Rotel, Classe, Theta and etc are just some brands that I need to sell one of my kidneys for me to even hope of owning one brand new, but with pre-owned the gap to actually taking one home is closer to reality.
This past months was a very lucky time for me, I was able to obtain not one but two pieces of award winning equipments to add to my diy audio project and HT room. They are the Rotel RCD-971 HDCD Player and M&K V125 THX Subwoofer. The Rotel cost $600-700 when it was introduced in 1999, while the M&K cost $1,000 when it was launched into the market in 2001 (not sure about the date). But by getting these pre-owned I only paid for them for a fraction of the original cost. Of course there are substantial risks in buying 2nd hand items, but just like buying anything pre-owed, there are certain rules to remember to make these transactions trouble free.
1. Make sure you buy from a reputable person or source. It helps that some of your friends have bought stuff from them in the past, as they can tell you if the owner knows how to take care of his stuff or not.
2. If buying online, make sure the seller has a high positive feedback rate. This at least will give us a sign that the seller has a lot of satisfied customers.
3. Research on the stuff you will buy, so that when you get the item or is in front of the equipment during audition time, you know what to expect from the item operationally.
But following these rules still won't guarantee 100% risk free transaction, as buying pre-owned equipment is really a mix bag of pros and cons, I don't even know how my own acquisitions will fair since its still too early to tell, but by following these general guidelines, it gives me a sense of insurance knowing that the gears I got are from reliable sources hence has a bigger chance of being in good or even in excellent condition. Here are some pictures of what I got....
Rotel RCD-971 HDCD Player
M&K V125THX Subwoofer
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