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$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
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,333 posts
 
I bought my speakers unheard. I didn’t need to listen as the manufacturer is trusted by the likes of Gilmour, Sting and Knopfler. I also had owned smaller versions of the same manufacturers speakers for years. Funnily enough the manufacturer makes speakers that all sound alike from small to enormous - perhaps the ONLY manufacturer to do so. The only major difference between models being dynamic range (max clean SPL) and bass extension.

My experience begs the question - why is choosing a speaker from the majority of manufacturers such a crap shoot (even when sticking with the same manufacturer, their models differ wildly in sound)?
Post removed 
scorpio1951
171 posts
 
I also bought my speakers unheard. It was something I thought I would never do. I bought a new pair of Martin Logan Summit X loudspeakers from an authorized dealer. They were a close-out as the new models were  coming. Price? $8,968.00, including tax and shipping. These speakers were selling for $15,000 retail a year earlier. I bought them based on professional reviews and customer reviews. So they didn't cost $20,000 but sound great in my listening room.
blindjim OP
2,837 posts
 
@Johnk > I would buy a collectible horn based loudspeaker used for 20k

Blindjim > which ones are these? The new pr., or the used pr?
= = = =

@Inna > $20k buy great used speakers, it doesn't buy great new speakers, … so I would proceed with used after auditioning them
… If it fails - to hell with those speakers, there are others, not a big problem.

Blindjim > you always make good sense. Thanks much.

However no auditioning is or will be possible. If any were possible it would be in a completely dissimilar room with unknown electrics.

Hence the scenario.

I’ll take it your inference is roll the dice on the greater valued or higher priced used speakers instead.

BTW… if you are stepping up from a $7K MSRP pair to $26K new, pair, the perception is your position has been improved substantially at least, if not perfected.


@kgturner > I would think that if I had $20k to drop on speakers, I also have enough money to travel to listen to the used speakers.

Blindjim > thanks man.
yeah. I agree. BUT traveling as was said, ain’t part of this scenario.

Say someone is in a wheel chair, or on dialysis or the like. Or has a fear of flying. Etc. whatever. They can’t get there in person.


@shadorne

many thanks as usual. As for moving up in a brand model line up, you would certainly think as you said, only the basics of more would be in play at each step up the ladder.

Alas… this is not one of the proposed avenues outlined above.

gsm18439
738 posts
 
I only once bought speakers without hearing them - preferably in my own space. That one time was from a manufacturer with a liberal (3 month) return policy.
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