Gauging Opinion

[justforfun52]

Hey guys,

I'd like to gauge opinion here on what AKer's would reasonably be willing to pay for the following items, a matching Pioneer SA-8500II and TX-8500II, based on the description given by the seller and no way of verifying the validity of the description (the pictures accompanied by these quotes were only of the front of the units. No interior or close up shots):

For the Integrated amp:
First response about the condition of the amp:

"Like I said, The Sa-8500 II I think just needs a good solid cleaning. Sometimes it comes on where you can hear it, sometimes not. May be a dirty power switch or something, plus the usual dirty contacts. I really dont know."

Then when I asked for more specifics:

"As for being more specific about the (pioneer) sa-8500 II, it will power up, there IS audio on both channels, so the amps themselves are good... but you have to work with it a bit... and then the breaker kicks in and out sometimes. its pretty dirty inside admitidly, so I believe thats the main problem. It just needs a good solid cleaning. But thats just my guess. Some of the knobs are scratched a bit also."

and then the Tuner:
The first response:

"The matching TX-8500 II tuner I works, but I think it just needs a cleaning aswell."

Then when I asked for more specifics:

"As for the TX 8500 II matching tuner, Ill have to dig into it a little bit and see whats going on.. may not be anything wrong with the tuner.. havent used it in a while. But it has strong reception."

Again with what the seller has responded to my queries what kind of offer would you make on these items? What would be a reasonable price based on the above information from the seller?

Thanks
Ryan

 

[EchoWars]

Sounds like he's trying to be honest, but just doesn't have much of a handle on what the trouble might be. As far as the tuner, by all means he should get with it and test the bugger.

The amp sounds like it has problems with the protection circuit, or the offset is misadjusted. Neither is a terrible thing to fix.

These are very nicely built units. I know they don't usually sell for much, but a properly set up SA-8500 will run with the best of 'em.

What should you pay? Whatever you think they are worth. Fully functional 8500's sell for somewhere around $85 - $125 on eBay. Unless you are technically inclined, you will likely spend that to get this one up to snuff, so the deciding factor here is cosmetics. If they look like hell, I'd pass. If mint, I'd offer $50 - $60 for the amp, knowing that you're gonna have a repair bill in addition to the purchase price.

I dunno Jack about the tuner, so I'll pass on making any comments.

 

[justforfun52]

More info

well how would you guage the price if the main board was cracked in one area. The crack speads out from one point in 4 directions, with each about 1-1.5 inches long?

Ryan

 

[EchoWars]

Cracked? Was it dropped? PC boards don't just crack.

Too much of a chance of it being a parts unit. I'd offer him $20 US for it. If that's not enough, I'd walk.

 

[justforfun52]

Reply

Well I paid 100 usd plus ~50 usd shipping, plus 30 cdn brokerage, etc, to get the two units across the border. All in all, well over 200 cdn.
I posted this because I bought these pieces from an AKer who sells here quite regularly.
He also told me that a person with some sort of authority on AK (I would assume a moderator) told him that I was shit out of luck.
The quotes are the email's he sent to me.
The problem the units displayed for me was the same for him. When I opened up the unit, I immediately noticed the cracked board.
As for the Tuner, I have no idea whats wrong with it, It just doesn't pick up any signals.
I wanted to guage opinion before telling people what had happened.
Needless to say I was/am quite mad, but I'm obviously biting the bullet on them.

Anyways, thanks for the confirmation of a bum deal. I hope the anonymous (yet to be named) AKer who sold me these obviously broken pieces doesn't pawn off anymore broken units on other AKer's. You know who you are,

Ryan

 

[Kamakiri]

Well according to your postings, you knew back on 9/27 that it had a cracked board, and today you post as if this is a surprise. There's details that you're leaving out here.

If you want to bad mouth somebody, you'd better damn well be sure that you have your story straight because if I remember right, this person contacted me. Albeit this was a couple months ago, something rings vaguely familiar about this.

The bottom line here is that if you want some recognition here about this, I'll be the judge if you like. If you want action in this event, the two of you can present your arguments right here. I can make a decision about this if you like. If the seller is really being a dick, I'll ban him. If you're suffering from buyer's regret buying something you knew was damaged in this fashion (as your posts indicate you did) and are now trying to bring some limelight to this, then I will ban you.

It's in your hands now. We can either go with the full court press or leave it here.

 

[justforfun52]

Actually

I bought the units from him in May of 2004. So that's when I first found out. I couldn't make an AK post until then. They arrived a few days before I left for a remote summer fishing job in the Queen Charlotte Islands (near Alaska). I discovered the crack in the board as soon as they arrived (in May) because I wanted to try them out. I also told the seller about the crack immediately following the discovery. I just haven't been back to AK for a while. I go to school and I've boxed up the units so I forgot about them until one of my other units went kaput (see post in general discussion forum) and thought great now I have 2 bum units and not much money to get eithere of them fixed. I'm not trying to screw anybody here and that's why I left the sellers name out. I just wanted to guage others opinions to see if I got a bum deal. That's all. Everything that I have said is factually true, I have the correspondence with the seller to prove it. The quotes are direct from email's he sent to me. I'm not going to lie on here, why should I? I have never once asked for any kind of retribution towards this person. I don't see why you would want to ban me especially when I'm not outwardly trashing anyone specifically on AK. You are the only person who knows who the seller was. Maybe you would have a reason to ban me if I came out and said "so and so did this and said that." I didn't so there's no need to threaten banning me.

Ryan

 

[grumpy]

Pretty sure he is just saying he needs to hear both party's sides before making a decision. Not threatening anyone.

Grumpy

 

[justforfun52]

Okay well that's the timeline of the story. It just seemed a little agressive.

Ryan

 

[Kamakiri]

You must remember that in any dispute, there are two sides to the coin. If you would like me to ejudicate the matter by the limited means I have.....limited meaning the power to boot the appropriate party....I will do so. By the same token, the other member has the right to his defense. If I presented myself as being aggressive, it is because I will stand no nonsense in issues like this, as you will agree is appropriate. The decision is yours if and how you want to proceed with this, you can email me all your correspondence to me and I will review it all and consider both sides.

I may or may not be able to effect any change in the situation, but I will do something if requested to.

If it is true that you bought the units in May, then why would you post in September the following:

"Again with what the seller has responded to my queries what kind of offer would you make on these items? What would be a reasonable price based on the above information from the seller?"

A direct implication that as of the September time of the post, you had not purchased the items based on the question of what to offer the seller. This contradicts your last statement of fact, and basically everything regarding your claim. Reread your posts and the time stamps on them.

 

[Kamakiri]

At this time I'm closing this thread until everyone's story is straight and consistent with fact.

Feel free to email and if there are any updates to this story with any relevance, I will reopen and post them.