craigslist in my area (SE Michigan) very often, so there's not much selection there. That seems to limit me to Ebay and Audiogon. For the first room I'm upgrading I don't expect to go to the high end -- it's not that good of a listening room. I posted an estimate of spending $300-500 for three items last night. I might go up to $1000 if I thought it was a good value. I believe this pretty much rules out most or all of what is on Audiogon, from a quick glance. That leaves me with Ebay. I'm okay with buying there -- though I have done this only once. However, I don't know what a reasonable price range is for used audio gear. I see that Ebay allows access to 'completed listings'. However this appears to go back only a very short time. So for most equipment there is no meaningful sales history to establish what a reasonable price is. Any advice on this or other aspects of buying used gear?
If you do some digging on eBay, you can get a fairly late-model Nakamichi tape deck for between $50 and $100 (I picked up a CR2 last year so I could copy tapes of my college-era band to CD-- the deck sounds so beautiful that I think if I had owned one in 1992, when it was made, I wouldn't have ever bought a CD player in the 1990s). Certain models seem to be more durable than others, but Naks are pretty well known for being easy to do belt work on, and the belts are readily available. If you're worried about shipping, set a search for a 100 mile radius or something.
Pricing is a little tougher to do well. Audiogon has a Bluebook if you are a paid subscriber. It seems to be based on what folks have actually paid for used gear. That seems to be the best way to base these things. I just got on ebay and did some automatic daily searches for things and saved the items I was interested in. After a month or so I had a pretty good idea about what prices were. I also watched items on AG to see what they sold for. You are right to be leery of pieces with moving parts. Lionel speaks true about Buying thing that can be easily repaired with parts readily available. A little web surfing will turn up a lot of answers. I like the used thing because I can try different things without taking a big hit in the pocketbook. Well purchased items that don't fit my expectations can be sold for close to cost. Now that my kids are grown I have a few bucks to play with. Why should MF, AD, JA, et al have all the fun? lol