Buying a 10 years old loudspeaker

...more My Speakers are...

My kef 104s were new in 1978. i replaced the tweeters in 1989.

My rogers studio ones were purchased in london in 1986.

They look brand new and sound like a well aged martin guitar.

there's tons of good advice here, but here's my two cents worth.

If the maker is around see if they support the model that interests you. Some stop support at five years out of production... some further. BW Nautilus went out 10 years after production... other BW models went only 5.

Check to see.

If the company isnn't around let's hope the drivers & xover parts still are and you're handy with a soldering iron and so forth.

If neither of the above are in force.... I'm pretty sure I'll pass on the whole deal.

My Phase tech two ways are 30 this year, but were 100% refitted two years ago at the Phase Tech plant. they were a gift in the first place... but I called the maker to see about the aspect of support, anyhow. two weeks of playing and one speaker died.

Professor Gregm, a very brief edit of some of your previous literary works has yielded some rather elementary errors: (i.e.: from your posts: favourite & placementt). Good call on “its” though!

I have had many vintage speakers from B&W, JBL and Klipsch. All capacitors (in the crossovers) wear out in about 20 years, even if the speakers are not being used. They are very easy to replace if you know how to solder. However, some speaker manufacturers make it impossible to replace capacitors.

Sonus Faber encases their entire crossover network in a hard casing so the entire network needs to be replaced.

Some speakers have problems with the drivers wearing out. Klipsch drivers (relatively cheap drivers made by EV and othe rmanufacturers) will last forever. The drivers do not move much and they just last. If they ever go out they are very easy to replace and inexpensive (about $130 for new woofers).

Vintage JBL are notorious for speaker surrounds wearing out. They need to be refoamed about every 15 years.

My vintage B&W's had their surrounds become unglued. It was an easy fix to reglue them.

Some speakers will have the spider wear out on the woofer (the thing that holds the back of the woofer suspension) and sometimes very old magnets get demagnetized.

The finish is a personal thing. If they were cared for they will stay in good shape. I had a 20 year old pair of JBL's that I bought new. I oiled them every few years and when I sold them they looked like they were brand new.

The Watt Puppy's that you are interested in should stay in good shape. Maid's are known for hitting speakers with the vacuum so check the bottoms for marks. The drivers on Watt Puppy's are not that difficult to obtain. I think that they hide their crossovers to make sure that you can repalce the capacitors.

In your price range take a good look at B&W N802's and Eggleston Andra I's. Each is very servicable. The Andra I should be very easy to drive too (a few hundred watts) so amplifier choice can be budget minded. I think the Andra I's had problems with the woofer surrounds wearing out but that is an easy fix and not very expensive.

Find out where you can get those speakers repaired if necessary. And If they're over 50 lbs., figure out the cost of moving/schlepping them for repair if necessary.

I had a set of B&W M802's; one started failing. Not sure if it was a crossover, or a driver, or both, etc. The cost to have them picked up & redelivered was @$70 each way I think. Plus the cost of repairs.They were killers to schlep, even with 2 people, & I sold them as-is & (Happily) moved on.

Components that are light enough to ship, & with a mfg. that does affordable repairs, are a different matter.....