Advice on buying "Damaged Listed" High End Goods

[hershon]

Would appreciate some advice on this in my ever ending quest for getting "Something for Nothing" which usually always backfires!

If you can get a damaged high end item such as the NAD surround sound receiver I'm describing below at a cheap price on auction, from a private individual, not a company, is it worth buying/investing your money on, in your opinion or should they be avoided like the plague? To clarify further, can most damaged/broken electrical high end devises such as a NAD receiver, 1. Get fixed, 2. Get fixed at an affordable price, 3. Get fixed at a location within commuting distance in a large city such as LA where I live?

Here is part of the description of the damaged NAD receiver, what is your advice on buying this or not as is?

"The front left channel of this unit takes a while to come in when the receiver is powered up. All other channel work perfectly. I have found that you can get the left channel to kick on if you crank the volume up to 10 o'clock or so. Once it is warmed up it stays on indefinitely. This unit did this when I received it and has not gotten any better or worse. It sounds so good that I decided to deal with the issue but just got a new receiver as a gift so have decided to go ahead and sell this. Again, it works fine if you just crank the volume a bit and let the unit warm up...then it stays. I have found that with daily use the problem goes away (left channel cuts on when the unit is powered up), but after resting for a couple of days it happens again."

Your advice greatly appreciated.

[drseid]

Would appreciate some advice on this in my ever ending quest for getting "Something for Nothing" which usually always backfires!

If you can get a damaged high end item such as the NAD surround sound receiver I'm describing below at a cheap price on auction, from a private individual, not a company, is it worth buying/investing your money on, in your opinion or should they be avoided like the plague? To clarify further, can most damaged/broken electrical high end devises such as a NAD receiver, 1. Get fixed, 2. Get fixed at an affordable price, 3. Get fixed at a location within commuting distance in a large city such as LA where I live?

Here is part of the description of the damaged NAD receiver, what is your advice on buying this or not as is?

"The front left channel of this unit takes a while to come in when the receiver is powered up. All other channel work perfectly. I have found that you can get the left channel to kick on if you crank the volume up to 10 o'clock or so. Once it is warmed up it stays on indefinitely. This unit did this when I received it and has not gotten any better or worse. It sounds so good that I decided to deal with the issue but just got a new receiver as a gift so have decided to go ahead and sell this. Again, it works fine if you just crank the volume a bit and let the unit warm up...then it stays. I have found that with daily use the problem goes away (left channel cuts on when the unit is powered up), but after resting for a couple of days it happens again."

Your advice greatly appreciated.

Personally, I would avoid, but that is just me... Sometimes you can get good deals on scratched units that really have no effect on sound... In this case, while I applaud the owner's honesty, it seems to be a relatively risky purchase, unless he is offering it for almost nothing (as fixing it could be quite costly)...

I should point out that every once in a while, you may indeed find a sub-optimally functioning item that is indeed worth buying (at a significant discount to even the normal "going rate" used price)... A good example of this is one that has a transferrable parts and labor warranty.

Sometimes the owner does not want to bother sending the unit back to be fixed themself (or they need the money fast for something else), and as such, you can buy for much less than normal if you are willing to undergo the extra cost of sending the unit off to be fixed by the Manufacturer, and the associated wait to get it back. Just be careful to make sure the warranty really *is* transferrable, and genuine before sending any money (also, did the owner buy from a licensed dealer?). Make sure that whatever you offer is *well* under the normal amount, minus your costs to send the unit back, as the owner is getting your money now (and you have to be without the unit for several weeks sometimes)...

Good luck,

---Dave

[markw]

I would wonder if, since he bought it new, he never had itserviced to begin with. Perhaps it was bought grey market and didn't have a warranty?

In either case, you might want to check for "B" stock or fefurbs from one of their (NAD's)authorized sellers.

or check out http://www.saturdayaudio.com for demos, deals or used. They ARE authorized for NAD.

[hershon]

Thanks for the link which I may use in the future.

I would wonder if, since he bought it new, he never had itserviced to begin with. Perhaps it was bought grey market and didn't have a warranty?

In either case, you might want to check for "B" stock or fefurbs from one of their (NAD's)authorized sellers.

or check out http://www.saturdayaudio.com for demos, deals or used. They ARE authorized for NAD.