I think a lot of used stuff here for sale is repaired gear. I'm only speaking from experience with my Ayre CD and VTL TL2.5 which both had issues shortly after I bought used
What to do with dead equipment
Hi - I have a Balanced Audio Technologies VK-5i preamp that has been giving me problems. Intermittent hum left channel. I sent it to their repair service and it was re-tubed. Problem continued. They ghosted me. Today upon powering up the preamp made a loud "pop" and blew the left channel of my Balanced Audio Technologies VK-500 amp. It's not the fuse. This stuff worked great for 25 years. But now I'm so done with money for repairs. What do I do with this broken stuff? I'm ready to find a metal recycler or just a land fill.......