General consensus on buying used eq.

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.

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

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.

I agree with the comments regarding avoiding phono cartidges and equipment from defunct companies ( I have a Sonics Frontier Line 2 which has a bad i/c - my local guy is stumped, now I need to search out a healer).

Other than that I feel pretty good making a deal if the sellers feedback AND the feedback from the people leaving feedback checks out. Extra points for "good communication", "good packing", and "product as advertised".

Weim-boy-

The SF units are still supported by Anthem and by the original guys at www.partsconnexion.com

Kal

Also ask the seller to pack very well. as I sold cdp here and was damaged in shipping from Baton Rouge to California, via UPS. The buyer had to send it back and I put in a $500 claim to UPS, 4 months ago. It may take another 2 to 3 months, as Katrina and Rita has placed overloads on claim dept of UPS. Thats 6 months of waiting. Hopefully you do not have to go through that if you pack well. Do not use pop corn, go to Lowes and buy some styrofoam, and BOUBLE BOX EVERYTHING.....
Disagree with Liz about original box and manual being of importance. However through emails you will get an idea of the seller's sincerity on the condition /age/use of the unit.

Paul
Baton Rouge

btw my cdp was on the second floor with 8 feet of flood water on the first floor. The unit was in the house for 1 week, but windows were open, so no humidity buildup issues. Agree with Liz, be careful on buying from the southern US area.