Adventures in (used) hi-fi

[Wie Gehts?]

I used to be the sort of person that always bought "new" -- new car, new CD's -- just never wanted someone else's discards or potential hidden problems. When I decided recently that I wanted a California Audio Labs CD player, however, I was forced to turn to the used market as CAL is now defunct. I also wanted a tubed pre-amp but didn't care to spend a ton of cash. I wound up getting the CAL from the dreaded eBay, and a Conrad-Johnson PV10AL from Audiogon.com.

Maybe I really lucked out, but both sellers were very stand-up guys -- honest and friendly, exceedingly accommodating, and most importantly, both items arrived in the condition as advertised. No unpleasant surprises, just great sound. I'm very happy with both purchases, and saved at least 50% of what these units cost when they were new.

This may be old news on this forum but if you're suffering from upgrade-itis, you owe it to yourself to check out Audiogon.com.

[Kayaker]

I bought my Krell KRC-3 Pre-amp on Audiogon a couple of years ago from someone who ended up living a few blocks from me. I too got it for 50% off list and had a very positive experience.
I recently bought (barely) used headphones and a headphone amp on eBay and also had a great experience.
However, I am sure there are people out there with horror stories ....

[Ted Bell]

I've also had good luck buying equipment from private buyers on both audiogon and audioasylum classifieds. The only somewhat negative experiences I've had buying on line was through dealer's web sites. In both cases (and these were not inexpensive pieces) the condition was grossly overstated. In one case a "demo" item turned out to be 8 years old!

Jay N.

[akshobhyavajra]

Originally posted by Dreamcatcher

Maybe I really lucked out, but both sellers were very stand-up guys -- honest and friendly, exceedingly accommodating, and most importantly, both items arrived in the condition as advertised. No unpleasant surprises, just great sound. I'm very happy with both purchases, and saved at least 50% of what these units cost when they were new.


I've had some good experiences as well. Earlier this year I purchased a used pair of Reference 3As at a very fair price - smooth transaction - product was good. It pays to look around for some things.

Regards,

~Michael~