Good used Hi-Fi brands?

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Hi,

The question is mostly in the last two paragraphs, but here's a bit of background story for context: about a year ago I decided to buy a turntable after hearing the claims of higher quality sound. It was my first turntable and I was on a budget, looking for the cheapest setup possible. I opted for an audio-technica at-lp60 turntable (not the absolute cheapest but reading about crosley's terrible-ness convinced me to spare a bit more), paired it with the cheapest (well-reviewed) stereo amplifier I could find on amazon (pyle, ~$100) and a pair of yamaha bookshelf speakers I stole from my dad's basement. I was fairly satisfied, it sounded better than my desktop speakers, but I wasn't completely happy.

A few weeks ago I decided to upgrade my turntable. I bought the Fluance RT-81. Beautiful turntable, love it so far. When I plugged it in and played a record I did notice a difference in sound, but it was subtle. It's almost like I could hear the cheap amp holding things back. I set myself a budget and google'd "best amp under $X". Of course top ten lists are abundant in that subject, with most lists having few in common with each other, but one thing that was a constant was "try to look for used gear". Looking at what was available in my local clasifieds and guided by online reviews I bought a used Marantz PM6010 OSE and was well within my budget. HUGE improvement. Shortly after, I bought a pair of klipsch RF-52 floorstanding speakers (used as well) which also brought a positive change. I also bought a Technics SL-PD-8 CD player, only had the time to listen to 3 songs from teh CD player so all I can say is that it works so far.

After this experience, I was pretty surprised about how affordable a decent sound system can be if bought used. I am very happy with my current setup . It's the best system I've had the chance to listen to for extended periods of time, even though modest modest compared to other Hi-Fi setups out there. Seeing that used Hi-Fi can be had for such low prices, I'm now interested in buying and swapping out parts, to experiment with setups and find what works best for me.

[font="Arial, sans-serif"]TL;DR: I just bought my first "good" stereo setup (used), and want to experiment with different components.[/font]

[font="Arial, sans-serif"]Moving on to the actual question:[/font]

[font="Arial, sans-serif"]As a newcomer to Hi-Fi looking at used gear, what should I look for and what should I avoid? Mostly in terms of brands. I know brand name isn't always everything, but for example an Audi will typically be more luxurious than a Honda, and a Bentley even more. So what's the hierarchy of brand names in Hi-Fi? Looking at local classifieds I see a lot of Sony, Bose, Pioneer, Technics, a few marantz and NAD. Which of those would be upgrades to my current setup, and what other names should I look for? Are there any pieces of equipment I should add (tuner maybe?) I'm less interested in used turntables than other gear because I'm not 100% comfortable in assessing their condition or performing any repairs on them, and I don't want to damage my discs with a broken turntable.[/font]

Just a reminder of my current setup: Fluance RT-81 turntable, Technics SL-PD-8 CD player, Marantz PM6010 OSE amplifier, Klipsch RF-52 floorstanding speakers (pair). All was bought used, except for turntable. I use this to listen to (mostly) metal and its subgenres (death, threash, heavy, etc).

[font="Arial, sans-serif"]P.S I'm also looking to change a few RCA cables, what are some good (relatively cheap) ones? Not looking to spend $2k on cables, just want to remove issues with bad connections.[/font]

[font="Arial, sans-serif"]P.P.S I'm in Canada if that matters at all.[/font]

 

[BigH]

With vinyl I would be looking to spend more money, an entry level TT will only go so far. A decent tt and cartridge would be my first thing to get, if vinyl is your main source. Those brands its all too general apart from Bose, they all produce decent products but need to know model numbers and prices. Speakers I would look out for Totems as they are Canadian so probably better value than UK imports.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1501104106582061]

Problem is that anything over ther price of the fluance was out of my price range. It felt like the best value for money for a new turntable. I mentionned that I felt uncomfortable with buying a used table because I'm not familiar with how to check its condition or repair it, is that a reasonable concern to have or am I worrying about a non-issue? Do you think the current bottleneck in my setup is my turntable?

 

[Al ears]

Problem is that anything over ther price of the fluance was out of my price range. It felt like the best value for money for a new turntable. I mentionned that I felt uncomfortable with buying a used table because I'm not familiar with how to check its condition or repair it, is that a reasonable concern to have or am I worrying about a non-issue? Do you think the current bottleneck in my setup is my turntable?

Yes, and no.

Your turntable is the bottleneck because it comes fitted with a cartridge that costs £23 here in the UK. That's cheap.....

I am sure if more was spent in that department you will get a vast improvement.

MOTTO: You cannot do justice to vinyl on the cheap!! ;-)

 

[lindsayt]

Alexandre, congratulations on having a mind that was open enough to try a few 2nd hand items. As you've discovered, buying used is the way to go for getting the best sound quality for the money.

You are also lucky in living in North America where there's a plentiful supply of great sounding gear for highly affordable amounts of money.

There are no best brands for buying used.

There are no makes that had the monopoly on making the very best sounding equipment.

When I buy used there are 3 things that I look at. Price when new (Over a million yen when new is great. Half a million yen is fine too). Weight (over 70kgs for speakers, over 20 kgs for amplifiers). Price I can buy it at now - inparticular the price of the item I'm considering compared to the going rate for that model.

Google's great for researching anything that you fancy.

This site is useful for finding price when new and weight: http://www.audio-heritage.jp/

The biggest bargains tend to be items that need a bit of love and care / some repairs. EG speakers needing new surrounds on the bass cones. CD players with "failed" lasers that just need a good clean, amps with noisy pots etc.

They also tend to be items that haven't been hyped to high heaven, either by the manufacturer, or hi-fi magazines or hi-fi forums.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1501104106582061]

thanks for the site, it will be useful in the future. I can't read japanese but google translate helps me navigate The guidelines for weight are appreciate too!

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1501104106582061]

In regards to your motto, "you cannot do justice to vinyl on the cheap": I agree that higher end equipment will bring better results, but the problem is that I don't want to go cheap, I have to. I'm still a student which means I can only hold a full-time job for a third of the year and I have a tuition bill coming my way in september. Not that I'm complaining about it, it's just that every system has a compromise and that's either sound quality, cash invested, or a balance of both. Right now I'm trying to strike the best balance possible while having some fun with it.

Your point about the cartridge is good, thanks for the advice. Do you think it would be worth replacing the cartridge? if so, with which one? I have to admit I have no knowledge in that field, but I have heard of the ortofon 2M red, is it good? It's kind of at the top of (and a bit over) what I'd want to spend right now though.

Thanks to all you guys for the advice

 

[BigH]

Yes I do think the TT and cartridge are a bottleneck. The Ortofon Red may give you some improvement over what you have now but I don't think its a great cartridge, not sure of the prices in Canada, you can probably get an AT or Shure for similar money. Have a look on vinylengine.

 

[Al ears]

In regards to your motto, "you cannot do justice to vinyl on the cheap": I agree that higher end equipment will bring better results, but the problem is that I don't want to go cheap, I have to. I'm still a student which means I can only hold a full-time job for a third of the year and I have a tuition bill coming my way in september. Not that I'm complaining about it, it's just that every system has a compromise and that's either sound quality, cash invested, or a balance of both. Right now I'm trying to strike the best balance possible while having some fun with it.

Your point about the cartridge is good, thanks for the advice. Do you think it would be worth replacing the cartridge? if so, with which one? I have to admit I have no knowledge in that field, but I have heard of the ortofon 2M red, is it good? It's kind of at the top of (and a bit over) what I'd want to spend right now though.

Thanks to all you guys for the advice

In your case the Ortofon may not be a good buy, the Shure M97XE is a better all rounder but don't know the price of this where you are. It's usually around the same price vas the 2M Red. Failing that a move up the Audio Technica line might be in order, maybe the AT110 E.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1501104106582061]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I think I'll make a trip to my local audio shop sometime this week to look at cartridges, it should be a good source of information for pricing and availability in my region. Semi-related, what are you guys' opinions on buying used turntables? I've been avoiding that option (only component in my setup that I bought new) because I felt "safer" buying it new. I was under the impression that a broken turntable can damage records, and since I'm not familiar with turntable construction and what can go wrong with them I opted to buy new. But do you guys have experience with buying used turntables? Am I worrying about a nonexistent problem?

 

[Al ears]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I think I'll make a trip to my local audio shop sometime this week to look at cartridges, it should be a good source of information for pricing and availability in my region. Semi-related, what are you guys' opinions on buying used turntables? I've been avoiding that option (only component in my setup that I bought new) because I felt "safer" buying it new. I was under the impression that a broken turntable can damage records, and since I'm not familiar with turntable construction and what can go wrong with them I opted to buy new. But do you guys have experience with buying used turntables? Am I worrying about a nonexistent problem?

It can be a minefield. If you have little idea about set-up then I would steer clear unless buying from a very reputable source. Ex-demo from a dealer might be an alternative. You are more likely to find one without a cartridge, or if it has the original fitted its best to replace it anyway.