Would you buy a 2nd hand cartridge?
A local hi fi shop offered me a 2nd hand ortofon rondo red cartridge in excellent condition with say only 50 hrs use and he said it has about 950 hrs left - about £100 off the new price, very tempting but would I be making a mistake buying it? Your wise thoughts please?
I'd agree with Chebby here. Most of my cartridges with exception of my current one have been second hand and all have given stirling service.
You might also find the 950 hours quoted is a bit of an underestimate!
I would consider the offer to be a bit of a bargain - who is the dealer?
Thats just about run in . . . ask him to install it, ask what guarantee he is offering, . . . have a listen in the shop. If you dont like it or it sound wrong, you can say so and walk away . . . or, as I did, borrow the cartridge for a few days, I took a few back, until I got my hands on the Sumiko . . . no way that was going back after I'd had a few hours listen
CJSF
I'm going for it, the sumiko you have mentioned is unfortunately way out of my league...money wise! Lovely looking cartridge though and I've just looked up your speakers 
nice!
I'm going for it, the sumiko you have mentioned is unfortunately way out of my league...money wise! Lovely looking cartridge though and I've just looked up your speakers nice!
Sorry gbhsi1, I was not suggesting you consider my system values, the ideas was, always put the onus on the dealer, that he is helping you. However, its a good idea to keep an open mind, the cartridge; I was in the right place at the right time and my dealer was especially helpful. The speakers; they were kept from my old audiophile system, more by luck than judgment, everything else was dumped!!!
My feeling is, if the dealer will play ball on the 'try and buy', you have everything to gain. Always keep 'musicality and enjoyment' as the number one priority.
CJSF
I am now a proud owner of an ortofon rondo red mc cartridge my first mc cartridge but it's not setup yet. I will report back as to what I think of it if anyone is interested ofcourse! I'm happy and can't wait to listen to my vinyls all over again! Also I can sell my 2m blue, which has roughly only had about 100hrs use to re-coup some cash.
Good move! You have got a bargain I reccon. Let us know what you think when it's set up.
Hang on to it gb. Just incase (god forbid 
) some time down the line, you bounce the red. Tis good to have a backup cart knocking around mate.
Trash a relevantly expensive cartridge (for me)...God forbid indeed! I will take extra care...I do have a red 2M knocking around too
Ok you have a spare thats good. Now buy a cork ,lol.
- Login to post comments
Probably one of CJSF's many rejected demo carts
(Check for traces of Horlicks.)
I'd go for it if you trust the dealer.
Marantz M-CR603 + AirPlay • Rega R3 loudspeakers • iPhone 5 32GB • iMac • Apple Airport Extreme 802.11n • Panasonic TX-L32D25B • Sony BDP-S390 • Ruark Audio R1 Deluxe • Humax HDR-Fox T2