Original Owner Prem 14 Just Back from CJ

[DayRadebaugh]

This was the Department of Live and Learn. Learned:
1. eBay is my last resort
2. set a reserve or otherwise establish a minimum acceptable price

Waiting to hear from the Music Room on my Premier 8's.

[DayRadebaugh]

OK. I see you’ve got it on Audiogon.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisai ... epair-tube

The best selling season is usually January through March due to tax refunds. May to December is often slower.

Maybe it will sell on Audiogon. It pays to pay for the listing upgrades in my experience.

And, of course, consignment at The Music Room in Erie, CO is also a possibility. It WILL sell with them if it’s priced right. They turn their inventory pretty quickly.

My favorite buyer at TMR is Nick Lucini. (Nick@tmraudio.com). They like consignment on stuff like this, but they may also be willing to make a cash offer and take the risk themselves.

I think it's worth describing my experience with The Music Room, now that the dust has settled. Eventually I traded in my Premier 8A's (https://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/vie ... php?t=2399) against a Weiss 501 DAC through TMR. Two things occurred:

1. I agreed on a trade price with TMR and sent the units. They informed me subsequently that I would have to approve purchase of a new set of tubes for ~$1,100, stating that the tubes were beyond their useful life and that one of the tube brands did not match the others. Worse yet, they simply sent an invoice for my approval. I disagreed with this, but eventually agreed to subsidize half of the cost of the new tubes. My suspicions were confirmed that consignment shops will take the opportunity to change the terms of the bargain once you have sent them your equipment.

2. The Weiss DAC arrived. There are problems with its connection to my LAN. I have documented these problems and sent my findings to TMR. Their response is "Much like audio cables, sometimes "boutique" ethernet cables can cause more harm than good, depending on the specifics of the ethernet hardware shielding scheme, etc.." My reply was that

"there was nothing “exotic” or “boutique” about the Ethernet cable I bought. It was about as standard as you can get:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QLCHZW1?ps ... ct_details

In addition, it was well reviewed:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing ... et-cables/

Finally, it was not cheap."

In my opinion, TMR is neither a reliable nor a trustworthy retailer.

[admin]

Interesting. You've had a rather "complicated" adventure with this sale.

So the Weiss DAC is currently not working?

Hopefully in the future things will go more smoothly. Re-reading the past 40+ posts in this topic I would recommend that in the future try to be simplistic. Maybe an ebay listing with a properly set minimum bid and buy it now option. The more you try to manually control these things, the more room for error and frustration.

[AnotherJohnson]

Did you ask them to take it back? I’ve never had any trouble with returns during the window.

On the amps, CJ has a reputation for being “quirky.” If they sell them for you, they will have to provide a warranty to the buyer.

Sorry to hear that your experience has been poor. It would appear that I have been much luckier in my transactions.
It’s good to have all perspectives.

[AnotherJohnson]

I think Joe A said that he was frustrated by TMR once, but that it had worked OK in the end. Maybe he’ll comment.

[Joe Appierto]

I've only dealt with TMR once and that was back in 2015 when I bought my PS Audio DirectStream DAC from them. The transaction went smoothly: although the DAC was used it came packaged as if it came from the factory and the price was right.

[AnotherJohnson]

This isn’t instructional… it’s just an anecdote.

When I deal with TMR, I get their estimate of the value of my item when I offer it, but I don’t count on it until they’ve received and evaluated the unit. After they’ve evaluated the unit (they pay their inbound shipping costs), they either confirm the estimate, or communicate their proposed change and the reason.

Their intent is to resell it with a guarantee. So I’ve never questioned their right to be firm AFTER they’ve actually seen the unit.

FWIW, as a buyer, a unit with old tubes and mixed brands would be something I would consider only with a strong price incentive.

Another anecdote … if I buy something from TMR and am disappointed with it, like the McIntosh integrated amp last year, they try very hard to get me to like it, and/or repair it … I am flexible, but forceful and my experience is that they will follow their written policies.

[AnotherJohnson]

https://tmraudio.com/components/power-a ... -8-a-pair/

This may be the Premier 8A listing at TMR. It just showed up.

Looks like a good opportunity for someone to adopt them to their “forever home.”