Buying blind

I was very excited about this topic. Initially I thought it was to do with my favourite topic related to BLIND TESTINGS again. It even got people shouting at each other as it seems to always does but on carefully reading it is not. Oh well.


Anyway, buying blind is nice. It can be fun too. I guess it is a bit like going on a Blind Date. You are not sure what will you get. Sometimes you get a nice suprise.

I got my DVDP without auditioning. After awhile I realize it was not the best player around but never the less watching video using DVD was such a jump in quality over VHS that I consider it a worthwhile purchase as an introduction to the format.

 

What do you guys think your best item was in terms of buying it and selling it on? Anybody made much money on it?

 

everything bought blind aside from mains cables, speakers and things like my dac, which were all bought from local dealers who let me dem stuff beforehand.

 

...but it can be costly too, financially and mentally. And trouble is, if you don't get a nice surprise but a shock in the end.

Buying blind in a way is no different from buying kits becuase of the reviews.
Best advise is still the obvious: stop, look and listen.


regards

 

Osama,
That is very true. As you point out if you are unprepare to deal with the consequences then don't do it. It also follows that even after a short auditioning the risk is still there. We may change our mind after a longer period of living together. A pet is for life. Fortunately hifi toys is not.

Now the difficult one. Is your partner who don't share your disporportionate interest in all matters of hifi for life?

 

Only if she sings well maybe?

regards

 

It is interesting what people are considering 'blind' and what is not.

For example hearing a piece of kit at a show or at a dealer is considered 'blind' by some and not by others.

IMO if you havent tried it in the context of your own system, you bought it blind... not that theres anything wrong with that of course.

NB Everyone 'count to ten' and have a cup of tea, relax and have a cigy if you smoke

 

I've covered pretty much all of the options whilst buying. I've had dems of a particular item, which are okay but you tend to find that the different room and partnering kit mean that you can't really get a handle on the uniqe sound of the component you are listening to.
I've done comparative dems at a certain price range, which in the case of CD players served to show what small differences there were between them.
I've been to shows and heard kit I liked, later brought it and been moderately impressed, but shows are never a good place to buy things.
Finally, I've adopted the approach I use for most stuff now, which seems to be quite popular. Buy it S/H and cheaply, and see what you think in your own house and your own system. If you like it, keep it. If you don't, sell it on for what you paid. It's not stupidity, I've owned an awful lot of kit, learnt huge amounts about my taste in components and also about percieved value for money, and got some really nice equipment.
Simon

 

Anything I have bought new at full retail, I have insisted in demming at home in my own system.

Secondhand equipment I tend to buy because I have once heard an item sounding good and it is cheap. My Micromega CD player would be a case in point. I once heard one of these at The Sound Organisation in London feeding I think, an Exposure amp and Epos ES 11s. I was just blown away that CD could be made to sound so good but couldn't afford the £1500 price tag.
A few years later I saw a Solo at £400 and grabbed it before the guy could change his mind. Very fortunately it gelled fine with my system and is still in use and giving great pleasure.

Would that be buying semi blind? Partially sighted?

 

FYI the little altercation that was in this thread has been split out and moved to the Kindergarten. I've also edited a couple of posts here to remove references to the fight

Michael.

 

Tony L

I completely agree! It's their money, and they can spend it how they please, but one would think, for an enthusiast, a more judicious approach is more appropriate.

Tony, I trust you're not implying those who invariably listen to alternatives and audition equipment thoroughly prior to purchase, but prefer to buy new, also come under the category of "gullible"

Marco.

 

Marco

Quote

"Tony, I trust you're not implying those who invariably listen to alternatives and audition equipment thoroughly prior to purchase, but prefer to buy new, also come under the category of "gullible"

I suspect Tony means that in his opinion, anyone who buys a brand new item, even after trawling and demming, is a mug.

He is advocating buying second hand but then you knew that.

Regards

Mick

 

No, that is not what I am saying. The hi-fi industry obviously needs people who are happy to buy new, and by buying new the customer gets full dealer support, deming facilities, help with installation and a guarantee with the product, so there are plenty of perfectly valid reasons for doing so. I guess the ideal is when a customer finds a seriously good dealer, i.e. one of the very rare ones who is able to provide a system that genuinely lives up to the customers expectations and therefore enables the purchaser to forget about all the hi-fi geekery and get on with enjoying their music. I believe this was the original point of it all!

The problem comes where a person buys blind and rapidly discovers that the product is not to their taste, or that it fails to live up to expectations and then rapidly sells it on at a huge loss. For example the Naim forum is disturbingly full of posts along the lines of 'When will my brand new amp sound any good; how long is this bloody break in supposed to take?'. I have to admit this rings enormous alarm bells with me – perhaps they simply don't like the sound of the item they have bought? This kind of post often seems to precede an all out upgrade frenzy - i.e. yes there is a problem, and the "solution" is to fling even more money at it. It is however their money, and who am I to tell them how to spend it!

Hi-fi is a weird hobby, a lot of people get addicted to the upgrade bug. Many end up selling kit long before its useful life is anywhere near complete, and this obviously ends up costing a large amount if buying the kit new. I would strongly advise the more addictive punters to buy their kit second hand

Tony.

 

Obviously neither Tony nor I would ever do this but I'm a bit uneasy about using a dealer to home dem a load of stuff and then waltzing off to buy it second hand.

 

I would feel the same Alex. But sometimes it may be the only way to afford the kit you want.
Although i dont think i could put foot in the same dealers again

 

I agree completely – it is really unfair to abuse a dealers service in this way. I buy second hand, and I very often buy second hand gear blind on reputation or a hunch. I do however always make sure I can move anything that I don't get on with at either no loss or preferably a profit.

Tony.

 

Tony

I am trying not to wave the Naim flag but in all fairness, you have mentioned people buying blind on their forum.

Yes I often buy blind because I know that the next upgrade will be more Naim like than the unit being replaced. To date I have never been disappointed. That applies to a lot of Naimees.

I think there are two main types of Hif buyers. There are those like me who like the sound and ethos of a particular brand. We just buy on upgrades.

The second type is the perpetual seeker of better things and will switch from one brand to another in a never ending quest for nirvana.

It is all harmless and keeps us off the streets, so no harm is being done.

Regards

Mick

 

TonyL

"I buy second hand, and I very often buy second hand gear blind on reputation or a hunch." TonyL

That's fair enough but if no one bought *new* there would be no second hand kit, so why take dig's at the people that give you that opportunity

Regards

Barnie.
PS I buy both ways depends on the kit
http://www.barnies-place.co.uk/

 

.

The wealthiest people I have met have not been Hi Fi dealers, I think a good dealer largely does it for the love of the thing rather than to aquire vast sums of money. As Tony rightly points out there are precious few decent dealers around these days, I mean guys with the knowledge and skill to set up a system that you really want to listen to music on.

This precious few should not be abused.

 

The reason I sited Naim was because someone started a poll there about blind buying where at present only 39% of the sample group admit to auditioning kit! This obviously makes me want to be a Naim dealer more than anything now - 40% mark up for simply handing 60% of punters an expensive box and ringing up a credit card? Yes please!

Tony.