I've bought (and sold) a lot of used gear here and have been extremely lucky. But stuff can and does get damaged in shipping and sometimes gear fails before you are ready to get rid of it! These are the risks we take, and like someone said, most things can be repaired. I bought a set of Quad II Classic amps here that looked perfect when they arrived but one emitted smoke and stopped working when I plugged it in. I took it to a local Quad dealer who agreed to arrange for repair for me. He knew the amp was bought used and not even from his shop. When Quad learned of the problem they said they would fix the amp for free! It needed a new transformer (from the UK) so repairing this would not have been cheap at all. Why they decided to repair this unit gratis I have no idea but I will be everlastingly grateful to Quad and Deja Vu Audio for acting as the intermediary in this transaction. i love the amps and they have worked perfectly since the initial mishap--undoubtedly related to bumps and drops experienced in shipping.
Buying used vs. New
Does anyone have reservations about buying used?
I used to swear buy it until recently. I bought a preamp that arrived with a humming problem from the transformer because the delivery company dropped it. Fortunately, I had bought it new and the store was able to replace it. I was just thinking, what if this was used, I would be out of luck in terms of getting it fixed. Also, I bought a used piece of equipment on Audiogon a few years ago that is now giving me trouble. It is out of warranty and was fairly expensive, and now has issues. Now I'm seriously considering buying new, even though my money will only stretch about half as far.
I used to swear buy it until recently. I bought a preamp that arrived with a humming problem from the transformer because the delivery company dropped it. Fortunately, I had bought it new and the store was able to replace it. I was just thinking, what if this was used, I would be out of luck in terms of getting it fixed. Also, I bought a used piece of equipment on Audiogon a few years ago that is now giving me trouble. It is out of warranty and was fairly expensive, and now has issues. Now I'm seriously considering buying new, even though my money will only stretch about half as far.