Buying new, but old speakers

I also think $900 is too much for the Avon's ... a MINT used pair would be no where near that amount. That said I am a former Castle Isis owner and they were VERY nice monitors

I've got a pair of speakers that are over 30 years old that work just fine today. While they have "pleated" surrounds, the rubber surrounds on the Castles will be fine. Still not sure that's the best bang for the buck, but I totally relate to your motivations.
Also, I have owned the earlier Quad 12L. I found them very clean, slightly warm, with an excellent clean, "quiet" tweeter. I also found, compared to several other speakers I had, the midrange did not "open up" in the room like the others did. Not sure if the newer 12L2s or the 21L2s have this trait, but I would a-b compare the Quad sound to other contenders. Good luck.

Agree with Buconero, but it's even worse than that. In the description of the blue book methodolgy, if there aren't any comparables, they make some up, based on "similar" gear, as if it were interchangeable.

I just threw out some 14-year-old speakers that had foam surrounds that went bad, the drivers were no longer available, and it was not cost effective to fix them, anyway. Based on this experience, I am not interested in old speakers. There are parts of a stereo that can last a long time, but rarely speakers. Besides, it's one of the areas where technology really has marched on, and is arguably the most important part of your whole system.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've been accumulating a few speakers lately. In addition to the Quads I'll try out the Avons and a pair of Tannoy Revolution DC6. Why the collection? Well, I had other gear to trade in/sell and so I grabbed the Tannoys, and similarly now the Castles. I won't be keeping them all. I may keep 2 of the 3, or simply the one I like best. I could see myself parting with all of them for perhaps the Tannoy DC6T (a floorstanding version of the DC6). I have always liked Tannoy. But we'll see...I'm going to take my time determining which of the three speakers I like best and then go from there. In the past I've made too many snap judgements.

Blkadr, I pretty much agree with your assessment of the Quads. I think the midrange is a little bit recessed, but I really love the clarity, detail, weight, and speed. Bought them off of Lanemart here on the 'gon for under $600. A great value! Frankly, I think the 12L2 is a great speaker and the others I have will have their work cut out for them.

And thanks for the feedback on the Avons everyone. It's about half off MSRP for a never used pair of floorstanders. I figured that's about what used speakers usually go for, but perhaps I'm overpaying in this case. Oh well, I'm not too disappointed because had I started negotiating the speakers may have been snapped up by someone else, and another pair isn't likely to come up any time soon. It would have been a tough call, even if I knew I was overpaying.