Buying Used Speakers

I’ve owned 35+ pairs of speakers over the last 11 years. About half were either pre-owned or dealer demos.

I’ve had both positive and negative experiences buying used, but also a couple bad experiences with new speakers as well.

One thing I’ve come to conclude is that one seller’s “7/10” condition speaker might be a 9/10 (allegedly) in the eyes of other sellers. This seems to be ever more prevalent in the post-Covid era. I can’t count how many times I’ve see a pre-owned speaker listed as a “9/10” when it’s obvious to me that the drivers were abused, such as tweeter domes with ripples or dimples (very common with Dynaudio tweeters for example).

@cubbiesman  I've been buying and selling used speakers and all things high end audio on Audiogon for over 20 years with very positive results.  Now, there's several on-line outlets where used high end audio can be bought and sold.  I couldn't afford my own audio system if I had to buy it retail and not pre-owned as I did. Most online used websites like audiogon have it to where you can give feedback on a buyer or seller.  Usually, online sellers are very carful not to sell bad items because the buyers can leave negative feedback on them for all to see.  The ability to leave feedback on a buyer or seller is a great safeguard against negative or fraudulent transactions.  But, of course, there's always some kind of a risk factor in just about everything we do in life.  You decide.      

I practically only buy used gear. There are not may high end stores where I live, their selection is narrow and they charge exorbitant prices. I never bought speakers used, but I did buy a number of headphones. It is very difficult to find a place that would let you listen to headphones (Japan has no issues with that... but US does). But used or demo units provide great opportunity for evaluation. If you don't like them, you won't lose much.

Exception is when technology is new and there are no used units yet. For example, I purchased R2R DAC new - Denafrips makes really good ones and you rarely can find them used (I guess people keep them). 

Otherwise I bought and sold Pass, BAT, Sonic Frontiers, Adcom, Rotel, Marantz, Auralic, Rega, VPI, you name it.

@helomech That really resonates with me.  The dealer I'm considering has a hifi store and deals almost 50/50 between new and used sales.  His feedback is plenty and at 100%.  Still, it's definitely wise to verify exactly what you're describing and better yet to travel to the store to verify in person if possible.  Like you're saying, I wouldn't be able to afford what I want new but could in the used market.  

The other element is to verify his past sales.  Are they high end items similar to what I'm considering?  I can't tell you the number of times I went to verify a seller only to find the high rating was based on selling nickel/dime items.  It's also good to see how cooperative they are in doing up front things like taking your calls, taking more photos, entertaining a visit to audition, etc.    

As a seller, speakers are by far the worst item to sell.  When we say things like fully tested and performs flawlessly, I can tell you at least what I mean.  I connect them to my system and put them through their paces.  I listen to tracks and check if I hear static or distortion.  If everything checks out....it is fine.  These are speakers.  They are not that complex to test.  Incidentally, I do the same thing when I test gear.  Need to test all inputs and outputs and make sure everything works.  DACs and servers are most annoying things to test.  

That said, speakers are hardest item to ship.  I have had two issues in 5 years which is higher than on any other product type.  In one case, FedEx beat the hell out of the box and the base of the speaker was damage.  This was $150 item that was easily removed and replaced.  The other, FedEx beat the hell out of the box and a glued piece of wood came loose inside and knocked a wire loose on the crossover.  In that case, it was an inexpensive repair.  Both cases, I covered it. Clarify what happens with your seller if something goes wrong.  

Other notes.  I would want to see them in original packaging and depending on the type of speaker, might insist that it ships freight rather than UPS/FedEx.  I would flex on this if you were buying from a very reputable seller that has purchased packaging materials from someone like ULine or has it professionally packaged by FedEx.  Then if anything happens you have a checkmate on the people at FedEx and they have to pay the claim.