Personally, I won't buy a refurbed item. Tried it and had bad luck a couple times.

 

I agree... I've never had good luck w/ refurb'd electronics either. Even if it has a warranty, it's always a headache to tear it out, pack it up, send it in, etc.

 

I've used a refurbished (by the manufacturer, or at least whomever they hired to do it) JBL GTO amplifier in my garage bench setup and it's never been an issue.

That said, what I think you might want to be careful of with refurbished amplifiers is crosstalk: when you can hear, faintly, the right channel's "data" in the left channel speaker when it should otherwise be silent (e.g., no audio input on the left channel). In real life I don't think you'd notice this if the amplifier had this issue (unless it was really bad, then your sound stage would narrow for seemingly no other reason). The issue is more likely due to design than that particular amp being a dud, I think (but I'm not an electrical engineer amplifier designer man). My experience in the industry is limited compared to many on this forum, so with a grain of salt, I noticed this occurring sometimes (but not even remotely the majority of times) on refurbished amplifiers I've installed.

The majority of the time the refurbished amplifier was perfectly fine and, I would imagine, reliable. I guess you increase your risk of getting a DOA or subpar performer, but I'm in the camp of not fearing refurbs (if I can return it without a f'ing restocking fee or be forced to deal with the warranty instead of just being able to return).

 

One thing i have learned over the years in other industries is to make sure you trust who is refurbishing the item. Some people will take an item clean up the dirt and call an item refurbished and others (typically factory refurbished) will take the shell of an item and replace all internals. Ive only had one refurbished amp and it was a factory refurbished MTX amp and it still works from when i bought it in the late 90s eary 00.

 

On an amp like that and the price difference between new and refurb, better off to buy the new one for sure. More expensive things like hi end tv's and electronics i might go refurb and with a square trade warranty for it.

 

Bought the two JBL GTO14001 amps for my son as refurbished, no issues
Bought Sundown SAE1000D as refurbished for son, no issues. Still going strong in a friends vehicle.
a boston acoustics factory refurbed as well.
So the four that I received, were great and are still in operation.

I do agree that be wary of where you get them. The JBL's and BA were factory refurbished. The Sundown came from DB-R.

 

I've also had great luck with refurbs, that being said.... like mentioned above make sure its from the manufacture and has a warranty.

 

I bought a HU refurbished years ago and never had a single problem out of it over the years I used it. It was a manufacturer refurb.

 

I buy refurbed stuff all the time without any issues. I will only buy "manufacturer refurbished" though, no "seller refurbished". I figure that it's already failed for someone else and been fixed by the manufacturer, so it's less likely to fail for me. My logic may be flawed, but I've never had a refurbed item fail on me, and that's not just car audio stuff either.

 

Eager to hear more opinions on this topic. I'm currently planning on buying refurbished JL Audio amps for my current build. They are refurbished by JL Audio, and I will be purchasing from a JL Audio Signature dealer. They come with a 90 day warranty, but I will probably add an extended plan to my purchase. The savings in doing so will be significant, even with the additional warranties.

 

Cant go wrong with a JL amp! I see no issues whatsover as long as its manufacturer refurbished with warranty, and a decent discount. Always have to think about repairs for anything new or refurbed, or used for that matter.....like where can i take it or send it, and how much hassle, and how much money out of MY pocket will it cost for a repair or to ship to a certain place for a repair if under a warranty. As long as the buyer is ok with that stuff you cant go wrong with anything you buy.