Recomendations on where to buy serviced vintage amplifiers?

Looking for something solid state in the $500-1000 range. Some requirements:

1) Fully serviced
2) 1 year warranty ( ideally 2 year for capacitors )
3) Located in East coast so shipping back and forth is not prohibitive

 

Perhaps these guys or maybe USAudioMart.

 

eBay can be a good place to look.

The obvious issue there is that "fully serviced" is used by sellers without much regard to what that actually means. Can be as little as spraying some de-oxit around and twiddling the controls, or as much as a complete recap and adjustment. The talents of those doing the work also vary widely.

So, bottom line, don't completely disregard eBay. Because you can get so much visibility, lots of sellers list there. But make sure to do your due diligence, i.e. communicate with sellers, look at their feedback, etc. Make sure you know what they mean by "restored"!

 

Thanks. I've been checking ebay and do find lots there. Many seem to have done good work. The problem is you are limited to the default 30-day ebay warranty. Was hoping to get a 1-year warranty. At least that is what I get when I bought my serviced cassette decks ( not from ebay ).

 

If you pay with PayPal you'll get 6 months coverage.

BTW, what do you mean by fully serviced? I find the definition of that can vary widely.

 

The community and archives at audiokarma are also a great resource, if you aren't already involved there.

 

Ah interesting, I always just assumed it was 30 days. So after 5 months if an amplifier channel goes bad I can easily return it for a full refund including my return shipping?

 

Actually with Paypal it's 180 days and yes you can return it as it's "not as described" ie: working perfectly.

 

In theory, yes on the being able to return it for a full refund, sort of on covering the return shipping.

PayPal doesn't require sellers to pay for return shipping. However, PayPal will pay for return shipping through their return shipping program but only up to a maximum. In Canada it's $30 CAD. IIRC, in the US they will cover $30 USD, but you'd need to check that.

Not sure how far $30 would get you when returning an amplifier though.

 

I would think restored to factory spec and troublesome capacitors changed..