Buying Dealer Demos

Thanks for the feedback. Zaikesman,there is a difference in my mind between used and dealer demo in the sheer number of hours a dealer puts on equipment as opposed to an average user. Your responses all give me more of a "warm,fuzzy" feeling in moving forward with this purchase.

Having worked in a local shop you'd be surprised at how little playing time most demo speakers get.Even the most popular models only get short burst of use even on busy days.It's not like there hooked up playing all day.The most likely source of potential damage is less than carefull employees knocking them about.So get a feel for your dealers concern for the eqipment he sells.Take a peek in the listening rooms to see if care was taken in set up and cableing.It won't take long to figure where the shops heart is and yes well cared for demo gear is a good investment.

This may be obvious, but get up-close-and-personal with the speakers and listen for any scraping noises (from a really donged voice coil), fuzzy noises (burned out tweeters) and anything that doesn't sound like music. Also, check for excessive wear of grill cloth covers (if you intend to use them) as these come off-and-on countless times and can make noise if stretched out. Finally, check for physical damage (smashed corners, scratched verneer, damaged binding posts) as this will definitely affect resale value.

Also worked in a shop once upon a time, definitely agree with Mar00 on the playing time issue (not that I think this really matters very much) - my speakers at home get a lot more daily playing time on average than any one thing did back in the store.

I purchased a dealer demo and after checking ser # with Mfg. found out it was over 5 years old. After this nightmare on next purchase i asked dealer to send ser# and found out from Mfg. they were 3 years old.