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Buy a pair of ten year old $40,000 speakers for $4,000 or new ones at that price point?

Hi. There are bargains to be had on really high-end components that are more than a few years old. DACs change too much and we need the newer technology. How about speakers? I know it can depend on the specific model but in general is a 10 year old speaker system that was $40,000 in 2009 and now sells for $4,000 a better value than a new system that sells for $4,000 in 2019?  How much has speaker and crossover technology evolved in the past decade or so? (I posted a similar questions about amps in that forum). Thanks for all the input and wisdom.
mcmanus
fleschler
1,994 posts
 
I had a local speaker repairman restore my bottom foam surround woofers of my Legacy Signature IIIs with rubber surrounds.  Strange that the other two woofers and my Focuses all used rubber surrounds in great shape after 30 years.
sciencecop
180 posts
 
rubber surrounds will last forever, but they don't sound as good as foam surround, which have limited life span, especially if you live in hi humidity area 
mcmanus OP
82 posts
 
There is so much wisdom in these responses. Thanks so much. I should have suggested a closer ratio, say $20,000 to $4,000 but almost everyone got my point. There are some great War stories here. It fun to hear them. Thanks for the sharing. 
mirolab
208 posts
 
My B&W 801 Series 2's were $3500 in 1989, and considered near state-of-the-art.  I bought them in 1999 for $2200.  I've had them now for 20 years, and the drivers are all perfect, as far as I can tell.  The crossovers are another story.... Being a DIYer,  I've done many incremental upgrades over the years that have really improved them.  If they were still all original and 30yrs old, hard to say what these 4th-order crossovers would sound like.  My point is... I've tried many times to replace my 801's, and haven't found anything under $10k that really does it for me.  AND.... I can likely still sell them for around $2k if I wanted.... but I don't!  
jhills
613 posts
 
There are truly some good deals to be had in the used speaker market.
I still have a pair of PSB Stratus Gold i, that I picked up used several years ago for about $1,200.00. I used them for a few years in my 2 chan. system and since, are the mains in my AV system. I like them, hands down, better than any of PSB's current line.
I may be old fashioned, but still prefer some of the old, vintage, high end speakers, over most of the new. I have yet to hear any speaker at any price sound more like live music than the Apogee, Duetta Sigs. of the late 80s, but then again - I am a bit bias towards all the old ribbons and stats.....Jim

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