$20K to spend on speakers…. . wait! There’s a catch!


Greetings,

Perfect sense says buy stuff only after you have heard it. Only after an in home audition.

Sometimes we are forced to wing it.

Admit it, best guess trigger pulling happens a bunch because not everything is everywhere.

For some unknown reasons we seem to feel we know what we want or need in spite of never having auditioned it.

Here are a couple scenarios based on a “this thing should work’, “shot in the semi dark” buying practices.

Premise: You have $20K and it MUST be spent entirely on loudspeakers.

Here are the options:
1. The used speakers option.
You have NOT heard them ever. At all. Nada.
The deal here is you’r egetting them for about 50% off retail in quite good esthetic (8/10) condition, excellent working orde according to the seller, and about three - four years old and landed or shipped.

The seller has good feedback. No negatives.

All of the speakers numbers are amenable to your existing power plants. They should do well in your room.

2. brandy new speaker option.

The brand new units you’re paying $20K for include a 25% discount from MSRP and sold by a brick & mortar dealership.

You did hear the brand new ones, but only with modest SS gear and nothing on the level of your own equipment which is tubes, or vice versa for sake of this argument.

These come with warranty. ..and in your color preference.

Lastly, neither of these two sets of speakers are what could be called very popular, loudspeakers. Meaning they aren’t littering the pages of the speaker for sale pages with any regularity.


The carrier arrives. The boxes are fully in tact. No issues at all. Still, there’s a nagging thought. Did I do the right thing?

Shouldn’t I have bought used speakers and obtained still more value given just a bit older speakers sell for much less than MSRP.

Or, I bet I should have bought the new speakers and put up with another long run in.

Man! I hope I did not messs this up!!


What is your choice and why?

Thanks for the ideas and insights..

blindjim
+1 koliamala 
Have to take all that into account. Especially room and am compatibility. 
NOT a dealer nor have any skin in the game. Just aware of the opportunity and your request and budget.  Mint pair of Venture Grand Ultimate speakers. Original owner. Cases are included.  Here’s a review:http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/venture-grand-ultimate-loudspeaker-tas-213/  Retailed at nearly $90,000. Asking $22,000  located in Princeton, NJ. Contact Doug White owner of http://www.thevoicethatis.com  -  (610) 359-0189 who as a courtesy can put you in contact with the owner.  Good luck with your search.  

soundsrealaudio
Cheers!
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@Inna > Gryphon or Ypsalon.

Blindjim > I hear you. loud and clear. I sincerely appreciate each and every insight provided me thus far. Several have been eye openers. Would never have suspected them otherwise most likely. Certainly would not have given them as much credence.

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russbutton
thanks for the original view point.

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@kollamala
Agreed. Its off topic though. Room is not at issue. The questions are buying tactics and best possible presumptions regarding amp > speaker synergy.
But thanks for the input.

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@gcp
Hypothetically speaking, which is the thrust of this topic, thank you. especially for the link. Cool.

Very few speakers compare to:

1.  Legacy Audio Aeris (by far the best sound for the money)
2.  Tannoy Canterberry Gold Reference
3.  Linkwitz LX521 (best buy)

Buy the first two in the used market, and last one is Madisound Kit.

No comparison at anywhere near the price!
@inna I agree with your suggesting the JM Labs Utopias. Hard to beat a speaker in this league in the $10K neighborhood. However the pair you referenced don't have the wooden crates. It's a risky move for a buyer unless he's certain he'll never want to sell them.  

@bassdude2
Thanks a lot.


@cycles2
Appreciate it.

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The choices are all well received and certainly appreciated. And as your own examples of purchases, fine enough.

But….

Again, here is THE ‘CATCH!!!!

What would you do buying speakers in the semi, or total blind, go with a partial known new speaker , or shoot for higher value in used speakers While spending around 20 thousand bucks.