Denon X3600H refurb at $650

[KEW]

Sometime in the last couple of days, Acessories4Less must have gotten the memo that this AVR was being discontinued/sold new for $800 (which was what A4L had charged for the refurb)!
Accordingly, they have dropped the price by $150 to $650/ea.
This is a lot of features (and IMHO, the right features) in a capable AVR for $650.

Accessories4less: High End Audio at Low End Prices!

www.accessories4less.com

Whether it is worth $150 more to buy new for $800 (Crutchfield, Amazon, and others have it for $800) is up to you.

One important difference is 1 year warranty on refurb vs 3 year for new! However, A4L sells extended warranties ($40 to extend 1 year to 3) up to 5 additional years!

Items $500-$1000 | Accessories4less

www.accessories4less.com

I can say that Accessories4Less has always been a pleasure to deal with from my perspective and I have not had a single issue where I felt the refurb item I received was a compromise (functionally or cosmetically). Actually that is kind of not true, I once returned a Marantz SR-6001 because I was convinced it was defective. Turned out it was me that was defective , which I figured out when I got the replacement and it had the same "defect". I wish I remembered the exact particulars of my screw up, but it had to do with something along the lines of me not recognizing that a feature in the menu was inactive because I had elsewhere chosen an option which did not support it. In any case, when I got the replacement and it had the same "defect", I dug deeper into it and discovered I was not using it properly! This to say that A4L took it back and replaced it at no cost to me. However, be aware that if you return simply because you change your mind, A4L charges a 15% restocking fee. They do not have a satisfaction guarantee like some other places.
In that regard, I like Crutchfield best because they give you 60 days and charge a flat $15 for a return (double check their return policy for the specific item you buy, something like a sub may be $50 to $75)! I'm happy to pay $15 if I decide to use their 60 day return option!

 

[VMPS-TIII]

However, be aware that if you return simply because you change your mind, A4L charges a 15% restocking fee. They do not have a satisfaction guarantee like some other places.
In that regard, I like Crutchfield best because they give you 60 days and charge a flat $15 for a return (double check their return policy for the specific item you buy, something like a sub may be $50 to $75)! I'm happy to pay $15 if I decide to use their 60 return option!

I would not buy from Accessories4Less unless there was a gun to my head. Their refurb electronics have a BIG history of defects and you don't want a unit that works fine now but breaks a few months later. Just not worth the hassle. You might think, "but I have a warranty". Warranty on a lot of products is slow to nonexistent now. I'm still waiting on my Denon 4500 repair after 2 months in the repair facility. Parts are impossible to find.

A new purchase is much more likely to produce a unit that lasts for years. In addition, the return policy at Accessories4Less works out to about 20% when you count all the shipping charges. You really don't want to buy anything from Accessories4Less unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure you want it.

Crutchfield on the other hand offers an amazingly liberal return policy and return shipping that can be negotiated in advance so there's no surprise. In addition, it's really hard to reach Accessories4Less by phone compared to Crutchfield. And when you email them the response is usually a bit tart. Not the friendliest store in town. And when you realize the deal you thought you were getting is actually a nightmare warranty blackhole you scratch your head and think "Why did I do this?"

 

[KEW]

Their refurb electronics have a BIG history of defects ...

I have now bought over 20 items from A4L, but not had one instance of defect!
Where did you get this information and what type of frequency of defects are you talking about?
This is really useful information to use in evaluating whether to buy refurb gear!

 

[mazersteven]

I would not buy from Accessories4Less unless there was a gun to my head. Their refurb electronics have a BIG history of defects and you don't want a unit that works fine now but breaks a few months later. Just not worth the hassle. You might think, "but I have a warranty". Warranty on a lot of products is slow to nonexistent now. I'm still waiting on my Denon 4500 repair after 2 months in the repair facility. Parts are impossible to find.

I've never experienced this so-called Big History of Defects you speak of. But you continue to Spew this over and over and over because You had a bad experience and you're Sour over it.

 

[slipperybidness]

I have now bought over 20 items from A4L, but not had one instance of defect!
Where did you get this information and what type of frequency of defects are you talking about?
This is really useful information to use in evaluating whether to buy refurb gear!

My gut says that there are just as many (or more) items on A4L that are simply open box, demos, or items that were returned that were root cause operator error and not defective in the slightest.

Here is a different viewpoint-- Every refurb item likely has spent some time on the test bench and has gone through at least some rudimentary QC. For a newly manufactured item, they choose a sample set for testing and QC that is expected to represent the population of the product. For a refurb, the entire population has been tested.

Sure, there is risk buying used/refurbs. Sure, there is different risk buying new.

The real questions become, what is your risk comfort level, what is your $ comfort level, how much time/hassle can you tolerate, and what are the warranties/return policies. Then, does it make sense to you to save some $ on refurb or not.

 

[afterlife2]

They have a great rep with me. Bought my Onkyo 707 from them and never had an issue when i had it. Fast delivery too. If the Cantons are still available xmas time i may bite.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I have now bought over 20 items from A4L, but not had one instance of defect!
Where did you get this information and what type of frequency of defects are you talking about?
This is really useful information to use in evaluating whether to buy refurb gear!

I'm simply going by my experience and several others who have purchased receivers form A4L only to be disappointed by defects and non-working units. As warranty service is not dependable the extra $100 you spend on shipping the unit in for repair adds insult to injury.

Speakers are a different category. They are much easier to test than an AVR with 9-11+ channels. Even so, you better be sure you want them as a 20% return charge (including shipping) is one of the largest in the industry.

There are many other vendors available for purchases of new equipment that don't have the significant refurb receiver risk and have reasonable return policies. Obviously, some buyers will need to experience these issues for themselves.

 

[txbonds]

Well, I was one that read your posts and recently returned an RX-A780 in part because of them. Cost me shipping both ways, so around $25 in total out of pocket, but no restocking fee.

That said, I've also bought couple spools of speaker cable, 7 new Canton speakers, a refurbished Marantz UD-7007, and a refurbished Denon 4520ci over the years. The 4520 did end up dying after warranty and I never did send it in for repair. But that was like 2 years after purchase and quite honestly could happen to any receiver, new or refurbished.

I did return the RX-A780, but mostly because your posts made me take a breath and realize the 3600 would probably be a better play for my use for a number of reasons. When I did this, A4L didn't have any refurb 3600's, so I bought new from Crutchfield.

A4L has been great and offers great prices. And I agree that it is starting to sound like sour grapes when you post the experience in every single thread that comes up. Sorry that you got a bad unit but there are some trade offs to buying the refurb unit for less cost, and some of that trade off comes in different warranties coverage or service levels. Anyway, sorry for your experience but others shouldn't let it cause them to not consider A4L.

 

[Alex2507]

I have now bought over 20 items from A4L, but not had one instance of defect!

That's 'cause they send all their broke sh!t to ADTG.

 

[Gmoney]

Well, I was one that read your posts and recently returned an RX-A780 in part because of them. Cost me shipping both ways, so around $25 in total out of pocket, but no restocking fee.

That said, I've also bought couple spools of speaker cable, 7 new Canton speakers, a refurbished Marantz UD-7007, and a refurbished Denon 4520ci over the years. The 4520 did end up dying after warranty and I never did send it in for repair. But that was like 2 years after purchase and quite honestly could happen to any receiver, new or refurbished.

I did return the RX-A780, but mostly because your posts made me take a breath and realize the 3600 would probably be a better play for my use for a number of reasons. When I did this, A4L didn't have any refurb 3600's, so I bought new from Crutchfield.

A4L has been great and offers great prices. And I agree that it is starting to sound like sour grapes when you post the experience in every single thread that comes up. Sorry that you got a bad unit but there are some trade offs to buying the refurb unit for less cost, and some of that trade off comes in different warranties coverage or service levels. Anyway, sorry for your experience but others shouldn't let it cause them to not consider A4L.

Hey! how you liking your Denon 3600! Sound Quality? bugs? umm you like it? Got any photos to post up? thoughts?

 

[Gmoney]

That's 'cause they send all their broke sh!t to ADTG.

lolo, poor Andrew, he got so

 

[txbonds]

Hey! how you liking your Denon 3600! Sound Quality? bugs? umm you like it? Got any photos to post up? thoughts?

Ummm, it's still sitting in the box. Golf and Halloween got in the way this past weekend. Trying to get it installed one night this week. Will circle back once I do.

 

[KEW]

That's 'cause they send all their broke sh!t to ADTG.

LOL!
I don't believe ADTG has ever bought from A4L.
He had sworn off buying refurbs well before, based on his abysmal experiences!
IIRC, he was buying from companies like OneCall and Damark (sp?).
Because of my own experience buying from OneCall and Damark, I am convinced that they used to take the unit someone else returned and ship it to the next guy without spending any time evaluating them. Their rate of defective gear was ridiculous, and they surprised me with how quickly they would exchange it without question! This was not the feel of "because we value you so much as a customer" but rather "let's not waste time because the phones are ringing all of the time and my job sucks" tele-marketer feel!

I think companies like Denon, Marantz, ands Yamaha migrated their refurb sales to A4L for a reason - because A4L specializes in audio gear.
AVR's are complicated. When I thought I had a defective SR-6001 and called A4L, he spent about 20 minutes on the phone asking me questions in an effort to verify that the unit was malfunctioning. I suspect they (or, more likely, the AVR manufacturers) developed a list to try to catch the most common mistakes a new owner might make.
The important thing is they invest some time and keep track of that specific returned unit and consider it defective when it arrives.
Additionally, I would suspect that A4L has a guy who checks non-defective returns (not in any official, technical certification capacity, but in a cosmetic and "does it work?" way) for example to verify that the product was not trashed before refunding their money (less restocking fee).

Think about how many come here believing they have a defective AVR, but with the help of the guys here discover that they just didn't understand how it worked! One all and Damark had no expertise.

 

[KEW]

Ummm, it's still sitting in the box. Golf and Halloween got in the way this past weekend.

If we are supposed to feel sorry for you, it's not working!

 

[txbonds]

If we are supposed to feel sorry for you, it's not working!

LOL

No sympathy needed.

 

[mazersteven]

No sympathy needed.

 

[KEW]

There are many other vendors available for purchases of new equipment that don't have the significant refurb receiver risk and have reasonable return policies. Obviously, some buyers will need to experience these issues for themselves.

I have bought enough from them that I would still consider myself ahead of the game if my next two units were DOA.
Of course, the reality is that they will replace a DOA unit (although lack of replacement inventory can be an issue) so that is not a realistic concern.

The reason I wrote my OP the way I did was because in my mind, saving $150 is getting into the territory where the risk and loss of a couple years of warranty makes it not as good of a deal as I am used to getting. It is still a deal I would go for, but I am used to saving much more than19% when I buy from A4L!

Much of this is a question of what is money worth to you and how willing would you be to deal with a return in order to get the lower price.

If we look at Crutchfield to see what type of Denon that $650 would get us, we get:

Denon AVR-S960H

7.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility

www.crutchfield.com

If $650 is your strict budget for the AVR, I think it is a no-brainer to go with a refurb 3600 over a 960S.
The pre-outs alone would justify it for me!

You probably already covered this elsewhere, but was it the case that they had no replacement for you, or was it a few weeks before you discovered the defect (something that would easily bite me in the butt)? With my mistaken defective return, they replaced the unit with another, I wanted it right away and they let me buy the replacement (so they would ship it immediately without processing my return first) then refunded the money a week later when they got my return.

As for the repairs, did they say why it is taking so long? i know that Covid has disrupted some of the supply lines.

 

[afterlife2]

LOL

No sympathy needed.

Dude I beat you! Look I’ve had this for almost 2 years in my families place. I picked it up on Monday. Bought it $200 new and could not overlook this deal. Just waited to get my first 4K TV. I Will hook it up today or tomorrow.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I just bought a new x3600h from worldwide stereo yesterday ($799)... And then you post this... You pain in the butt...

I've gotten two brand new DOA receivers from A4L... And they were kind of a pain in the butt about it. I wrote it off to, yes, it's very unusual to get two DOA brand new pieces of electronics in a row. I know many here on AH have had very good success and customer service from them.

You pain in the butt...

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I've gotten two brand new DOA receivers from A4L... And they were kind of a pain in the butt about it. I wrote it off to, yes, it's very unusual to get two DOA brand new pieces of electronics in a row. I know many here on AH have had very good success and customer service from them.

I agree A4L sales does have an attitude. Each time I tried to contact them it's been less friendly than I would expect. I also found they sell items on Amazon but if you buy there they cut the warranty on the units. It's pretty strange.

The price on A4L is attractive but if anything goes wrong it's a pain. Refurb receivers have so many things that can go wrong and Denon doesn't properly test them before they send them to A4L. It's Russian roulet.