experience with 2nd hand dealer from chennai

I visited a few shops in Ritchie street today 'asking' for CD Players and Cassette Decks. The prices are very attractive - most of them less than 5K. Mohan Music recognised Flanker and even has his Ignite poster stuck on his wall.

One of the shop keeper told me something strange. Most of these second hand items seem to be coming from Singapore and Malaysia. When a deck loses a belt, they pick it (from where? - flea shops there?), bring them to Chennai and do some repair here.

If the replacement is proper, we may be lucky. If not?

I guess, it makes sense to go through someone you know there so that you are not cheated as some casual customer.

Cheers

Hai,

I am glad to hear that you came to my shop Mr. Venkatcr.
I never noticed you You could have had introduced yourself... Perhaps next time


I have to thank Mr. Subramaniam (SUB), Mr. Ragav (flanker.r.).
We are proud to have customers like them.
Thank you
Sasi
 
I am glad to hear that you came to my shop Mr. Venkatcr. I never noticed you You could have had introduced yourself... Perhaps next time

No issues Sasi. I will come again and introduce myself properly. I was in 'Mufti' yesterday when I visited :) Just joking. I had actually gone to Ritchie street looking for a HTPC cabinet.

Cheers
 
This man sasi is really a good one, buying a used one from his shop will be a good and safest way for the customers who seeks a good audio system for (VFM) Value For Money and its also buying great (VVFM) value from mohan musicals in ritche street, in which he deal the customers with good respect, however it doesnt matters, you are repeatedly visiting his shop asking for your exact electronics you need.

Seaching for good used electornics from well knowned brands. all the forum memebers can visit mohan musicals.....
 
most of the stuff in ritchie street is tampered as well . meaning - the junk that does not work goes to service at power electronics or another shop in the power electronics complex .

Most of the transistors are substituted for example motorola transistors are replaced with cheap 2n3055 devices also .

If the speakers have damaged voice coils , then the voice coil alone is replaced leaving the paper to give the speaker an authentic look and the dust cap is replaced with a similar one . If yu are buying speakers look wether the drivers have a dust cap that looks new .If the dust cap is new avoid it .

again , crossovers might also have problems

Worst is , considering the age of the speakers ,most of the dealers quote higher prices than that of similarly avaliable speakers at a new speaker dealership .. LOL
 
This man sasi is really a good one, buying a used one from his shop will be a good and safest way for the customers who seeks a good audio system for (VFM) Value For Money and its also buying great (VVFM) value from mohan musicals in ritche street, in which he deal the customers with good respect, however it doesnt matters, you are repeatedly visiting his shop asking for your exact electronics you need.

Seaching for good used electornics from well knowned brands. all the forum memebers can visit mohan musicals.....


Mohan musicals is another rip off . I guess the OP is associated with MOhan musicals .
 
Hi yugaaa,

Mohan musicals is another rip off . I guess the OP is associated with MOhan musicals .

Everybody in this forum is giving sugestions based on the experience they have with many dealers and not the association as you have mentioned, so please never degrade a member by writing such derogaratory remarks.

Regards

sub
 
Mohan musicals is another rip off . I guess the OP is associated with MOhan musicals .



Hi Yugaa

Please do not pin Point a particular person , unless you have had a bad experience with him ( if you have any , you can share it with us so that you can help others to buy carefully ) , I was in Ritchie street and i could not find any interesting products for my use at any price point . I suppose these places are for people who are in Chennai and who knows about the in and out of the electronics. I have purchased my Musical Fidelity - Second hand through a Dealer and its still working fine . Buying second hand is best way to save money:licklips: , but where you purchase matters. For me Ritchie street did not work , but there are people who purchase from that place and are very happy with the equipment.

Tharun Balakrishnan

My Equipment:

Amp : MF A 3.2 ( Bought used )

Speakers : Mission M33 ( Bought New )

CD Player : Marantz SA 7001 ( Bought Demo unit )
 
I visited a few shops in Ritchie street today 'asking' for CD Players and Cassette Decks. The prices are very attractive - most of them less than 5K. Mohan Music recognised Flanker and even has his Ignite poster stuck on his wall.

One of the shop keeper told me something strange. Most of these second hand items seem to be coming from Singapore and Malaysia. When a deck loses a belt, they pick it (from where? - flea shops there?), bring them to Chennai and do some repair here.

If the replacement is proper, we may be lucky. If not?

I guess, it makes sense to go through someone you know there so that you are not cheated as some casual customer.

Cheers


Hello everybody...
This is not a reply to any specific comment made here regarding the Ritchie Street topics, but just to give all a detailed picture of how all this goes about..........
I have been buying things from Ritchie Street from may be like 11 years now. I have had experience with virtually ALL the shops there who deal with the second-hand items mentioned above.
Ritchie street is also called the Electronic Market of Chennai. But the main ingredient involves Computer shops, that occupy 85% of that market. The remaining 15 % is distributed among Electronic Spares & Second-Hand items.
There are quite a few shops on a thin lane in the market called Seeyaliamman koil Street. Those are the ones that sell the used Hi-fi. NONE of the items are bought locally. The shopkeepers go to Singapore once every month & buy the items from the streets, which are discarded by the owners due to various faults. Most of the items includin Cd Players & Amps are purchased for even less than 80$ Singapore. They are mostly in non-working conditions, which are hence brought to Chennai & repaired with alternate spares. The prices paid for the items are unbelievably less, & are sold at a 100-200% margin. Each person goes to Singapore & rents out a room for 5 days paying an equivalent of Rs.500 for a day. They leave to the market early in the mornings, when Lorries containing Junk items & used stuff comes for unloading. The people from whom they buy have absolutely no clue what they are selling, so even a Krell is capable of being sold for $500, as they just want to get rid of the things. Such items are further negotiated by our buyers, & bought in bulk for price of Peanuts. All repair work is carried out locally in Ritchie Street, which tentitively tampers the originality of the item as a whole. None of these people tell their customers that the equipment was faulty & a repair had been carried out.
The biggest joke here is that i see many of these sellers coming on this site to host their items. While people from Chennai know who these are, the chances are high that people from outside chennai can easily be cheated, as they are unaware of all this. I do not want to mention the names of those people but my whole point of writing this is to enlighten the forum members. ALWAYS insist on taking a Demonstration of any item purchased from these people & with a written declaration that they could be held responsible for any mishaps in the purchases made from them.
I hope this helps.....
 
Hello everybody...
This is not a reply to any specific comment made here regarding the Ritchie Street topics, but just to give all a detailed picture of how all this goes about..........
I have been buying things from Ritchie Street from may be like 11 years now. I have had experience with virtually ALL the shops there who deal with the second-hand items mentioned above.
Ritchie street is also called the Electronic Market of Chennai. But the main ingredient involves Computer shops, that occupy 85% of that market. The remaining 15 % is distributed among Electronic Spares & Second-Hand items.
There are quite a few shops on a thin lane in the market called Seeyaliamman koil Street. Those are the ones that sell the used Hi-fi. NONE of the items are bought locally. The shopkeepers go to Singapore once every month & buy the items from the streets, which are discarded by the owners due to various faults. Most of the items includin Cd Players & Amps are purchased for even less than 80$ Singapore. They are mostly in non-working conditions, which are hence brought to Chennai & repaired with alternate spares. The prices paid for the items are unbelievably less, & are sold at a 100-200% margin. Each person goes to Singapore & rents out a room for 5 days paying an equivalent of Rs.500 for a day. They leave to the market early in the mornings, when Lorries containing Junk items & used stuff comes for unloading. The people from whom they buy have absolutely no clue what they are selling, so even a Krell is capable of being sold for $500, as they just want to get rid of the things. Such items are further negotiated by our buyers, & bought in bulk for price of Peanuts. All repair work is carried out locally in Ritchie Street, which tentitively tampers the originality of the item as a whole. None of these people tell their customers that the equipment was faulty & a repair had been carried out.
The biggest joke here is that i see many of these sellers coming on this site to host their items. While people from Chennai know who these are, the chances are high that people from outside chennai can easily be cheated, as they are unaware of all this. I do not want to mention the names of those people but my whole point of writing this is to enlighten the forum members. ALWAYS insist on taking a Demonstration of any item purchased from these people & with a written declaration that they could be held responsible for any mishaps in the purchases made from them.
I hope this helps.....



I don't quite understand this bit about the items being "tampered". If one is looking for an untempered item and can afford it, they can always visit the so many "authorised" dealers selling items at exhorbitant rates. Most of them sell items from grey markets with more than 200% mark-up. I know this for sure. Not only AV gear, but even items like airconditioners etc are sold in this manner. The warranty (which may be needed only in rarest of the rare cases where these imported items are concerned) is their own and not from the manufacturer - this fact is hidden from the buyer. They just say the product comes with a 12-month warranty.

Coming to the point of "tampered" items in Ritchie St., as far as I know all the dealers give you a very good demo without making faces (like they do at the authorised shops if they get a feeling you are not in a mood to buy the product being demonstrated).

Finally, after the demo, if one is happy with the outcome (audio or video or whatever), how does it really matter if the product is "tampered". At the prices they are giving these products even if you use them for a year and throw them, you still stand to gain.

Purely my personal views. Not intended to discredit anybody else's opinion or choice.

Warm Regds / Shailender
 
I don't quite understand this bit about the items being "tampered". If one is looking for an untempered item and can afford it, they can always visit the so many "authorised" dealers selling items at exhorbitant rates.

Finally, after the demo, if one is happy with the outcome (audio or video or whatever), how does it really matter if the product is "tampered". At the prices they are giving these products even if you use them for a year and throw them, you still stand to gain.

I suppose Critic is trying to differentiate between repair of a circuit by a person who has the circuit diagram, understands the circuit, has the correct parts and does a reliable job versus a person who does not enough knowledge, and who does not have proper parts. Since some of these items are over 15 to 20 years old, and production and support has stopped, parts will certainly be very hard to come by. And since there are so many different brands and different models, it will be difficult even for large set of trained engineers to do a reliable repair. You never know what the next model is going to be !!

As has been said by many people, buying second had stuff has a certain element of risk. If you are interested, go with a recommendation.

Cheers
 
I suppose Critic is trying to differentiate between repair of a circuit by a person who has the circuit diagram, understands the circuit, has the correct parts and does a reliable job versus a person who does not enough knowledge, and who does not have proper parts. Since some of these items are over 15 to 20 years old, and production and support has stopped, parts will certainly be very hard to come by. And since there are so many different brands and different models, it will be difficult even for large set of trained engineers to do a reliable repair. You never know what the next model is going to be !!

As has been said by many people, buying second had stuff has a certain element of risk. If you are interested, go with a recommendation.

Cheers


Venkatji:

I suppose thats a chance one has to take. As for untrained guys doing repairs, thats exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post. If the product sounds good to the buyer's ears and the seller is ready to back it up with an exchange in case of defects, I don't think we should be bothering about who is doing the tinkering. And I am sure not all the service guys
at reputed brands are experts. Also, most of them moonlight as technicians for these used item sellers.

Just thought of sharing what I know about this market. I have no intention of
refuting knowledgeable people like Venkatji. Lets continue the discussion pl.
Sounds interesting

Warm Regds / Shailender
 
Hi,

I totally agree with shailenderb regarding the demo and exchange part and as I have seen many of them are way above any dealer in chennai regarding knowledge of the products since they deal with many of them day in day out.

Regards

sub
 
I know Sasi well. I have picked up good gear from him and have had no issues. And being a vinyl fan, I find that Mohan Music has a decent collection of LPs - some of them in very good condition. He is good.

Ignite is a workshop thats run with passion, knowledge and skill by a true enthusiast. I see similar traits in Sasi - that explains the presence of Ignite's poster

Off-topic,perhaps.Pl tell us more abt Ignite.
 
Hello everybody...
This is not a reply to any specific comment made here regarding the Ritchie Street topics, but just to give all a detailed picture of how all this goes about..........
I have been buying things from Ritchie Street from may be like 11 years now. I have had experience with virtually ALL the shops there who deal with the second-hand items mentioned above.
Ritchie street is also called the Electronic Market of Chennai. But the main ingredient involves Computer shops, that occupy 85% of that market. The remaining 15 % is distributed among Electronic Spares & Second-Hand items.
There are quite a few shops on a thin lane in the market called Seeyaliamman koil Street. Those are the ones that sell the used Hi-fi. NONE of the items are bought locally. The shopkeepers go to Singapore once every month & buy the items from the streets, which are discarded by the owners due to various faults. Most of the items includin Cd Players & Amps are purchased for even less than 80$ Singapore. They are mostly in non-working conditions, which are hence brought to Chennai & repaired with alternate spares. The prices paid for the items are unbelievably less, & are sold at a 100-200% margin. Each person goes to Singapore & rents out a room for 5 days paying an equivalent of Rs.500 for a day. They leave to the market early in the mornings, when Lorries containing Junk items & used stuff comes for unloading. The people from whom they buy have absolutely no clue what they are selling, so even a Krell is capable of being sold for $500, as they just want to get rid of the things. Such items are further negotiated by our buyers, & bought in bulk for price of Peanuts. All repair work is carried out locally in Ritchie Street, which tentitively tampers the originality of the item as a whole. None of these people tell their customers that the equipment was faulty & a repair had been carried out.
The biggest joke here is that i see many of these sellers coming on this site to host their items. While people from Chennai know who these are, the chances are high that people from outside chennai can easily be cheated, as they are unaware of all this. I do not want to mention the names of those people but my whole point of writing this is to enlighten the forum members. ALWAYS insist on taking a Demonstration of any item purchased from these people & with a written declaration that they could be held responsible for any mishaps in the purchases made from them.
I hope this helps.....

I can vouch for this. There are quite a few people in Bangalore and cochin who have been duped by these guys from Chennai:mad:
 
Venkatji:

I suppose thats a chance one has to take. As for untrained guys doing repairs, thats exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post. If the product sounds good to the buyer's ears and the seller is ready to back it up with an exchange in case of defects, I don't think we should be bothering about who is doing the tinkering. And I am sure not all the service guys
at reputed brands are experts. Also, most of them moonlight as technicians for these used item sellers.

Just thought of sharing what I know about this market. I have no intention of
refuting knowledgeable people like Venkatji. Lets continue the discussion pl.
Sounds interesting

Warm Regds / Shailender

Demo of hi-end tampered equipment to an untrained ear in less than ideal condition does not prove anything.
The gear will work. But does it sound like the original ? Does it meet the original specs ? Even re-routing wires in an amp can change the voicing of the amplifier:D
This is big scam !
Avoid used equipment unless you know the original owner and history.
 
Demo of hi-end tampered equipment to an untrained ear in less than ideal condition does not prove anything.

Does demo of untampered original equipment to a trained ear in ideal condition (what is ideal ? - anechoic chamber? When atmospheric air satisfies the ideal gas equation?) prove anything? How many of us have had the annoying experience of picking up speakers after listening to them in a demo room, only to find that it sounds harsh and coloured when paired with equipment at home and sounds terrible within the confinement of your listening room

The gear will work. But does it sound like the original ? Does it meet the original specs ? Even re-routing wires in an amp can change the voicing of the amplifier:D

I have listened to different specimens of the same model of amp from same manufacturer and there have been huge differences- All specimens were unopened and unserviced and were with original owners. I myself own two MF A1 amps bought brand new in the 80s and there is difference between the two. Over a period the bias values change, capacitance changes and components lose tolerance. What is re routing wires? How does one do it and why should one do it? even if an amp is broken it is easier to wire it the way the manufacturer wired it.

[/QUOTE]This is big scam ! Avoid used equipment unless you know the original owner and history.[/QUOTE]


In the used business what is not? I see cars that have their odometers tampered - not the 800s and zens but even skodas and BMWs that are supposed to store the odo reading in the ECUs. I hear people sell of houses and land with forged documents and on a grander scale, just to dramatize things more- why Russia even tried selling us a piece of used junk in the name of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

If something can enhance the value of a used product it is natural for people to do it In the end ya it is easy to say 'do not buy used gear'. No body is forcing us to do it. We have swanking air conditioned lounges with perfect demo rooms, brochures to take home, international warranty and even finance option for hi fi gear when we opt for new one.

But we just cant deny the fact that used equipment offers best value for money. As I have said earlier equip yourself more. If we are in the market looking for a used honda city we need to be wary and stay clear if we come across one that has a diesel engine in it. If we did not know that Honda never put a diesel power plant in their city, god save us !

Ps: I owe no affiliation to any dealer on Ritchie street. My association ends as being a hi fi fanatic who has learnt and seen a lot of hi fi stuff from the radio market as we like to call it. I have had my share of getting duped and also my share of coming to own some dream gear I have always wanted.
Well I was vetti today, my mechanics having refused to come to the workshop due to new year and thought Ill think loud here. Having done this now what better way to spend the rest of my holiday than visit the hi fi prowling grounds of chennai . I am off to ritchie street. Wish me luck! Happy tamil new year guys.
:):):):):):)
 
Does demo of untampered original equipment to a trained ear in ideal condition (what is ideal ? - anechoic chamber? When atmospheric air satisfies the ideal gas equation?) prove anything? How many of us have had the annoying experience of picking up speakers after listening to them in a demo room, only to find that it sounds harsh and coloured when paired with equipment at home and sounds terrible within the confinement of your listening room

The gear will work. But does it sound like the original ? Does it meet the original specs ? Even re-routing wires in an amp can change the voicing of the amplifier:D

I have listened to different specimens of the same model of amp from same manufacturer and there have been huge differences- All specimens were unopened and unserviced and were with original owners. I myself own two MF A1 amps bought brand new in the 80s and there is difference between the two. Over a period the bias values change, capacitance changes and components lose tolerance. What is re routing wires? How does one do it and why should one do it? even if an amp is broken it is easier to wire it the way the manufacturer wired it.

This is big scam ! Avoid used equipment unless you know the original owner and history.[/QUOTE]

In the used business what is not? I see cars that have their odometers tampered - not the 800s and zens but even skodas and BMWs that are supposed to store the odo reading in the ECUs. I hear people sell of houses and land with forged documents and on a grander scale, just to dramatize things more- why Russia even tried selling us a piece of used junk in the name of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

If something can enhance the value of a used product it is natural for people to do it In the end ya it is easy to say 'do not buy used gear'. No body is forcing us to do it. We have swanking air conditioned lounges with perfect demo rooms, brochures to take home, international warranty and even finance option for hi fi gear when we opt for new one.

But we just cant deny the fact that used equipment offers best value for money. As I have said earlier equip yourself more. If we are in the market looking for a used honda city we need to be wary and stay clear if we come across one that has a diesel engine in it. If we did not know that Honda never put a diesel power plant in their city, god save us !

Ps: I owe no affiliation to any dealer on Ritchie street. My association ends as being a hi fi fanatic who has learnt and seen a lot of hi fi stuff from the radio market as we like to call it. I have had my share of getting duped and also my share of coming to own some dream gear I have always wanted.
Well I was vetti today, my mechanics having refused to come to the workshop due to new year and thought Ill think loud here. Having done this now what better way to spend the rest of my holiday than visit the hi fi prowling grounds of chennai . I am off to ritchie street. Wish me luck! Happy tamil new year guys.
:):):):):):)
[/QUOTE]


So everyone is indulging in some con job. So ???? proves what ?????? Too much diesel fumes eh ????? :D

Happy hunting in the junk-yard. I can hear the CON guys laughing all the way to the BANK :lol:

Used equipment offers best value for money as long as you know where it is coming from ;)
 
Last edited:
Read my post carefully Neutral. I have never said 'Everyone'. If that was the case I don't think any business can last. I don't go to any guy there who has duped me earlier. Request you to not read between lines.

You will definitely smell fumes (not just diesel, but plethora of other nasty ones as well) when you read between lines :lol:

Allow me to rephrase the final statement of yours 'Used equipment....' as 'Used equipment offers best value for money as long as you know how to stay clear of quarks and you know something about the gear you are seeing'.

Just because you get good amount of used stuff in Singapore can we generalize by saying that any used gear picked up in singapore is junk. Isnt this an entailment paradox following informal fallacy ? Sorry for sounding like an english TR!

And BTW, why is this thread only restricted to used dealers only from Chennai- Isnt there a place like this is in any other part of India or are the dealers out there immune from such accusations

My gear hunting was not successful today - not because Ritchie street is a 'junk yard' but because 5.1 and DTS have infiltrated it too. Not many stereo gear was I able to find. Damm the multi channel audio experience. Anyway, my find of the day - picked up 11 brand new LPs- unopened and in their original sealed covers! 2 Pink floyd, JCS, Dave Brubeck, Jerimoqu...., Queen and 4 IR stuff. The dealer told me they have been lying there for almost a month.

Maybe people who advise you to stay away from Ritchie street are probably right! ;)
 
Hi Neutral
& All

It is disturbing treand observed on this forum to use rude and egoistic laungauge , and tendancy of not listening anything suggested.
Please note that everyone cannot afford amplifiers costing 30 K + and still enjoy good sound.and again these guys may not economically backward or poor. It is simply constraints and money to be used against a lot of other hobbies.and unfortunatly I am one of these people.
Do not think like French queen Marie Antoinette who said "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!":mad: guy there are lot of guys with lower budget who has right of good sound!!
I mentioned in other thread that dealers fleece the customers by jacking up the prices to on\bscene level wrt international pricing.. and used equipment can be good alternative for acceptable sound.

IMHO a good 20 years old amplifier still has some life in it!!!

Fellow members ,your views!!
 
Hi Neutral
& All

It is disturbing treand observed on this forum to use rude and egoistic laungauge , and tendancy of not listening anything suggested.
Please note that everyone cannot afford amplifiers costing 30 K + and still enjoy good sound.and again these guys may not economically backward or poor. It is simply constraints and money to be used against a lot of other hobbies.and unfortunatly I am one of these people.
Do not think like French queen Marie Antoinette who said "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!":mad: guy there are lot of guys with lower budget who has right of good sound!!
I mentioned in other thread that dealers fleece the customers by jacking up the prices to on\bscene level wrt international pricing.. and used equipment can be good alternative for acceptable sound.



IMHO a good 20 years old amplifier still has some life in it!!!

Fellow members ,your views!!

Buddy, I said,
Used equipment offers best value for money as long as you know where it is coming from;)

They are dead value after one of these crooks have their so called - engineers have a go at it. There are lots of such crooks all around our country but their scale of operations is low. This is a massive scale Con-Operation running out of Chennai.
Used equipment hunters BEWARE
 
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