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Yesteryears' expensive speakers compared to modern moderately expensive speakers

For the purpose of this discussion, let’s assume that ...
Yesteryears’ -- 10 -15 years old
Expensive speakers -- $25,000+
Moderately expensive speakers -- $8,000 -- 12,000

I often wonder if it’s worth paying 50% of the original retail price for older speakers that were considered state-of-the-art and flagship during their day. So let’s say an expensive Sonus Faber was around $30,000 in 2005. The seller is asking for $10,000 in 2018. Is it worth paying the asking price, or is one better off buying, say an Olympica III, brand new for about $13-14k (maybe less with dealer discounts)?

I feel that due to trickle-down effects and manufacturing advances and efficiencies, the modern speakers are as good, if not better, than speakers that were twice or thrice the price ten to fifteen years ago. Is this a valid assertion? Or do you guys feel that speaker technology really has not advanced to that extent? In other words, is a flagship speaker worth $30k a decade ago still going to outperform a new one at half its price?

The reason I’m asking is that I am going to save some $$$ this year to buy a speaker in the range of $8000-12,000 in about 6 - 7 months. Since it’s a pretty substantial amount (for me), I am planning to do as much research and auditioning in the next few months. So might as well get started now. Given that it is really difficult to audition used speakers -- not that it’s easy to audition new ones, but at least you can if you try, should I just strike used ones (ones that were uber expensive a few years ago but more affordable now) off of my list and just focus on new?

P.S. -- I’m just using Sonus Faber to illustrate my point, otherwise, I’m very open to anything that is in that price range. I am purposely not turning this into a discussion on what I like, room size, music preferences, etc just yet since I want to stay focused on the topic -- yesteryears’ expensive speakers vs not-so-expensive modern ones.

P.S -- I understand that Tekton is going to render all other speakers obsolete in due time, and I respect the opinions of those who agree with the assertions, but please understand that it is not going to be on my list. Period. I will really appreciate if we don’t turn this thread into a Tekton battleground.
128x128arafiq
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,024 posts
 
In the specific case of Sonus Faber, I would take the 2005 $12K speaker (Cremona) over the current $12K speaker (Olympica III). The company has changed and I simply like the old technology better than the new technology.

Two points - companies change and technology updates do not always sound better to everyone.

That said, the older Cremona are hard to drive and probably require a more expensive amp than the newer design Oympica III. Off course, an older high end amp may be the same price as a current mid level amp.

My current setup (Cremona and a Mark Levinson 432) can be purchased used (if you can find them) for less than the price of just the current Olympica III.

Of course, it really depends on what sound you like.

By the way, you can sometimes get a pair of SF Strativari for $20K, which would blow away the Olympica III at $13,500.
helomech
766 posts
 
What almarg said +1

An improvement in speaker technology should result in better sound. Better sound is quite subjective. 

As for manufacturing efficiencies, those are often achieved by sacrificing quality.


shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Speaker technology has not advanced enough. A 10K used speaker (over ten years old) and sold for less than half list price would probably cost close to 40K new today for similar quality. Remember that inflation means prices double every ten years. The only reason inflation might be less is if manufacturing moved to China.
agriculturist
160 posts
 
In your moderately expensive range, you might look at an older Nola Metro Grand 2 pair or perhaps even the earlier Metro Grand. The latest versions of these Nolas - Metro Golds 1, 2 3 etc etc - are probably slightly better but they all use the same Alnico mid-range driver. And I believe the ribbons differ only slightly between the Grand and Gold versions. The voicing of these speakers is great, at least to my ears, superb for vocals, piano, acoustic music generally, and can go very loud for rock. They work beautifully with tubes - VAC, ARC, etc. I use VAC. The very experienced designer has, as I understand, over the years perfected his open baffle design for the above two drivers, while getting deep bass from an isolated, ported cabinet. The bass may not be the tightest in the world but it goes very deep and can be improved upon with good spring isolation, Marigo VTS bands, etc. And you can do shielding things for the open baffle drivers to cut the impact of RFI etc if you have wifi problems.
prof
1,741 posts
 
Well, I have Thiel 3.7s, a 10 year old design at this point which go for around 5K used, and I've been having a hell of a time finding any current speakers under 15K (and even higher) to replace them.  I keep coming home from auditions thinking "wow these things were ahead of their time."

I'm sure some other great designs hold up well too.
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