Refurbished equipment

[mouettus]

Pretty simple question: Refurbished/Demoed a/v receivers --> do we trust them?

[jrfuda]

I'm a frequent refurb buyer and have never been disapointed. I'd like to see some statistics on failure rate of refurb'd items.. I bet they're lower than new. Usually, the only downside is you get a shorter warranty on a refurb than you would on a new item.

My best refurb deal I ever got was a Yamaha DSP-AX1 ($2000 retail) I got for $500 at a military post exchange(PX).

[Pyrrho]

It depends. Who refurbished the equipment? If it is the original manufacturer, then it is probably okay. It could be a unit that was purchased and then returned because of some defect (real or imagined), and then it was checked out and repaired (if needed) by the manufacturer. If that is the source, then, if you don't mind that someone else touched it, it should be fine, though, typically, warranty periods are shorter for refurbished items. As for demo equipment, it depends on how it was used/abused. Other than typically getting a warranty, it is like buying used. I have owned both types of equipment (though not A/V receivers), and have had no more troubles with such equipment than other equipment I have purchased new or used.

I have heard about some great deals on Yamaha refurbished receivers via ubid recently, and if I had been in the market for an A/V receiver, I would have purchased one.

[dan711]

I bought a Denon 2900 dvd player refurbed from an online dealer. It worked great for the year I had it.


Dan

[Geno]

I bought my Denon 2910 and 4306 as factory refurbs (from an authorized dealer - good warranty). Saved a lot of money, no problems whatsoever. Frankly, I trust refurbs more than new stuff - they've been double-tested.

[Tom Andry]

My 3805 is b-stock and it has worked great. As long as it is an authorized retailer, you should be fine.

[RMK!]

I purchased the Denon 3805 and 3910 B stock with warranty off of UBID over a year ago and no problems. Both units appeared to be new and had all of the manuals accessories. The savings off of list price were considerable. Lots of deals in AV if you look around and are willing to accept a little risk.

[bandit]

I've purchased two recievers directly from the harmon kardon ebay store. First one - no problem at all, just like new. The second one arrived damaged so I sent an email to hk... they sent back a printable return shipping label and shipped a replacement as soon as they recieved the damaged one back from me... The replacement arrived in perfect condition... just like new. ;)

[mouettus]

All right... thank you all. Your replys just make me more confident about refurbs (I have a couple of refurb electronics items at home). But for AVs, I was a bit skeptic.

Now the problem is the AV I chose to buy is a NAD... and they don't sell any on the internet :S:S

So now I think I'm gonna have to pay full retail price for it... which is 1000 CAD for the T743 and 1500 CAD for the T753. Pricey; and there's a big gap between the prices.

Comments??

[audiofox]

Refurbished can frequently include units that have been returned because the original buyer didn't want it, so the refurbishing process could be as simple as making sure the unit still worked, then putting it in a new box. Given the relatively high reliability of modern SS electronics, it is hard to imagine that all "refurbished" units being sold actually had a problem that needed to be fixed. Of course, if that was verified, it would also be hard for vendors to sell their high profit margin extended warranties!

[skrivis]

I have also had good luck in the past with refurbs. I had a Sherwood receiver that was a real bargain and worked quite well. I've also purchased refurbed computer equipment, an espresso machine, breadmaker, etc. :)

In one case, I was informed by an insider that discounted "refurbished" equipment allowed the maker to get rid of discontinued models without breaking their policy of not allowing discounts.

[masak_aer]

I have a refurbed HK AVR235. Works great till now.