Refurbished Receivers

[tgeorge34]

I was looking around for a new receiver and came across a website that sells refurbished receivers (Accessories4less), at huge discounts.

I was looking at the Marantz Av7701 or SR7007.

Has anyone had any experience with buying a refurbished unit, or from this company?

And another question...neither of these have Audyssey XT32. Would it be worth spending the extra to get this, or maybe going with a Denon that does have it at a lower price point?

Thanks

[3labman]

I bought my receiver from them as a refurbished unit a few years ago. I have not had any problem what so ever with it.

[dust770]

I purchased two receivers from Harmon Kardon that were refurbs and they both crapped out on me, along with my first H/K receiver that was brand new. Needless to say I didn't have a good experience with refurbs or H/K.

[Deleted]

Refurb can be a great option. I have purchased refurb laptops,amps (just tried out Xpa100 refurbs I got yesterday). Refurbished items need to be bought back to spec, and hence may have had more testing than a new product. You also save money.

[bub]

They are local to me... I have e-mailed them a couple of times and they have gotten back to me quickly including weekends.. They don't have a showroom but they offered me 30 days to test some new speakers and then make a final decision..Not sure if this is a store policy. You could always e-mail them and ask ...I've yet to take them up on their offer..

[bootman]

If you are in the market for a unit with Audyssey, I would not get anything unless it is XT32.
Anything less is just wasting $$$ IMO.

If you are a tweaker, the UMC-200 with its PEQs (along with a good mic and REW) can yield even better results.

[Hersheysan]

I bought an Integra DTR-70.2 refurbished receiver from an authorized dealer in SoCal a year and a half ago and haven't had any problems whatsoever.

[RightinLA]

I've been happy with all my purchases from Accessories4less. I highly recommend them.

[solidstate]

Feb 1, 2014 21:24:50 GMT -5 dust770 said:

I purchased two receivers from Harmon Kardon that were refurbs and they both crapped out on me, along with my first H/K receiver that was brand new. Needless to say I didn't have a good experience with refurbs or H/K.

HK has had the highest failure rates for AVRs in the entire industry. A few years back Onkyo was really bad as well. Personally I wouldn't ever buy either brand especially on the low end of their linecard.

The Onkyo failure rate was so high a few years ago that many dealers stopped carrying the product.

The problems were more than just failed electronic parts as well but design flaws that would cause component failure over and over again.

[solidstate]

Feb 1, 2014 21:32:59 GMT -5 @joebbathehut said:

Refurb can be a great option. I have purchased refurb laptops,amps (just tried out Xpa100 refurbs I got yesterday). Refurbished items need to be bought back to spec, and hence may have had more testing than a new product. You also save money.

Great points. Depending on the EE/technician that did the refurb work in many cases it will be better than a freshie right outta the box.

[Deleted]

I have purchased 3 HK refurbs. All perform flawlessly, and have done so for years. 2+ years ago I purchased a refurbished Sherwood Newcastle R-972 with Trinnov from Accessories 4 Less that has also performed perfectly. Fwiw, the Sherwood is the single best audio purchase I have ever made. I actually think the DAC in the thing sounds better than my W4S DAC 2. The Trinnov 3D imagining has to be heard to be believed.

[Deleted]

Feb 2, 2014 1:15:55 GMT -5 solidstate said:

Feb 1, 2014 21:24:50 GMT -5 dust770 said:

I purchased two receivers from Harmon Kardon that were refurbs and they both crapped out on me, along with my first H/K receiver that was brand new. Needless to say I didn't have a good experience with refurbs or H/K.

HK has had the highest failure rates for AVRs in the entire industry. A few years back Onkyo was really bad as well. Personally I wouldn't ever buy either brand especially on the low end of their linecard.

The Onkyo failure rate was so high a few years ago that many dealers stopped carrying the product.

The problems were more than just failed electronic parts as well but design flaws that would cause component failure over and over again.

That's a surprising statement about the HK's. This is the first time I have ever heard this. I have owned six HK unit since 1973 and I consider them to not only sound awesome, but also to be built like tanks. It was in part my research about their reliability that got me interested in them. I still have my Harman/Kardon Citation 14 that I got for a high school graduation present, and it still performs just fine.

[Deleted]

The 1973 Citation is 41 years now old BTW.

[tgeorge34]

Wow..thanks for all of the responses. I will have no hesitations about buying a refurbished unit ( with the extended warranty).

Bootman...
If you are in the market for a unit with Audyssey, I would not get anything unless it is XT32.
Anything less is just wasting $$$ IMO.

If you are a tweaker, the UMC-200 with its PEQs (along with a good mic and REW) can yield even better results.

I don't know if I would say Im a tweaker, but I purchased my first xpa-5 about a year ago and appreciate the difference in sound that it made from the power from my denon 3310ci.
You are saying I would notice a difference in sound with the UMC-200 as opposed to the Marantz.

Not just the difference between separates, but with the XT32. If I would notice a difference I could just go to the 8801 or 7008.

Also, Is the difference between these two units more than one just having power, or will there be a difference in sound?

I have read the specs, but to be honest I am relatively new to this hobby and don't fully understand. Is there a difference between the two besides the amplifier?

Thanks

[solidstate]

Feb 2, 2014 1:41:22 GMT -5 @islandman2020 said:

Feb 2, 2014 1:15:55 GMT -5 solidstate said:

HK has had the highest failure rates for AVRs in the entire industry. A few years back Onkyo was really bad as well. Personally I wouldn't ever buy either brand especially on the low end of their linecard.

The Onkyo failure rate was so high a few years ago that many dealers stopped carrying the product.

The problems were more than just failed electronic parts as well but design flaws that would cause component failure over and over again.

That's a surprising statement about the HK's. This is the first time I have ever heard this. I have owned six HK unit since 1973 and I consider them to not only sound awesome, but also to be built like tanks. It was in part my research about their reliability that got me interested in them. I still have my Harman/Kardon Citation 14 that I got for a high school graduation present, and it still performs just fine.

And you think what you purchased 41 years ago is an indication of the products made today?

The company's consumer products have never been the same since Betrice Foods owned it and the Japanese bought the amplifier group even with Sidney at the helm after he reassembled the company in the late 80s.

Sidney took the midfi route in the 90s and their product has been boxstore marketed and sold as the top notch in the shop due to prior consumer knowledge. This means the product were working on lower margin and thus were made a lot cheaper.

In recent years HK International opened a joint factory in China with NAD and Rotel. The products have been crap ever since. The issues are QC and poor engineering.

PS now many HK AVR 254s have you gone through? The video section of that unit is prone to failure.

[bootman]

Feb 2, 2014 3:03:45 GMT -5 tgeorge34 said:

Wow..thanks for all of the responses. I will have no hesitations about buying a refurbished unit ( with the extended warranty).

Bootman...
If you are in the market for a unit with Audyssey, I would not get anything unless it is XT32.
Anything less is just wasting $$$ IMO.

If you are a tweaker, the UMC-200 with its PEQs (along with a good mic and REW) can yield even better results.

I don't know if I would say Im a tweaker, but I purchased my first xpa-5 about a year ago and appreciate the difference in sound that it made from the power from my denon 3310ci.
You are saying I would notice a difference in sound with the UMC-200 as opposed to the Marantz.

Not just the difference between separates, but with the XT32. If I would notice a difference I could just go to the 8801 or 7008.

Also, Is the difference between these two units more than one just having power, or will there be a difference in sound?

I have read the specs, but to be honest I am relatively new to this hobby and don't fully understand. Is there a difference between the two besides the amplifier?

Thanks

You can dial in a umc-200 just as ( and in a lot of cases even better) than XT 32.
However to do so requires the use of a laptop running REW.
Some threads here already talk about this.

It isn't for the non technical folks, but you will learn much doing it manually vs an auto setup like the rest.

[Deleted]

Feb 2, 2014 3:33:23 GMT -5 solidstate said:

Feb 2, 2014 1:41:22 GMT -5 @islandman2020 said:

That's a surprising statement about the HK's. This is the first time I have ever heard this. I have owned six HK unit since 1973 and I consider them to not only sound awesome, but also to be built like tanks. It was in part my research about their reliability that got me interested in them. I still have my Harman/Kardon Citation 14 that I got for a high school graduation present, and it still performs just fine.

And you think what you purchased 41 years ago is an indication of the products made today?

The company's products have never been the same since Betrice Foods owned it and the Japanese bought the amplifier group even with Sidney at the helm after he reassembled the company in the late 80s.

Sidney took the midfi route in the 90s and their product has been boxstore marketed and sold as the top notch in the shop due to prior consumer knowledge. This means the product were working on lower margin and thus were made a lot cheaper.

In recent years HK International opened a joint factory in China with NAD and Rotel. The products have been crap ever since. The issues are QC and poor engineering.

PS now many HK AVR 254s have you gone through? The video section of that unit is prone to failure.

Lol, I have gone through none if that means returning a unit for some malfunction. I have owned 3 refurbished AVR 254's. One I gave away as a birthday present 4 years ago. All = flawless performance. Until I went separates, I actually punished the HK's somewhat by hooking them up to my Polks which are 4 ohm speakers, and pushing them pretty hard. The Sherwood Newcastle R-972 that I have was supposedly everything from buggy to a piece of crap. It also had performed perfectly. I guess I have just been lucky?

Most of my power tools are refurbs, and still performing great. Many companies sell products as refurbs that are actually new/returned items that aren't allowed to be re-sold as "new".

I think the bottom line is 1) If the refurb has been "reconditioned" by the actual manufacturer, 2) has the same full warranty as if it were new with the same return option, and 3) is at a significantly reduced price......it's worth considering.

Now, can we talk about refurbished cables, lol!

[Deleted]

Where can I buy some refurbished manure for my garden?

[Deleted]

Just find a cow that rechews it cud.

[LCSeminole]

Feb 2, 2014 12:09:19 GMT -5 bootman said:

Feb 2, 2014 3:03:45 GMT -5 tgeorge34 said:

Wow..thanks for all of the responses. I will have no hesitations about buying a refurbished unit ( with the extended warranty).

Bootman...
If you are in the market for a unit with Audyssey, I would not get anything unless it is XT32.
Anything less is just wasting $$$ IMO.

If you are a tweaker, the UMC-200 with its PEQs (along with a good mic and REW) can yield even better results.

I don't know if I would say Im a tweaker, but I purchased my first xpa-5 about a year ago and appreciate the difference in sound that it made from the power from my denon 3310ci.
You are saying I would notice a difference in sound with the UMC-200 as opposed to the Marantz.

Not just the difference between separates, but with the XT32. If I would notice a difference I could just go to the 8801 or 7008.

Also, Is the difference between these two units more than one just having power, or will there be a difference in sound?

I have read the specs, but to be honest I am relatively new to this hobby and don't fully understand. Is there a difference between the two besides the amplifier?

Thanks

You can dial in a umc-200 just as ( and in a lot of cases even better) than XT 32.
However to do so requires the use of a laptop running REW.
Some threads here already talk about this.

It isn't for the non technical folks, but you will learn much doing it manually vs an auto setup like the rest.

I would take REW, a good mic, and a robust P-EQ over anything Audyssey has to offer. This is just the tweaker in me, I suppose.