Second hand gear.

[cliffster]

Evening all.

I've pretty much always had high end stereos in my cars, but until now I've never really been that interested in indoor hi-fi. The wife expressed an interest in getting a nice stereo for the bedroom so on a recent shopping trip to Tesco I picked up a copy of What hi fi and read it from cover to cover! On the strength of the review I got a Denon dm37 and some Qed micro cable.

All I can say is WOW. I obviously new that there would be a big improvement on the sound quality over my 25 year old sony portable but I didn't expect it to be this big. That stereo is on pretty much all the time now and I have re-listened to most of my cd collection and I am hearing detail I just didn't know was there!

In short I think I've caught 'the bug'.

Now what I'm really getting excited about is building a system for the lounge from scratch as I'm currently using my sony surround which isn't bad to be fair but I think we can do so much better.

My problem is that as a complete novice I have no idea what sort of sound I'm looking for so I thought it might be a good idea to buy some second hand stuff from e-bay etc to try out, then sell on the stuff I don't want until I'm happy, then swap that for the same stuff bought new, so trying out different combinations should be fun without bankrupting me.

Have many of you guys bought much second hand? where are the best places to buy? how can I avoid the pitfalls of buying 'clapped out' amps etc?

Any thoughts much appreciated. If I get some good feedback I will start asking for some pointers on where to start.

Thanks in advance.

Cliff.

 

[Sizzers]

I like here. And here is well recommended by forum members (and the Denon is a cracking little unit).

 

[Cpt.Issues]

I brought my kit off ebay second hand and am very pleased with it. If you do this I highly recommend collection in person so you can check the kit over yourself and/or have it demoed.

 

[scene]

Cpt.Issues:I brought my kit off ebay second hand and am very pleased with it. If you do this I highly recommend collection in person so you can check the kit over yourself and/or have it demoed.
+1 on personal collection / demo.

 

[Dougal1331]

I've bought a fair few bits of kit on eBay over the last few years, and never had a problem.

Take care with CD players though- it may be an idea to buy a new CD player, and partner it with 2nd hand amp and speakers. CDPs have moving parts which can wear out over time.

My recommendations would be amplifiers from the likes of NAD (esp. the 'Cxxx' series) or Rotel (9xx series- the higher the following numbers, the better), partnered with some Mission or B&W speakers.

But that's just my opinion- others will have theirs!

Best of luck with the hunt.

Jon.

 

[cliffster]

Thanks so far guys. had a scan through e-bay and admag +evening post and spotted some tempting bargains. going to start a seperate post on building a system when I have decided on a budget and source requirements.

Cliff.

 

[Anonymous]

There are four or five UK-based hifi forums with decent classified sections. I prefer buying through those rather than eBay where possible as it's a little more personal.

 

[5cats35]

So do I Rob, prices are generally keener as well as sellers pitch at a fair price due not to having to pay e-bay or paypal commission.

 

[Big Chris]

All my Arcams were bought pre-owned. Good way to maximise your dough. And as long as you're canny, you could even make a profit if you sold on anything you weren't happy with.

 

[chebby]

..

 

[seasiders rock]

Rob_manchester:There are four or five UK-based hifi forums with decent classified sections. I prefer buying through those rather than eBay where possible as it's a little more personal.

Spot on, the Parasound Halo P3 Pre i use comes in at £800 ish I paid £350, mint, boxed.

Apart from the Home Cinema kit all of the Hi Fi has come from either E Bay or other Forums Classifieds, thats probably the best part of £6000 to replace new,which has cost me just under £3 K.

 

[Anonymous]

The rrp of my system comes in at £10k and I think it cost me £3.5k or thereabouts - it's been a gradual box-swapping adventure...

 

[chebby]

Looking at those last two posts I feel a bit stupid contributing to this thread now. Sorry. I got totally the wrong end of the stick regarding your budget.

Amending my previous post.

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
Looking at those last two posts I feel a bit stupid contributing to this thread now sorry. I got totally the wrong end of the stick regarding your budget.

Amending my previous post.

Why? I thought your example was the best one! The OP didn't specify a budget (I don't think) and yor speakers were a real bargain. My biggest bargain in terms of cost as % of original rrp was an unknown short-lived brand preamp (£250 vs 2.5k) but really, the amount saved is meaningless next to whether it beats your expectations for sound.

 

[cliffster]

Chebby.

Thanks for your post (and in fact for all of you who took the time to reply.)

I too thought your post was most interesting and is exactly the sort of thing I am interested in experimenting with to come up with 'my' sound.

As for budget I'm afraid the closest I'm going to get to a ten grand system is in the 'if only' sections of what hi fi

, hence e-bay.

Seriously though, budget wise I'm probably looking for a total system spend of about two thousand or so in increments. The budget is mainly based upon the imminent arrival of our first son at the end of December and funnily enough building an impressive hi fi isn't at the top of my good lady's list of things we need.

Mainly (hopefully) this will be a fun phase of experimentation and learning for me with possibly a larger system to come in the future when circumstances allow. Am currently devising a list of separates I think I will need. Further questions to come shortly !

Ciff.

 

[the record spot]

I too saw Chebby's post and couldn't agree more; I picked up a Sansui AU-217 amp - serviced, in near mint condition given the age (1977) and it's perfect. Musically, it's a dream. A conservative 30-watter, it cost me all of £33 delivered and prior to my getting the AU-717 I currently use, it made a better fist of driving my Mission 752s than a bunch of other amps which included an Audio Analogue Puccini SE.

The only caveat to all of this is for all the gems out there, there are many more that claim to be the classic "giant killer", "the rare classic" and the like. Ebay's full of them, so all I would say is to do some research off your own back. Sansui is a good example - their 1970s gear is generally very highly regarded, but much of the UK released stuff from the 1980s onwards is on a sliding scale from good to pretty dire by all accounts.

Recommended sites: Gumtree, Ebay (use PayPal - in the event of a problem, you'll get you'll have a process to go through but will get your money back if you get duff gear - cash in hand is fine, but a higher risk IMO), hififorsale has a good site and check the other hifi forums which often have member and dealer classifieds. Lastly, check out some of the other independent dealers - many offer a warranty (30-day, 6 months, one or two in Scotland offer a 5 year one which is superb) and you can build up your gear that way.

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:. Sansui is a good example - their 1970s gear is generally very highly regarded, but much of the UK released stuff from the 1980s onwards is on a sliding scale from good to pretty dire by all accounts.

Similar story with different generations of Exposure kit.

 

[SteveR750]

I have bought and sold a number of things (328 to be exact ish) on ebay, and like anything that is fairly unregulated you need to research it first. Track similar items to see what the salling prices are so you don't pay over the odds, most importantly check out the seller feedback, comments from others, and whether that have sold similar value / items previously. If its a business seller, google their company name, a lot of sellers claiming to UK sellers are shop fronts for imported goods, which is fine, but you should know this before buying. If you're looking for a CDP, there are two Cyrus CD6SEs on there at the moment and one is mine.