how to check if speaker being purchased are brand new?

jayad08

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hi,
i m going to shop for speakers shortly.
i wanted to ask you guys..how to check whether the speakers have not been used extensively for demo.
At the most I can do is to look for scratches. But that is just the outside, what i am concerned about is how to check whether all the components in the speaker are working fine and have not been damaged by overuse..

Would it help if I compared it against another pair (demo pair might sound sweeter)
I am confused..
 
hi,
i m going to shop for speakers shortly.
i wanted to ask you guys..how to check whether the speakers have not been used extensively for demo.
At the most I can do is to look for scratches. But that is just the outside, what i am concerned about is how to check whether all the components in the speaker are working fine and have not been damaged by overuse..

Would it help if I compared it against another pair (demo pair might sound sweeter)
I am confused..

hi jaya08,

but, really, you should not bother because -

(1) all demos given to prospective customers are under controlled conditions, and system specs are never given the short shrift.

(2) demos to HNI (high net-worth individuals) are always with the best equipment

(3) all loudspeakers perform well after they have been used for about a 100 hours. If you get somebody else to do this for you, you could even pay them for this favour!

So, trust in God, and hope that you get an extensively used demo pair:)
 
An honest dealer will tell you if he is giving you a new piece or an used one. In addition, you can expect the dealer to deliver the speakers to you in a new sealed cardboard boxes. Most speakers have serial numbers, and you can always write to the manufacturer to check the authenticity of the delivery.

If the outside looks good, and the speaker sound good, there is no harm in knowingly purchasing a demo piece.

Cheers
 
Hi jayad08,

I have a pair of Canton Karat 60 speakers that have been running absolutely flawlessly for the last 20 years (actually a bit more). A few months ago, cranky paid a visit to my place and in his opinion these should last me another decade. That may or may not be true, but their quality has been unquestionable.

Would you believe if I now tell you that I bought them as demo pair? I had my eyes on a pair of Karat 40 (the younger brother) which was a bit less expensive. While I demoed the same pieces of Karat 60 a couple of times, I did not think I'd be able to afford them. Then one day they appeared for sale as demo items. The store and my salesman (in Germany) were fully honest about it. They said I could have full confidence in their quality. they were only operated by the same salesman in a separate enclosure under controlled conditions and had at best 30 hours on them. They also gave me the full 5 years original Canton warranty.

I got 400 Deutche Mark discount for buying the demo pair. Still cost me more than we thought we would spend at that point of time.

I'd say it's practically impossible to tell if a speaker pair is used or not. Look for external finish etc (but abroad things look absolutely new even after years of use, because there is much less dust inside homes)

Regards.
 
A simple test, which i did for my replacement subwoofer from Onkyo. The sub got fried in the second day because of my "capabilty test cases":lol:. Anyways the Onkyo dealer agreed for a fresh new replacement piece and the service guy came to my house with a "brand new sub". The first thing i did was to put my hand inside the sub through the front port and checked the extreme inside for any dust, he could not tell even a word to claim it is a fresh piece from a sealed box after finding dust inside. At last he had to agree that it was a demo piece and the dealer gave me a fresh piece from a sealed box (i chose randomly from his godown) which he opened in front of me. Another thing is the (may sound crazy) smell of a fresh piece, a sealed one will have a fresh smell of glue and the mdf.
 
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wow guys thanks..
that is a lot of information to keep in mind.
anyways i created this thread because of my experience in purchasing the A/V receiver.
I purchased my A/V receiver without this sort of information available.

I trusted the sales guy when he said that this is a "fresh piece" and been demoed just once or twice.
On asking him about a scratch that I saw on the rear while he was connecting the cables, he just smoothly replied - These sort of scratches are sometimes unavoidable while getting the equipment transported.
It was plain foolish of me, or just the heck of getting it over with after having waited for 2 months before finalizing the purchase or the fear that the stocks wont last or the price is too irresistible to decline the offer I decided to ignore the scratch.
And when I closely examined the A/V receiver from the rear I found plenty more small scratches around the audio cable plug in points which meant that indeed I was given a demo piece.

So, what I have learned from this experience is.. never rush into purchasing electronics, even if you are too tired in your mind to push the purchase a bit further, but ensure that you get the deal worth what you pay for..
 
A simple test, which i did for my replacement subwoofer from Onkyo. The sub got fried in the second day because of my "capabilty test cases":lol:. Anyways the Onkyo dealer agreed for a fresh new replacement piece and the service guy came to my house with a "brand new sub". The first thing i did was to put my hand inside the sub through the front port and checked the extreme inside for any dust, he could not tell even a word to claim it is a fresh piece from a sealed box after finding dust inside. At last he had to agree that it was a demo piece and the dealer gave me a fresh piece from a sealed box (i chose randomly from his godown) which he opened in front of me. Another thing is the (may sound crazy) smell of a fresh piece, a sealed one will have a fresh smell of glue and the mdf.

I agree withe the smell of new electronics and speakers.. ..irresistable.. I always look for it too... plus the veneer or plastic as the case maybe has that new finish which only a new piece can have.. you really cant go wrong....
 
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