Buying gear from the states

[felixdahousecat]

What are your thoughts on buying dj gear (ie 1200's) new from the states with the aussie dollar being where it is at the moment?
Anyone had any experience with this either good or bad?
Cheers for any replies

[littlebrains69]

What are your thoughts on buying dj gear (ie 1200's) new from the states with the aussie dollar being where it is at the moment?
Anyone had any experience with this either good or bad?
Cheers for any replies


There may be voltage issues, you'll need to get an adaptor (not really a big problem, just a convenience issue). I'm not too sure about 1200's because I have American Audio tables, but on the CDJ1000's they have a voltage switch so thats not a problem, but other models you need to get voltage adaptors (which can be kinda expensive compared to how much money you will save).

If you're buying new there are warranty issues. The warranty will only be valid in the States so if anything goes wrong you have to bare the cost to ship it back to the US to get repaired (if you could be fucked).

Apart from that.... I can't think of anything else. How much are you seeing 1200's for in $AU over there including shipping?

[DJ D one]

The problem with voltage converter is that they are heavy, so if you intend to move the equipment around it is a pain in the...

There is a lot of scam surrounding the new Pioneer equipment specially CDJ1000 and DJM800 so beware, honestly when you are in this price range, you better off getting and picking up the equipment from JB hifi.

D1

[ChemicalJames]

Yeah, warentee problems and voltage problems.

If they don't have a switch you need to buy a transfomer (which are big, expensive and heavy). And i wouldn't put a cheap shitty transfomer in front of a $1000 bit of kit.

[budlik]

I have bought cdj 800mkII's from the USA. costs me $900 each (new), including postage and the converter. The converter, isnt huge and heavy.

[archietech]

The problem with voltage converter is that they are heavy, so if you intend to move the equipment around it is a pain in the...

let's have a bit more misleading advice in this thread!

i may be jumping the gun a bit, but unless you find the weight of a mobile phone heavy you definitely won't think a step-down converter is heavy.

the step-down i have cost me $50 and i got it from www.jaycar.com.au as i've posted in every other 'buying from america' thread. if you are getting multiple american voltage devices also ask the US company to chuck in a powerboard.

also get 1200s second hand! they are pretty heavy which'll blow the shipping price out a bit.

my thoughts on buying dj gear from the states is go for it!! (with things not that heavy - get some second hand!! buy all the other stuff from the states - i bought quite a few things and delivery was about 6 days or something fast.)

[gd_81]

as already mentioned: after the step up transformer you might need to buy (most american SL's only have 120V transformers) there would be little price diference between buying them here and the US as well as the possibility of voiding the warranty if you buy them overseas.

the problem with buying second hand from the states:
-tone arms are usually shot and require replacing (~$130 each)
-you'll probably need a step-up transformer
-there is no way of telling if its in good condition

the problem with buying them second hand over the net in Australia
-tone arms are usually shot and require replacing (~$130 each)
-there is no way of telling if its in good condition

If your going to buy one second hand, get one locally so you can check it out first and make sure the tonearm assembly is cool, pitch fader hasn't got beer in it etc....

[felixdahousecat]

thanks guys, yeah the reason i'm inquiring is because i've seen 1200's MK5 new for 535AU prior to shipping, plus i figured that buying them second-hand from here you get no warranty either and surely new without warranty is better than something used for a similar price. i also read somewhere that buy getting the dealer to write "repaired under warranty" on the box then you escape taxes? does anyone know how i would go about working out shipping price for these?

[archietech]

email them...

*gets out spoon again*

shipping would probably be about US$120 per turntable. to reiterate, they are heavy and bulky. a 5kg thing i just bought cost me $137 to ship from the states. would be lots of fun to send back due to a product failure wouldn't it.

key's comin' from overseas, cost a kneegrow a hundred g's

also i highly recommend you do a bit of research on technics 1200s... they are the industry standard for a reason yada yada yada they're the best yada yada yada indestructable blah blah regardless what ones you get blah blah just buy them second hand you pirate unless you've got your heart set on wasting money that could be spent buying vinyl or putting towards your next purchase :thumb:

[adamhatfield]

I've bought loads of gear from the states, never had a problem, bought 2 sets of 1200's over the years, a Xone 92, and loads of other stuff.

With some US Technics models (mk2's anyway) there is a voltage switch under the platter so you don't need to buy a transformer. Do a google and see what you can find out, email the shop they'll know. If there is all you need to do is replace the plug ... very easy. If not you'll need a transformer.

The other thing to be wary of is the warranty, if it breaks you'll generally have to pay the postage to get it shipped back to the states under warranty. I saw generally because some products have an international warranty (i.e. they cover warranty returns in different countries than the product was bought).

However, you're buying new technics, the chances of needing to get them fixed under warranty is very slim.

A shop i've bought a load of stuff from is www.agiprodj.com very good prices and very good service.

[DJ D one]

[QUOTE=archietech]let's have a bit more misleading advice in this thread!

i may be jumping the gun a bit, but unless you find the weight of a mobile phone heavy you definitely won't think a step-down converter is heavy.

the step-down i have cost me $50 and i got it from www.jaycar.com.au as i've posted in every other 'buying from america' thread. if you are getting multiple american voltage devices also ask the US company to chuck in a powerboard.[QUOTE]

My bad last time I checked for a stepdown was 3 years ago, they had smaller version but not as powerfull as the one of today.

For sure I would not put a powerboard on a step down of 50W to power a whole setup specially if you talk about a mixer of the size of a DJM800 and 2 CDJ1000s. In this case you need 3 stepdown transformer of 50W.

I bought DJ equipment from the US before, I got scammed once on ebay but not from a US guy, from a fucking prick in WA. As everything do your own research and go with recommended company to avoid problems...

D1

[DJ D one]

I've bought loads of gear from the states, never had a problem, bought 2 sets of 1200's over the years, a Xone 92, and loads of other stuff.

With some US Technics models (mk2's anyway) there is a voltage switch under the platter so you don't need to buy a transformer. Do a google and see what you can find out, email the shop they'll know. If there is all you need to do is replace the plug ... very easy. If not you'll need a transformer.

The other thing to be wary of is the warranty, if it breaks you'll generally have to pay the postage to get it shipped back to the states under warranty. I saw generally because some products have an international warranty (i.e. they cover warranty returns in different countries than the product was bought).

However, you're buying new technics, the chances of needing to get them fixed under warranty is very slim.

A shop i've bought a load of stuff from is www.agiprodj.com very good prices and very good service.

One thing I do is I download the equipment manual in PDF then check out all the electric specification, when you are lucky is just a switch, sometimes you need either to find a different adaptor etc...surely there is always ways. The only thing is if you intend to resell with a stepdown transfo you get less money, but that is okay coz you saved some originally.

D1

[DarkPsy Newbie]

watch out for excise and taxes. Under $1000 AUD and you don't pay anything.... any more than that and apparently u pay LOTS.
good luck

[Atomic-FX]

I'll be picking up Traktor scratch used from the states 370US with shipping.

There is some minor issues with activation ie seller has to deregister etc but ii works out well below the asking price here.


Also Got the Driverack260 loudspeaker management with RTA mic from the states through ebay,excusing the 80 dollar Australian postage. It was a steaaaaaal.