Top CD player wanted

[worrasf]

I've had three CDPs arrive with issues, a stable platter Pioneer which lost the lens from the laser en route (it was found in the box but not in good-enough nick to re-use - relatively easy fix thankfully); a Teac transport that arrived totally goosed and wasn't worth repairing (new mech being around the same price as I'd paid for the transport); and a Lampizator-type modded Marantz that also arrived with problems. All were in original boxes BTW.

I've twice had a cartridge lose a stylus en route - once en route to me (a fancy retipped Denon whose stylus guard slipped off and took the new cantilever with it) and another (an AT) I had shipped to someone else, just normally in the box in the mistaken belief that a push fit stylus guard would stay on (you think I'd have learned).

OK I have got through a lot of kit (not quite on Jerry's scale but I've not been too far behind at times) but I've had things arrive with tubes smashed inside tube cages (how they managed that I'll never figure out), with bent panels and corners knocked out of whack, with cracked boards, smashed connectors or internal wires disconnected.

I seriously minimise any courier use these days. In fact nowadays I'd rather drive two hours for a meet up when selling or buying than risk shipping. When my Radford STA100 is ready I'm planning a six hour each way drive to North Cornwall to pick it up rather than trust couriers. When I got my EAR 912 I drove to Belgium to collect it.

The last thing I'd ship anywhere is a turntable. I got a Lenco a while back that was shipped to me loose in a box in a single skin of bubble wrap (around the whole thing including plastic lid), arm weights left on, platter left on, needless to say it arrived as a mixture of plastic shards and matchwood - this after I was assured it would be packed carefully.

But the second to last thing I'd ship anywhere is a CDP. My Audio Note transport was collected from Brighton when purchased and dropped to/collected from an Audio Note employee who lives local to me when it had to go back for transport issues. No way I'm trusting that to anybody.

One of the (many) things I don’t understand is with the level of “courier carnage” many of us have experienced how come the manufacturers/dealers seem to be able to get their wares delivered “sans damage “? All the kit I have bought new (amps, DACS, transports, arms etc) have arrived in perfect working order. Go figure.
Steve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Reed]

I've had three CDPs arrive with issues, a stable platter Pioneer which lost the lens from the laser en route (it was found in the box but not in good-enough nick to re-use - relatively easy fix thankfully); a Teac transport that arrived totally goosed and wasn't worth repairing (new mech being around the same price as I'd paid for the transport); and a Lampizator-type modded Marantz that also arrived with problems. All were in original boxes BTW.

I've twice had a cartridge lose a stylus en route - once en route to me (a fancy retipped Denon whose stylus guard slipped off and took the new cantilever with it) and another (an AT) I had shipped to someone else, just normally in the box in the mistaken belief that a push fit stylus guard would stay on (you think I'd have learned).

OK I have got through a lot of kit (not quite on Jerry's scale but I've not been too far behind at times) but I've had things arrive with tubes smashed inside tube cages (how they managed that I'll never figure out), with bent panels and corners knocked out of whack, with cracked boards, smashed connectors or internal wires disconnected.

I seriously minimise any courier use these days. In fact nowadays I'd rather drive two hours for a meet up when selling or buying than risk shipping. When my Radford STA100 is ready I'm planning a six hour each way drive to North Cornwall to pick it up rather than trust couriers. When I got my EAR 912 I drove to Belgium to collect it.

The last thing I'd ship anywhere is a turntable. I got a Lenco a while back that was shipped to me loose in a box in a single skin of bubble wrap (around the whole thing including plastic lid), arm weights left on, platter left on, needless to say it arrived as a mixture of plastic shards and matchwood - this after I was assured it would be packed carefully.

But the second to last thing I'd ship anywhere is a CDP. My Audio Note transport was collected from Brighton when purchased and dropped to/collected from an Audio Note employee who lives local to me when it had to go back for transport issues. No way I'm trusting that to anybody.

Tom, if I'd experienced that amount of hassle over my hifi history (he says, wracking his memory), I'd have taken up tiddly-winks instead. Musical tiddly-winks, that is ! Re. your 912, my purchase of a machine in Brussels (with mum) and a Belgian seller in Singapore in 2016 took over three months, wild currency movements directly post referendum, many dozens of emails as his English was excellent and negotiations with E.A.R., who collected it for service etc. before sending it to me. Happy as a sand boy but no more transactions like that again, thanks !

[montesquieu]

Tom, if I'd experienced that amount of hassle over my hifi history (he says, wracking his memory), I'd have taken up tiddly-winks instead. Musical tiddly-winks, that is ! Re. your 912, my purchase of a machine in Brussels (with mum) and a Belgian seller in Singapore in 2016 took over three months, wild currency movements directly post referendum, many dozens of emails as his English was excellent and negotiations with E.A.R., who collected it for service etc. before sending it to me. Happy as a sand boy but no more transactions like that again, thanks !

Well we are talking about 15 years since I was able to afford to progressively upgrade the stuff I bought as a lad in the 80s and start really experimenting - It sounds like a lot but it's probably only hassle in less than 5% or transactions, some years I was chopping and changing major stuff (amps and speakers and things) almost on a weekly basis indeed I'm still fiddling a lot with cartridges and the second system (for fun/curiosity) now the main one is pretty stable.

WRT manufacturers seldom having courier issues, I'm not 100% sure that's the case but maybe complete/brand new packaging is stronger than boxes sat in a garage or loft for years. I don't buy much new kit so I can't really comment.

[greygoose]

The confusing thing with the opus 21 is that it comes with the Manufacturers complete packaging and a protective wooden crate / box. what more could you do as a manufacturer / seller, It was the one player that I thought could have made a trip abroad intact.
The moral of the story is that I would never courier an expensive CD Player again, rolling the dice for 1k, may as well go to vegas.
Insurance Insurance Insurance
Would have been cheaper to fly Ryanair and demo / collect in person now.

[Lawrence001]

The confusing thing with the opus 21 is that it comes with the Manufacturers complete packaging and a protective wooden crate / box. what more could you do as a manufacturer / seller, It was the one player that I thought could have made a trip abroad intact.
The moral of the story is that I would never courier an expensive CD Player again, rolling the dice for 1k, may as well go to vegas.
Insurance Insurance Insurance
Would have been cheaper to fly Ryanair and demo / collect in person now.

I wonder if well padded double boxed cardboard packaging would actually be better as the wooden box would not absorb any shock and it would transmit through.

[struth]

As long as it's in proper packaging it should survive 99.9 times.

[Macca]

One of the (many) things I don’t understand is with the level of “courier carnage” many of us have experienced how come the manufacturers/dealers seem to be able to get their wares delivered “sans damage “? All the kit I have bought new (amps, DACS, transports, arms etc) have arrived in perfect working order. Go figure.
Steve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dealers and manufacturers get their shipments damaged by couriers too. And it is not an uncommon occurrence, either.

[hifi_dave]

What ever it is, if it's properly packed, it should survive unscathed.

I have deliveries almost every day and can't recall anything damaged for, probably, 15 years or more. Sometimes, the cartons are dinged, squashed or mucky but the contents are perfect.

[montesquieu]

What ever it is, if it's properly packed, it should survive unscathed.

I have deliveries almost every day and can't recall anything damaged for, probably, 15 years or more. Sometimes, the cartons are dinged, squashed or mucky but the contents are perfect.

From manufacturers? Or from Joe Punter on ebay?

[hifi_dave]

Manufacturers. I rarely buy any Hi-Fi from E-Bay as I have far too much here and need to move most of it on.

The problem I've found with E-Bay Hi-Fi purchases is not damage in transit just faulty goods.