Buying Second hand on eBay?

Derek W

Derek W

Derek W

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Afternoon all,

With my recent purchase of new cartridge / stylii for my turntables I've been looking at upgrading my stereo (currently using an old aiwa midi system). Now I've found a place on eBay which looks like a decent enough seller http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/hifisecondhand?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Anyone had any experience with buying stereo stuff from ebay? I've obviously looked for guys with good feedback and a number of sales so that I'm keeping myself right.

Had a look at the usual brands, Technics / Cambridge Audio and Denon on that guys site. Any recommendations?

Cheers :)
 
I bought a few things off eBay, my Musical Fidelity amp, my B&W centre speaker and rears are all off eBay.

The one thing you i have found is the prices goes like yo-yo like no other products. My centre speaker I picked up for £110, the one sold before went for £200, they were £300 new.
 
I think i just need to do a little bit of research into what i want really and see who's selling what and in what condition. Just looking for something which i relatively cheap but good quality.
 
That dealer has a mix of stuff. Some good, some mediocre, and other stuff is rubbish..... at least as far as the purist hobby of Hi-Fi is concerned. The prices are a bit of a mix too. There's a bit of misplaced nostalgia (Goodmans Mezzos) and heavy leaning on brand image that was far better than the products themselves (Technics, Bose to name just two).

Cambridge Audio for amps is usually a safe budget bet. There's loads on Ebay to choose from usually as well, so if you miss one then another will be along shortly after. Rotel, NAD, ARCAM, Creek and Marantz are all pretty safe too though further up the price ladder. Harman Kardon is often overlooked. They've had some really good gear out. Pick carefully and read some reviews; you might just hit on a bargain there. Denon hasn't really had the success with Hi-Fi amps it has enjoyed with AV receivers. It's decent but unremarkable. The same goes for Kenwood and Pioneer with the exception of one or two star performers that broke each brands mould. (Pioneer A400, Kenwood KA-3020). Sony is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of their ES range was very good but pricey so you're unlikely to find it at bargain basement prices. Their budget stuff though I'd lump in with Technics; it's really for fan boys rather than audio enthusiasts.

Speakers: As general advice stay away from Technics, Pioneer, Sony and most other Japanese stuff. There might be the odd nugget of goodness in those brands but you really need to know what to look for and match it carefully with the rest of the system. Another general rule with speakers is to try before you buy. This is easier to do when buying new of course, so in the case of used gear it's really a case of 'buy - try - sell' until you find something that gels with your system. Speakers are the area where there's the biggest variation in sound even at the budget end of the market.
 
Cheers for that Lucid,

I'm still looking into a few reviews to see whats going to be the best bang for bucks on the amp front. As for the speakers I've got Tannoy V4i's connected to my tv so would be avoiding the mainstream japanese stuff in general, just got to look into what set I'm wanting.

Raymond, you shouldn't have mentioned the amp you've got.....I took a look at some of the stuff on ebay and its beautiful! :( and slightly more than I'm looking to spend at the moment. Maybe in the future though.
 
i got some speakers from ebay before and they are fine not a problem at all.
got a artcoustic cinema LCR speaker and a pair of celestion floor standers.
 
I forgot about cash converters as well. At least they've got set prices albeit may be higher than eBay. Just refining my options just now amp wise. Still to look at speakers properly.
 
Been rummaging around this evening and found the following :-

Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers (£50)
Cambridge Audio Azur 650A Amplifier (£130)

Any thoughts on the quality of these items?
 
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Spotted an old Rotel RA-611 amplifier from the 70s on ebay, identical to one my dad used to have. Sadly been outbid as its a beautiful bit of kit and i know it produces fantastic sound quality :(
 
Derek W said:
Been rummaging around this evening and found the following :-

Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers (£50)
Cambridge Audio Azur 650A Amplifier (£130)

Any thoughts on the quality of these items?
Click to expand...
Both are decent. The prices represent about 1/3rd of original RRPs.
 
lucid said:
Both are decent. The prices represent about 1/3rd of original RRPs.
Click to expand...

was going to say something similar both will blow your Aiwa midi system to bits, my first seperates kit was a Sherwood receiver and Wharfdale diamond 7.1's from richer sounds paired with a portable CD player it was by far the best stereo in my house and a million times better than the midrange midi system it replaced!
 
a1ex2001 said:
was going to say something similar both will blow your Aiwa midi system to bits, my first seperates kit was a Sherwood receiver and Wharfdale diamond 7.1's from richer sounds paired with a portable CD player it was by far the best stereo in my house and a million times better than the midrange midi system it replaced!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know that separates are the way to go for improved sound quality over a crappy midi system from the 90s! :D

Just narrowing down a few that I've seen across the Cambridge Audio / Marantz and Harman Kardon ranges.
 
I'm still very happy with my Yamaha AV amp I bought from a private seller on ebay. The guy I got it from bought it, used it twice and then packed it away in it's box. When I unpacked it the thing looked absolutely brand new :)

I intend to add additional speakers to it at some point but am very happy with the Tannoy Mercury's I've got connected up to it currently.

W
 
I've bookmarked a pair of Acoustic Energy 101 Speakers which seem to fit the bill. Read a few reviews and things look positive on that front.
 
Looks like I'll be opting for the acoustic energy speakers above and seen a marantz pm 6005 amp which will be getting ordered tomorrow so they arrive at my work next week :)
 
When buying anything second hand, find out if the seller smokes. If they do, the speakers will stink.
 
Rossi~ said:
Must be good, everything sounds superb! :p
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Does his subtle advertising of his products give that impression? I never noticed :p

bledd. said:
When buying anything second hand, find out if the seller smokes. If they do, the speakers will stink.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm actually looking more on Cash Converters now rather than Ebay. I can ask them that though as its the last thing I'd want.
 
Received a big black package today :eek:

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Going to hook up a turntable and my tv speakers to it later on and see what its like. Now to decide on what speakers I'll be ordering :D
 
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