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How important is it to buy monitors NEW?


Drakken
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I'm looking to buy my first set of studio monitors. Someone near me is selling off his entire studio, and he has a pair of KRK Powered Rokit 8s (the first generation) that he's getting rid of for just $280. According to the ad, they're in mint condition and work perfectly, and come complete with box and manual.

I'm usually leery of buying electronics used because if anything happens you're basically screwed since you don't have a warranty. So maybe this is a stupid question, but I guess what I want to know is how reliable are studio monitors generally? Do they often break/wear out after a few years, or do they tend to last a long time as long as they're not abused? I'm definitely leaning towards buying new so I can get a warranty, but I didn't want to overlook this, as it is a pretty significant discount. Even aside from this ad, it seems there are some decent deals to be had if one is willing to buy used.

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The reason to buy new is so you have the guarantee that they have no history - no dented cones, no blown amps, not driven beyond spec.

Test them with a sine sweep and listen for noise and distortion. Monitors last quite long - the main reason to sell them is to upgrade to something better, not because they stop working.

If you say "just $280" - why is he selling? Have you compared prices on eBay or Craigslist?

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nice price if they still work alright.

i've had my r5s for, what, 6 years now. one speaker has a slight hiss going on by now, but it's not proportional to the volume and barely audible.

not inclined to buy speakers for another couple of years, but if i could get a pair of r8s for that money i'd definitely think about it.

but only if my desk were that much larger. mind you, they're huge ass speakers ;)

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Keep in mind that with active monitors you have a built in limiter that stops them from being driven hot enough to damage the cones. If someone is selling low-mid range speakers it most likely means they're upgrading, selling higher mid-high level speakers usually means that the speakers have some kind of issue, in most cases minor enough that it wont be mentioned in the auction and you wont notice it for a long while.

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