Anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with used or refurbished amps? Every situation would be different, but overall, what would ya'll say would be a safer way to buy an amp? Should I stay away from both kinds all together? Thanks.
Here's a quick thought on this. Refurbished amps were handled by manufacturer and were fixed to meet the standards. You can definitely get a refurb amp, but look at the warranty, but I don't think they'll break any faster than a new amp. As for used amps, I would only buy it from someone I really trust and if they can warranty that the amp will not blow under normal use with first 90days. They usually however don't carry any warranty, so I'd stay away from used amps.
you'll prbly be alright with the refurbished, i have heard some bad things about them though. Like the companies only fix the one part so the rest of the amp might still be defective....but i don't know for sure.
Refurbished amps are like playing Russian roulette. Sure it's suppose to be fixed according to manufacturer's spec, but that is not always the case. Sometimes they will "ONLY" fix the known problem. There are some manufacturers that will actually diagnose the whole amp and not just the problem. I'd stick to new amps but if that's not possible, try a used one. Not sure what the success ratio is between refurbished and used amps. Look at it this way, if it's a product that can be abused, then it's probably been abused. So risk accordingly.
I dont know much about car stereos but I Know that I bought a rockford fosgate amp, that was refurbished. And every 10 mins it would overheat and shut off. I bought it off ebay, and when I asked the seller to refund my money he refused. I would recomend that you stay away from refurbished amps on ebay anyways.
Wise decision JW. Unless the refurbished amps are half price or lower, it's not worth the risk. Nowdays, the refurbished amps aren't that cheap compared to new ones.