I have been hesitant to buy used components because of experiences I have had that are simiar to the OP’s.
Bought an expensive amp - it worked for 2 hours and then began to buzz loudly through one speaker. Bought a power conditioner - its built in circuit breaker kept tripping soon after I bought it. Bought a universal disc player - it would not play hybrid SACD’s.
In each of these cases, I suspect the seller knew something was wrong and did not make full disclosure of the history and condition of the unit that they were selling. They offloaded their problems to a sucker, who happened to be me. But I understood that I was buying "as-is."
Buying used can cost less, but because of my poor experiences buying used, most of my system now consists of stuff that I have bought new, demo, or from a respected dealer.
The exception is my speakers, which are kind of rare and something I really wanted. I vetted the seller really well and crossed my fingers, and it worked out. But vetting did not work for the amp that buzzed - I bought it around the same time that I bought my speakers, from a seller who had 100 percent positive feedback and thousands of posts. His ad said nothing of the repair history of the amp - I learned after buying the amp and deducing from some of his posts that it had been to the repair shop many times. Live and learn.
Fortunately, the manufacturer stepped up in the first two cases. I bought a Square Trade warranty for the disc player. Shout out to Nick Doshi who fixed my amp for free, and to PS Audio for offering a brand new power conditioner for 50% off, and to Square Trade for a hassle free experience in getting my disc player repaired.
Bought an expensive amp - it worked for 2 hours and then began to buzz loudly through one speaker. Bought a power conditioner - its built in circuit breaker kept tripping soon after I bought it. Bought a universal disc player - it would not play hybrid SACD’s.
In each of these cases, I suspect the seller knew something was wrong and did not make full disclosure of the history and condition of the unit that they were selling. They offloaded their problems to a sucker, who happened to be me. But I understood that I was buying "as-is."
Buying used can cost less, but because of my poor experiences buying used, most of my system now consists of stuff that I have bought new, demo, or from a respected dealer.
The exception is my speakers, which are kind of rare and something I really wanted. I vetted the seller really well and crossed my fingers, and it worked out. But vetting did not work for the amp that buzzed - I bought it around the same time that I bought my speakers, from a seller who had 100 percent positive feedback and thousands of posts. His ad said nothing of the repair history of the amp - I learned after buying the amp and deducing from some of his posts that it had been to the repair shop many times. Live and learn.
Fortunately, the manufacturer stepped up in the first two cases. I bought a Square Trade warranty for the disc player. Shout out to Nick Doshi who fixed my amp for free, and to PS Audio for offering a brand new power conditioner for 50% off, and to Square Trade for a hassle free experience in getting my disc player repaired.