OK, so I've been looking for "compact/unobtrusive" speakers for the "new" living room and one shop I went to on Sunday was a specialist in "vintage" kit - i.e. secondhand. The guy there suggested that one could get about 30% extra value by buying used equipment - eg. an Amp for £400 that would perform the same (or better) than a new amp at £600. Of course he's talking about his shop's pricing - which for obvious reasons (margin as well as some form of guaranteed satisfaction or return) will be quite a bit more than eBay pricing.
I had previously been coveting an Audiolab 8000A (an amp I used to admire back in the 80's) and was looking on eBay and now seem to have acquired it for what I thought was a slightly lowball offer (maybe it'll turn out to be a dog that even Audio Cellar can't fix!). That was not the plan at all - I was intending to stick with the A&R A60 and then upgrade to something modern like a Cambridge Audio CX60 or Rotel RA-11 or whatever, perhaps in 2017 - but buy some £500 speakers this year (I'm gravitating towards stand-mounters, like B&W S685, CM1 or maybe Dynaudio Emit M10/M20, etc). So maybe I should look at secondhand speakers too? eg. ATC SCM 111 - in theory a rather upmarket speaker that can be had secondhand for my budget?
One problem with the (non-shop) second-hand market, though, is that demoing is impractical. You might get lucky and know someone with the kit you're interested in and they might let you listen to theirs. However, the potential rewards are high. If you like unfashionable stuff, then you're also more likely to get a bargain - and I suspect that things like ATCs are quite fashionable. My take on all this is that if you do your research (which might be quite time-consuming) and are careful and patient, then it's a great way to get a decent system for your money.
Does this sound right, or have I missed out something important?!
Are some components best left to new than others?
BTW - if one bids for and wins something on eBay then goes to pick it up to find that it's not quite as per the ad, I presume it's OK to void the sale?
I had previously been coveting an Audiolab 8000A (an amp I used to admire back in the 80's) and was looking on eBay and now seem to have acquired it for what I thought was a slightly lowball offer (maybe it'll turn out to be a dog that even Audio Cellar can't fix!). That was not the plan at all - I was intending to stick with the A&R A60 and then upgrade to something modern like a Cambridge Audio CX60 or Rotel RA-11 or whatever, perhaps in 2017 - but buy some £500 speakers this year (I'm gravitating towards stand-mounters, like B&W S685, CM1 or maybe Dynaudio Emit M10/M20, etc). So maybe I should look at secondhand speakers too? eg. ATC SCM 111 - in theory a rather upmarket speaker that can be had secondhand for my budget?
One problem with the (non-shop) second-hand market, though, is that demoing is impractical. You might get lucky and know someone with the kit you're interested in and they might let you listen to theirs. However, the potential rewards are high. If you like unfashionable stuff, then you're also more likely to get a bargain - and I suspect that things like ATCs are quite fashionable. My take on all this is that if you do your research (which might be quite time-consuming) and are careful and patient, then it's a great way to get a decent system for your money.
Does this sound right, or have I missed out something important?!
Are some components best left to new than others?
BTW - if one bids for and wins something on eBay then goes to pick it up to find that it's not quite as per the ad, I presume it's OK to void the sale?
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