Resale value of diy modded equipment?

[hacker]

Naim is usually pretty good at holding its resale value, but let me phrase a hypothetical question.

Let's say I wanted to sell my 1999 CD3.5. Checking ebay, cd3.5s are going for anywhere between £250 to £410. These are, of course, unmodded.

Now, to say that my modded CD3.5 outperforms the standard model would be like saying a JCB outperforms a plastic spade. But in the world of Naim, modded kit is quite rightly treated with suspicion.

That said, there has been a substantial amount of money spent on upgrading mine... it's got an offboard PSU in a Naim shoebox olive case. It contains no less than 3 transformers doing duty for digital, analog, clock and DAC. The clock and DAC are individually powered by dedicated Fleas, the analog stages inside the player are powered by ALWSRs, the opamps are all OPA627s, the coupling caps are all Evox SMR, the analog rails are all MOSFET VBE'd (and will be using the nice new PCBs when they arrive) etc etc.

So basically, it's a 2-box CD player in all-Naim clothing with supercharged innards. Would such a beast be worth more or less than a standard Naim single-box player? To whom?

Any opinions from my fellow bodgers?

Cheers,
Carl

 

[PigletsDad]

To anybody except another DIYer, roughly zero - it cannot be serviced economically anymore - nobody will have been trained on the new configuration.

To a DIYer, roughly what it would cost in parts to reproduce.

Sadly, DIY is a way to lose money, not make it

 

[graemer]

If a standard CD3.5 in a plastic spade and your modded one is a JCB, then why would you want to sell it (hypothetically or not)?

Graeme.

 

[hacker]

If a standard CD3.5 in a plastic spade and your modded one is a JCB, then why would you want to sell it (hypothetically or not)?

Graeme.

I could be hypothetically interested in a buying a Squeezebox 3 and modding it...

 

[jlarsson]

I would also say it has zero value. It cant be serviced. It cant be used as trade-in in a future upgrade etc.

If modified equipment leaves your house it should also be clearly marked as such out of respect for the original manufacturer and their customer base.

Only a few days ago Naim customer support suggested a perfectly legit and unmodified piece of Naim equipment had been "modified" when the owner had a problem and contacted them. An arrogant answer but I can understand their frustration given how much their stuff is attacked by bodgers.

Other manufacturers dont have this problem. They change models more often and stop servicing them anyway after a few years.

 

[Mark Packer]

Unfortunately, the answer is:

"whatever someone is willing to give you for it"

A fellow Pink Fisherman/friend/co-bodger might rate it highly. Anyone else would probably not rate it at all seeing it as a risky investment.

Sorry, I'd like to be more positive. If it's really good, why not pick up another 3.5 as a 'spare'.

 

[mrdave45]

Anyone want to sell me a heavily modded (Insert anything good here), for next to nothing as its aparently worthless?

I was considering buying an avondale A5 but i would have to recoup some of the cash on what i spent on modding my A5. And i wont get anything for it as i have, how shall i put it..... DESTROYED IT! even tho it sounds way better.

So what am i doing. I found a rather cool looking twin dac board on ebay (2 tda1541a's! (not sure why thats better, but no doubt ill find out either way)) and various blank pcbs for passive IV with tube outputs etc and im going to try to build my own spinner. (Last stage before having a go at designing my own dac etc).

Speaking of which. Where can i get hold of a CD pro 2 mech (or equiv)

 

[bottleneck]

I would also say it has zero value. .

A bit of an exageration!

TBH something like that, you might be better selling on PFM/Zerogain to someone tweaky.

Mind you, tweakers do go on ebay too

 

[coredump]

What Mr. Bottleneck said.

 

[Artioneer]

I wonder what the reaction would be if this turned up at the Naim Service Dept. or some unsuspecting buyer won it off ebay ? Would they be entitled to a full refund and be fully justified in giving negative feedback ?

Anyone care to guess its true market value ?

 

[ron]

I wonder what the reaction would be if this turned up at the Naim Service Dept. or some unsuspecting buyer won it off ebay ? Would they be entitled to a full refund and be fully justified in giving negative feedback ?

Anyone care to guess its true market value ?

Who's is that?

 

[Mus]

Who's is that?

Oz, take a bow.


Carl, I'll swap it for a Squeezebox 3, if you throw in 2 balance pots.

Regards,

Mus

 

[Robert]

I paid £500 for a nearly new Naim CD5i 12 months ago and modded the PSU with an additional transformer and SRs. It sold on eBay - with a full explanation of the mods and hi res pics - for £585.

So yes, bodging can raise the value.

 

[Basil]

I feel there might just be a new "reality" TV show in this.

"When good bodgers go bad!"

 

[poppop]

Would it not depend, to some degree, on who did it? I would have no real issues with buying from individuals on say this forum, - I tend to trust in their enthusiasm for the project undertaken! Maybe foolishly?
I have had tweaks carried out by recognised and reviewed others and have always been delighted, to date, with the results. C'mon Colin(chevin) dont let me down with the Shanling!

At least then when it comes to ebay etc. you are able to reference some of their work?

Steve.

 

[MarkS]

erm...if that's your standard of work expect serious loses...

 

[hacker]

erm...if that's your standard of work expect serious loses...

Unless of course you have a spaghetti fetish...

 

[Wilky]

...or like Oz - subscribe to Knitting Monthly.

 

[Darth Vader]

"if I wanted to sell my 1999 CD3.5"

You don't have one! You would be selling a prototype of a completely new model. Call it say a 'IHACKEIT Super Duper CD3.5'. In the technical blurb you could refer to the fact that it was built using a Naim CD3.5 as its base.

However it is now a IHACKEIT and not a Naim and as we all know IHACKEIT only makes unsupported prototypes so is really only suitable for someone like minded to own.

Many many many moons ago I used to buy goverment surplus stuff that was made by reputable companies e.g. Marconi, Racal, Edison etc So I would say gut a radar display unit and reuse the parts to make an oscilloscope. Same chassis, power supply, CRT etc but a completely different beast. Ditto with all the other stuff. On the open market it had zero value as a 'scope. However to someone who was moving up the electronics ladder so to speak it would be at least as valuable as the cost of the components always provided that it was working perfectly or a little less if it was sold for 'breakdown'.

BTW I still have an unused though very old VCR139A. Anyone want it?

Cheers,

DV

 

[zener]

I recon thats a "van Gough" .
Looks like someones chasing their tail and I bet if they undid all that DIY it would sound the same , maybe better.