I guess it falls to me to be the contrarian, here (sorry!) but I've actually had some pretty dreadful experiences using Audiogon -- some of them in close-enough proximity that local friends of mine started openly questioning my judgment.

I certainly agree that buying anything from a seller with a zero feedback rating is probably a bad idea, but be sure to check the feedback the seller does have, to see that it isn't all from sellers. Also, it's worth asking if the amp or preamp has been in storage for a long time (I had two clunkers in a row for which the seller claimed not to know anything because the unit had been in a closet for two years), and to at least inquire about what your recourse would be if there's a problem.

I don't want to make it sound like audiogon is riskier than it is, or that the majority of the sellers on audiogon are disreputable, but my own experience is significantly less glowing than that of the other respondents to this thread. Indeed it's around fifty percent, at least in terms of the stuff being exactly as described and doing exactly what it's supposed to, with exactly the accessories you'd expect.

The good:

Linn Ninkas: Perfect condition, original boxes, bought from individual

Linn AV5105: Ditto, bought as demo stock from a dealership

Arcam FMJ-CD23: Never been happier with a single piece of audio gear, anywhere, ever.

Rotel RC-995: Shipped with no original containers and no remote, but otherwise as advertised. Price was right, too, at about two hundred bucks.

Audio Physics Spark IIII's: Perfect until I broke one of the grills during installation. Ugh.

McCormack DNA-HT5 multichannel amp: Perfect but a lot of money.

McCormack MAP-1 multichannel preamp: Quirky but otherwise fine.

Naim CD5: Performed 100% to specifications, I just didn't like it (too bright).


The Bad:

Linn Katans: Seller accepted my paypal payment but never marked the item sold. Didn't respond to e-mails for six days, then said he'd sold them to someone else the day before. Then didn't refund my money for eight more days, until I threatened to dispute with credit card, then threatened to leave negative feedback if I did.

Parasound Halo A23 and P3: Faulty ground led to intermittent drop-out in both channels.

Rotel RB 985: Arrived with blown output stage.

Audio Research SP-5: Generally and comprehensively shot, sonically speaking. When I asked how it could have been shipped in the condition it was, the seller replied that he hadn't had it plugged in to his system in several years.

Naim Nait5i : shipped with loose chassis screw tumbling around inside, was obviously tampered with by previous owner

Bryston 3B: Arrived with cracked interconnect connections.

Naim AV2: Faulty volume pot, firmware problems, unacceptable noise floor

Totem Mite-T's: Arrived with a damaged tweeter


...I'd tell you that all of the bad experiences were from zero-feedback sellers, or that something else was obviously amiss and I'd have caught it if I'd slowed myself down a little, but unfortunately no. These purchases were as random and all over the place as any casual sampling from audiogon could possibly be.

I'm sorry to be such a nay-sayer when everyone else in this thread has said there's no problem at all with buying stuff on audiogon, but you know what? I'm even sorrier that all of those things happened to me....