Safe to buy 2nd hand?

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Hi,

i am now saving up for my next upgrade, trying hard to refrain myself from using credit card. I was browsing thru 'hi fi for sale' wabsite last night and saw quite a few bargain. There was 1 nait xs2 for £895 for example.

it will atleast be 6/9 months before i get to buy anything ( i have to splash out on a new kitchen first)

so i was wondering how safe it would be invest ( a substantial amount for me) £1000-1500 on an used item, considering you can get good deals on new boxes with interest free credit.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Hi,

i am now saving up for my next upgrade, trying hard to refrain myself from using credit card. I was browsing thru 'hi fi for sale' wabsite last night and saw quite a few bargain. There was 1 nait xs2 for £895 for example.

it will atleast be 6/9 months before i get to buy anything ( i have to splash out on a new kitchen first)

so i was wondering how safe it would be invest ( a substantial amount for me) £1000-1500 on an used item, considering you can get good deals on new boxes with interest free credit.

i would buy if there was warranty left or added warranty it would still have to be boxed and all things that came with it say an amp . it would have to be mint well looked after then it would not be a issue to me and best to pay out right then borrowing money as you still got to pay for it 12 months later cash is king !

 

[Al ears]

Hi,

i am now saving up for my next upgrade, trying hard to refrain myself from using credit card. I was browsing thru 'hi fi for sale' wabsite last night and saw quite a few bargain. There was 1 nait xs2 for £895 for example.

it will atleast be 6/9 months before i get to buy anything ( i have to splash out on a new kitchen first)

so i was wondering how safe it would be invest ( a substantial amount for me) £1000-1500 on an used item, considering you can get good deals on new boxes with interest free credit.

Everything comes with a degree of risk, even buying new, but there are ways to minimize this. The 'Hifi-forsale' website is a good one and I have used it in the past. A lot of items on there are dealers old stock.

Obviously buying ex-demo or open-box items is one way of saving a bit and still retaining some warranty.

 

[matt49]

Most of my kit has been bought second hand or ex demo. Amplifiers can usually be bought with confidence; old amps may need recapping, but newer models are straightforward: a quick listen will tell whether they're in decent nick.

I'm more wary with speakers because they're more susceptible to biffs and bangs that can cause cosmetic and less easily visible damage. I will only buy speakers second hand if I can inspect carefully before payment.

The classified ads pages on Pink Fish Media and Hifi Wigwam are very good places to buy. You're buying from hi-fi lovers who usually take good care of their kit, and prices are generally sensible. 2ndhandhifi.co.uk also has a good reputation.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I've bought a few things second-hand, but always at the more expensive end of the scale. The reason for this is that IMO people tend to look after more expensive equipment better and more expensive kit is generally better built with higher quality components.

Try to see and hear the item and only leave with it if you're totally happy.

This has stood me in good stead, and I've been very happy with my purchases.

 

[drummerman]

My entire cyrus system was bought s/h with only the speakers new.

No problems.

As to the Nait XS2 it may would be a sufficient upgrade over your creek (I assume it is the amplifier you want to change) despite similar power on paper as long as you accept that speaker driving capability and loudness will be similar.

I thought even the original XS was an incredibly likeable amplifier (punchy and authorative, totally involving as opposed to hifi sounding) and worth its price despite the lack of facilities many now offer.

Having said all that, your Creek has reaped many awards and praise.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100004211376004]

Naim electronics are possibly the most reliable second hand buy you can make.the stuff is built to last.my nait xs was second hand and has been switched on since I bought it(that's what you do with naim amps apparently)it sounds an absolute treat with the pmc's (that you not long ago got rid of). I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one,in fact I don't think I'll buy another brand again.I'm sold on it.And they hold there money well.check out eBay,, there is stuff on there from years ago for sale and any of it can still be serviced.the attention to detail and quality control in the factory is second to none . it's not just how it sounds.... It's how it's made.

 

[macdiddy]

because at the end of last year I brought a secondhand Naim CD5i cd player for £500 from a dealer on ebay, it looked great in the pictures but when I got it home it was even better, you couldn't tell it was a 10 year old player (came with original receipt), it was in mint condition with not a scratch or mark on it, was sent in original box, came with a Narcom 4 remote (£95 or more on its own).

It is by far the best cd player I have owned in terms of sound quality, every cd I spin sounds great, even some of my older cd's that I have.

As mentioned above, if I was ever to sell it, Naim equipment always seems to command high prices whatever the age.

*music2*

 

[Gazzip]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

 

[Gazzip]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

Brave move. All too easy to stick with a sound you don't really. Not sure how Bryston would partner with B&W but maybe still worth consideration if buying second hand due to the aforementioned transferable warranty.

 

[drummerman]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

You are lucky. There is so much choice of good stuff out there nowadays.

It will be interesting to follow on what you settle on.

 

[plastic penguin]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

 

[drummerman]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

 

[plastic penguin]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

Yes... I thought so. *smile*

It also comes with a new *two year warranty*. IMO it's a win, win, win.

 

[nexski]

It is generally safe to buy a used amp and the risk is pretty low. On top of that you get huge discount as oppose to buying new as the previous owner already take the depreciation for you. Few months down the road if the XS is not your cup of tea, you can simply offload it and don't lose much. This pretty sum up my experiences with buying 2nd hand items.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

Yes... I thought so. *smile*

It also comes with a new *two year warranty*. IMO it's a win, win, win.

very good call indeed. If i buy an amp now before i actually get a new kitchen fitted there will be a all out war in my house hold.

so need to hold my horses for now.

these are few i have short listed for demoing.

a) Naim nait xs2

b) Rega elicit r

c) Yamaha a s2100 (love the vu meter)

know any dealer in birmingham who do all three?

 

[plastic penguin]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

Yes... I thought so. *smile*

It also comes with a new *two year warranty*. IMO it's a win, win, win.

very good call indeed. If i buy an amp now before i actually get a new kitchen fitted there will be a all out war in my house hold.

so need to hold my horses for now.

these are few i have short listed for demoing.

a) Naim nait xs2

b) Rega elicit r

c) Yamaha a s2100 (love the vu meter)

know any dealer in birmingham who do all three?

Appreciate you have other finanial commitments - always been the issue with me. However, these types of amps rarely come up, especially with a extended two year manufacturers warranty.

Out of the list you've mentioned the Naim, which I've heard many times (MKI version), I doubt will suit your taste and speakers. Naim in general tends to be speaker sensitive. The Elicit-R is excellent, but only heard it with PMC 23s.

The Yam is generally very good, although the only recent one I've heard is a receiver with PMC Twentys.

I know it's difficult but the Destiny should be a stonking choice. There are very few amps I would ever think about choosing if the Leema dies, but a s/hand Destiny would be high on the list.

Given your 50A retails for about £750, you should be able to get £500 at least on the s/hand market. That only leaves a shortfall of a £200 (assuming Creek don't accept a reasonable offer). Worth thinking about.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Hi,

i am now saving up for my next upgrade, trying hard to refrain myself from using credit card. I was browsing thru 'hi fi for sale' wabsite last night and saw quite a few bargain. There was 1 nait xs2 for £895 for example.

it will atleast be 6/9 months before i get to buy anything ( i have to splash out on a new kitchen first)

so i was wondering how safe it would be invest ( a substantial amount for me) £1000-1500 on an used item, considering you can get good deals on new boxes with interest free credit.

have you thorght of getting the matching amp that will go with your sacd 8005 player i seen one on ebay for £500 this amp works well being matched

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Hi,

i am now saving up for my next upgrade, trying hard to refrain myself from using credit card. I was browsing thru 'hi fi for sale' wabsite last night and saw quite a few bargain. There was 1 nait xs2 for £895 for example.

it will atleast be 6/9 months before i get to buy anything ( i have to splash out on a new kitchen first)

so i was wondering how safe it would be invest ( a substantial amount for me) £1000-1500 on an used item, considering you can get good deals on new boxes with interest free credit.

have you thorght of getting the matching amp that will go with your sacd 8005 player i seen one on ebay for £500 this amp works well being matched

as much as i love marantz cdp i never tend to like thrier amps for some reason. Moving from evo 50a to pm8005 might be bit of a sideway move i think.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

Yes... I thought so. *smile*

It also comes with a new *two year warranty*. IMO it's a win, win, win.

very good call indeed. If i buy an amp now before i actually get a new kitchen fitted there will be a all out war in my house hold.

so need to hold my horses for now.

these are few i have short listed for demoing.

a) Naim nait xs2

b) Rega elicit r

c) Yamaha a s2100 (love the vu meter)

know any dealer in birmingham who do all three?

Appreciate you have other finanial commitments - always been the issue with me. However, these types of amps rarely come up, especially with a extended two year manufacturers warranty.

Out of the list you've mentioned the Naim, which I've heard many times (MKI version), I doubt will suit your taste and speakers. Naim in general tends to be speaker sensitive. The Elicit-R is excellent, but only heard it with PMC 23s.

The Yam is generally very good, although the only recent one I've heard is a receiver with PMC Twentys.

I know it's difficult but the Destiny should be a stonking choice. There are very few amps I would ever think about choosing if the Leema dies, but a s/hand Destiny would be high on the list.

Given your 50A retails for about £750, you should be able to get £500 at least on the s/hand market. That only leaves a shortfall of a £200 (assuming Creek don't accept a reasonable offer). Worth thinking about.

hi pp, appreciate what you are saying. Couple of things i have in mind.

a) would like to experience a different brand ( not that i am not enjoying evo50a its an absolute cracker)

b) don't you think Destiny would be a bit of a side way move to what i have now?

This amp upgrde would the last 1 i make for at least 5 years thats i wouldn't mind waiting till i am financially ready to pull the trigger.

 

[plastic penguin]

Buying Bryston second hand will give you the balance of their 20 year warranty providing the original purchase receipt is included in the sale. From memory your speakers are PMC twenty-somethings so Bryston would be a great match.

i sold my pmc 21 s and got reunited with my fav brand B&W, i just love thier sound, yes i know others may and will disagree and i don't have any problem with that .

next upgrade is an amp and i am thankful to all of you for your valuable advise.

If you like the Creek presentation you would be nuts not to consider this. It comes with 14 day returns - and it's Creek who's selling it.

Good call

Yes... I thought so. *smile*

It also comes with a new *two year warranty*. IMO it's a win, win, win.

very good call indeed. If i buy an amp now before i actually get a new kitchen fitted there will be a all out war in my house hold.

so need to hold my horses for now.

these are few i have short listed for demoing.

a) Naim nait xs2

b) Rega elicit r

c) Yamaha a s2100 (love the vu meter)

know any dealer in birmingham who do all three?

Appreciate you have other finanial commitments - always been the issue with me. However, these types of amps rarely come up, especially with a extended two year manufacturers warranty.

Out of the list you've mentioned the Naim, which I've heard many times (MKI version), I doubt will suit your taste and speakers. Naim in general tends to be speaker sensitive. The Elicit-R is excellent, but only heard it with PMC 23s.

The Yam is generally very good, although the only recent one I've heard is a receiver with PMC Twentys.

I know it's difficult but the Destiny should be a stonking choice. There are very few amps I would ever think about choosing if the Leema dies, but a s/hand Destiny would be high on the list.

Given your 50A retails for about £750, you should be able to get £500 at least on the s/hand market. That only leaves a shortfall of a £200 (assuming Creek don't accept a reasonable offer). Worth thinking about.

hi pp, appreciate what you are saying. Couple of things i have in mind.

a) would like to experience a different brand ( not that i am not enjoying evo50a its an absolute cracker)

b) don't you think Destiny would be a bit of a side way move to what i have now?

This amp upgrde would the last 1 i make for at least 5 years thats i wouldn't mind waiting till i am financially ready to pull the trigger.

TBH, all s/hand amps are a risk. The Destiny wouldn't be anymore a sideways step than a Naim XS2.

If you can dem a Naim that's fine but I wouldn't purchase one blind.

Also add to your list Rotel 15 series. All Rotels are great matches with B&Ws.

 

[drummerman]

I think if you want a BIG upgrade, you need to spend accordingly. That's not taking anything away from the either the Creek Destiny or Naim XS, both probably better in some ways than what you have now (which already seems a good amplifier).

I just read a very interesting article on amplifier design, power (and how it is delivered) ie. ultra rigid supply vs. sagging supplies albeith with high dynamic headroom and it really is a bees nest on what is actually more desirable. Simply doubling power will not sound much louder (Destiny or something like a Devialet 120 vs. Evo 50) but there are most likely other factors in the designs which give them the upper hand over the 50. There is only so much Mike Creek can do for the budget.

Aaanyways, if I was you I'd save up and look to spend a few thousand. Plenty to choose from, not least Valves.

Lucky ******. I wouldn't know where to start and by the time you're ready to commit that choice will only have grown.

 

[plastic penguin]

I think if you want a BIG upgrade, you need to spend accordingly. That's not taking anything away from the either the Creek Destiny or Naim XS, both probably better in some ways than what you have now (which already seems a good amplifier).

I just read a very interesting article on amplifier design, power (and how it is delivered) ie. ultra rigid supply vs. sagging supplies albeith with high dynamic headroom and it really is a bees nest on what is actually more desirable. Simply doubling power will not sound much louder (Destiny or something like a Devialet 120 vs. Evo 50) but there are most likely other factors in the designs which give them the upper hand over the 50. There is only so much Mike Creek can do for the budget.

Aaanyways, if I was you I'd save up and look to spend a few thousand. Plenty to choose from, not least Valves.

Lucky ******. I wouldn't know where to start and by the time you're ready to commit that choice will only have grown.

Phew! And i thought the Hegel name would rear its *boring* head.

IMO, I would save and save for a Luxman and Wilson Benesch. Not dem'd the combo but that sounds tasty to me.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

I think if you want a BIG upgrade, you need to spend accordingly. That's not taking anything away from the either the Creek Destiny or Naim XS, both probably better in some ways than what you have now (which already seems a good amplifier).

I just read a very interesting article on amplifier design, power (and how it is delivered) ie. ultra rigid supply vs. sagging supplies albeith with high dynamic headroom and it really is a bees nest on what is actually more desirable. Simply doubling power will not sound much louder (Destiny or something like a Devialet 120 vs. Evo 50) but there are most likely other factors in the designs which give them the upper hand over the 50. There is only so much Mike Creek can do for the budget.

Aaanyways, if I was you I'd save up and look to spend a few thousand. Plenty to choose from, not least Valves.

Lucky ******. I wouldn't know where to start and by the time you're ready to commit that choice will only have grown.

Phew! And i thought the Hegel name would rear its *boring* head.

IMO, I would save and save for a Luxman and Wilson Benesch. Not dem'd the combo but that sounds tasty to me.

with more exotic name that you mentioned Luxman & WB, problem is, its difficult to find dealers even in the midlands,

no more blind buying for. Problem with me is that i may have lived here for too long. Whenever i go for demos i feel obliged to commit otherwise i feel i have waisted their time, i am terrible at saying 'no'