# What to look for when buying a used amp?



## wilkinru (Apr 25, 2016)

I'm buying amps from garage sales/pawn shops/CL etc and wanted to put down a couple of my suggestions for buying used.

I'll start off with:

1. Look on ebay/goog pics to see what a great condition one looks like. 
2. Check for missing parts. Even little screws can be a pain to find. Rockford amps often came with Crossover cards, check behind the rubber stopper.
3. Check the gain. Is it all the way up? Might have been run hard for it's life.
4. Has the case been opened up? This may not mean much, never know.
5. Can you see inside the amp? Look for anything burnt!
6. Are the POTs (knobs) solid and there? 
7. Are they the original screws? Did someone redrill them or anything like this?
8. Ask them if it works. This may not mean much but you might get a little history about it, also can be a fantastic haggling tactic.
9. Check the fuse - find a pic of a working one to determine of the fuses are original. 
10. Ask for accessories. The bass knob, the book, the box. All of these increase the value of an amp if you were to resell.

It's very hard to see if an amp will work without actually testing it. The above will help you with determining it's value.

I'd love to hear your guys suggestions.


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## porscheman (Jan 1, 2012)

what does it smell like? i.e. is the magic smoke still inside?


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## GEM592 (Jun 19, 2015)

11. Find a good repair guy first. Or learn yourself.


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

I also check the terminals for scorch marks and check to see if any of the terminal screws are stripped out. Also, on older RF amps, for instance the Punch 50.1 I got off a buddy years back, it's gain adjustment required the use of a tiny screwdriver. It wasn't hard to round it out if you used the wrong size Philips or flat head screwdriver. 

Case in point, I sold the amp to a guy who "claimed" to have once been an installer at one of our local shops and was "supposedly" very familiar with these old cheater amps. Half an hour later he calls me saying the amp is defective cause it won't push his DVC 4 ohm sub hard at all. I agreed to take it back and refund his money only to find he stripped the gain by using a (I ASSuME) No. 2 Phillips screwdriver. 

Gain was maxed out at this point when I got it back, apparently he kept trying to dial up the gain to get more output from the amp. I mean seriously, he was trying to push a (I found out after taking back the amp) 12" Kicker CVR with it at 2 ohms. That's around 150RMS to the sub, rated to handle 400RMS.


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## 63flip (Oct 16, 2013)

That's a good list of things to look for. The smell test is also right on. A quick sniff will easily reveal a fried amp! I always look at the overall condition of the amp. Did the previous owner take care of it or did it beat around the trunk of a car. If I'm buying an amp locally I always hook it up b-4 handing over cash. It only takes a couple minutes if you're prepared. I can't tell you how many times I've been told an amp works fine to find out there's something wrong with it after you hook it up. 
Missing terminal screws and plugs are pretty common on used amps but to me aren't a deal breaker. Set screws like Rockford's use can be found at any local hardware store. The old style terminal screws and plugs can be found for most amps on eBay. A few amps use the smaller 3.5mm screws that can be more difficult to find.


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## naujokas (Nov 18, 2010)

I try to find amplifiers very cheap to recoup any repair


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## dratunes (Nov 29, 2008)

I agree with the quick sniff test..and then unbuckle the ***** and look at the solders for a start.


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