New v second hand

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I've been wanting a new hifi for a while now, my seperates system was stolen in 2002 and I went for a denon MD 31 system, not bad, and the speakers were not stolen so I still have them, kef coda 7s (had 20 yrs now).. Wanted a decent hifi for years but no space or money till now

Heard the roksan kandy k2 cd and amp, with B&W 685s, also the marantz PM6002 system with same speakers. Then roksan with epos M12i (which we liked a lot better).

Since then I've been offered a system for £500 by a good friend of mine (not heard it yet), its

CD - Marantz CD63 KI signature
Integrated amp - Arcam 8
Power amp - Arcam 8P
Tuner - NAD 412
Speakers - Castle severn mark 2

Any views on this? We can't listen to hifi in advance (its boxed up), we can say no if we don't like it but we will feel v guilty if that happens! BTW took me a while to persuade my girfriend to even listen to it, she is not a fan of lots of boxes, she would prefer the arcam solo really

Any advice much appreciated

 

[John Duncan]

Not bad, but 500 feels a bit steep tbh. Let me check some prices.

 

[plastic penguin]

JohnDuncan:Not bad, but 500 feels a bit steep tbh. Let me check some prices.

Yup! I go along with that. You could probably buy similar set-up for nearly 1/2 that price from fleebay or similar sites. Unless, of course, it's in mint condition, then it might be worth a punt.

 

[the record spot]

Castle Severns were excellent floorstanders roughly a decade ago, so don't expect to see too many of those going on the cheap; they work very well with good quality amps (I think the A8/8P is selling them short IMO) and sound fabulous.

Everything else, maybe £200 all in tops? The Castles wouldn't be out of place used at £200.

 

[John Duncan]

Yep, I take it back - whilst original ones can be had for 60 quid, last pair of Severn Mk2s just went for 200. Which means you're getting the rest for 300 quid - the Arcam pair could cost you that on their own, on a good day - which is reasonably good value.

Whether it sounds good is another matter entirely (I have no idea), but the 63KI should be fab, and at least the 8P is thrown in, which should power it along fairly nicely.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful. Sounds like certainly worth auditioning and I will only buy if I like the sound! He is delivering it and helping me set it up too, its all biwired etc so I would prob struggle to plug it all in... At least will save me a few hundred buying second hand, more to spend on music for it.....

 

[drummerman]

If you like it, buy it. I'm afraid my enthusiasm for the CD63KI has somewhat diminished since I had one mid nineties and I certainly would'nt pay anything for one now. It has imo little place in today's hifi unless you like a vague/diffuse sound with weak frequency extremes. Especially considering you can get vastly superior sound with even Nad's entry player or a DacMagic for under two hundred pounds. It'll fail at some stage anyway due to its age.

 

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of people have back tracked on their original surprise at £500, but I personally think thats its about right (validated from eBay past sales).

KI = £90 - £120
Arcam Alpha = £100
Arcam 8p = £100 - £125
Castle's £150-£200
Tuner = £40
= £500 ish

Still I accept it'd be something of a gamble and perhaps wouldn't match the Roksan.
Think of it this way though; you can always sell bits on at little to no costs as you have no depreciation to worry about. Then pick and choose new bits from eBay or second hand hifi shops. That's what I do!