"Andrew Walkingshaw" wrote in message
...
In article , Julian Fowler
wrote:
On 16 Jul 2003 16:45:38 GMT, Andrew Walkingshaw
wrote:

snip

Are there likely to be problems if I ask to demo a setup at Richer
Sounds? (Furthermore, I presume it would be OK to take along a few CDs
to hear excerpts of, in the general case?)

No problem at all. I went to the Watford branch and had a 90 minute demo.
Staff were knowledgable and helpfull. I took several CD's along to the
session.

snip

I'd rather buy new than go through eBay for that reason: also, I don't
have enough knowledge/confidence to buy second-hand gear unseen and
be reasonably certain it'll sound decent.

I went through 'upgradeitis' and ended up selling/buying 17 items of kit
through EBAY. EVERYTHING I purchased had the original receipt and packaging
and it was ALL in excellent condition. Everthing I sold was in great
condition too.

Everyone on EBAY gets rated for every sale/purchase so its easy to see who
can be trusted. In fact, I now feel happier about getting stuff on Ebay
because of the rating system!

There are some great bargains to be had on there - my Roksan Kandy Mk3 amp
is £550 in the shops but I got mine for £399. I went to pick it up in
person - from a HiFi dealer! He took it off the shelf to wrap it up!

MrBitsy.