How many of you have had experience with second-hand speakers?

[RecklessNL]

I'm currently looking for a second-hand pair of Genelec 8040 speakers, and I was wondering if some of you guys have experience with secondhand speakers. I can save a good €600 by buying them second-hand and I really want to use that money on acoustic treatment. The seller I'm currently in contact with is reliable and trustworthy (which is one of the most important things I look for when buying things online) and he told me the speakers were barely used, and purchased in 2009. The speakers were built in the year 2006 apparently and work fine.

My question now is the following: how big is the risk of the speakers malfunctioning? How does it work with waranty, and what are my options when one of the speakers starts to malfunction? Did I waste my money then? Do you guys have any experience with this?
I know lots of people buy second-hand speakers and are happy with them, but I'm curious as to what my options are if one of the speakers starts to malfunction.

Thank you in advance!

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

I like second hand drivers, but with the complete speakers in cabs there are so many variables... are they stock, have they been abused, what is the condition of the crossovers (and power amps for the self-powered ones...). So if you know the provenance of the speakers, sure. If not, maybe not.

A week or so ago a fellow with some Barefoots who had left them with a band was warned by a visitor to the band that the speakers were being abused. You just never know.

I know of shady people who have replaced the good drivers with something else that fit, built their own cabinets and sold the stock cabs with cheap replaced drivers and junk crossovers.

I was looking for some mid-level speakers myself, and found what i thought was a good deal. But I was warned that the fellow doing the selling had 'had some trouble' with them and was looking for replacement parts. Did he source the proper parts? (not from what i could discover, and the network is rather small.)

There isn't anything in most newer speaker cabs that cannot be replaced. But who needs that aggravation?

So be very very careful.

[RecklessNL]

Originally Posted by Bill@WelcomeHome

I like second hand drivers, but with the complete speakers in cabs there are so many variables... are they stock, have they been abused, what is the condition of the crossovers (and power amps for the self-powered ones...). So if you know the provenance of the speakers, sure. If not, maybe not.

A week or so ago a fellow with some Barefoots who had left them with a band was warned by a visitor to the band that the speakers were being abused. You just never know.

I know of shady people who have replaced the good drivers with something else that fit, built their own cabinets and sold the stock cabs with cheap replaced drivers and junk crossovers.

I was looking for some mid-level speakers myself, and found what i thought was a good deal. But I was warned that the fellow doing the selling had 'had some trouble' with them and was looking for replacement parts. Did he source the proper parts? (not from what i could discover, and the network is rather small.)

There isn't anything in most newer speaker cabs that cannot be replaced. But who needs that aggravation?

So be very very careful.

Great points Bill. I'm buying them of a professional Video Editor though, so I doubt that he ever fiddled with the speakers. Also, when I spoke to him on the phone, he told me that he didn't really need to sell them anyway, but rather he thought he could get a nice price for them, since they get used so little. So it's not exactly buying them from a band that abused them, and my instinct (even though it might not be worth much) tells me he wouldn't deliberately sell me broken gear. I will probably listen to them before I buy, however, so if something's wrong I'll hopefully pick it up, but it seems very unlikely. I've dealt with shady sellers online before (and have some depressing stories regarding that) and if I've learned anything from it, it's to trust my gut - and from talking to him and looking at his other advertisements (and his history thereof), I don't think the guy has any bad intentions whatsoever.

So the main issue is still what I can do if any of speakers decides to break or malfunction in a way. Will I have warranty on it, can I let Genelec fix it if I show the bill of purchase, or maybe some other company that can help me? Or will I have wasted my cash? This obviously is the risk you take buying second-hand products, but I'm curious as to what my options are.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Most all warranties expire no matter what when the speakers are resold. Pretty much no manufacturer will repair your product under warranty, but they will fix them and bill you. This will probably cost a fortune. I've sourced parts from the OEM as well as through the manufacturer of the end product. A $30 tweeter can become a $120 tweeter in the blink of an eye.

[RecklessNL]

Originally Posted by Bill@WelcomeHome

Most all warranties expire no matter what when the speakers are resold. Pretty much no manufacturer will repair your product under warranty, but they will fix them and bill you. This will probably cost a fortune. I've sourced parts from the OEM as well as through the manufacturer of the end product. A $30 tweeter can become a $120 tweeter in the blink of an eye.

Well, if it takes $120 to fix a speaker set of $900 then it's a price I'd be willing to pay. The alternative is having wasted $900... but yeah, I guess you take a risk buying them. Hopefully everything works out fine...