Selling, donating or giving away a good pair of vintage speakers

Selling them might get them into the hands of someone with an interest in audio, which is always a plus if they had meaning to you. Giving them away to someone here should also result in them going to someone with an interest in audio. Donating them would likely result with them being sold for peanuts to a bargain hunter who may or may not have an audio interest.  It all depends on a given recipient.

An Agon member was offering up a free pair of Thiel speakers when I first joined. Due to my unfamiliarity with the messaging system here, I missed out, but would have loved to pick them up for my youngest daughter who’s a singer and music teacher....guess it wasn’t meant to be, but I thought the gesture of offering them was very cool. 😎

If I was in driving distance to you, I would surely take them off your hands. I would rebuild the crossovers, eliminate the toggle switches and find use for them in a 2nd, or 3rd system. Beautiful cabinetry. I lived with a pair for a while (on loan from the rep firm that handled Koss at the time) and thought they were enjoyable. My best, MrD.

Take a few photos and put them on CraigsList for $400-$500 for the pair.

List it for free on a local facebook audio enthusiasts group. Some young lad/lass who’s broke as a joke, but, loves music will pick it up and should (hopefully) have some fun with it.

If you put it on facebook marketplace, some regular utilitarian creature with no interest in music will pick it up and immediately resell/try to make a buck off of it.

On second thought... and sorry to be blunt, but, those speakers look like they are poorly designed (to begin with) and probably sound bad, i.e., a poor design coupled with 40 years of degradation. So, maybe, FB marketplace is fine for this speaker too.

If i were donating stuff that’s competent and sounds good (worthwhile), i will list it for free on the enthusiast groups and hope it reaches someone capable of enjoying it.

Since you live in the SF area, put them on the street, and someone will have a second bedroom by evening.

If you can afford Magico's, you should give them away.  Most of my friends don't have anything that good and would love them.  One uses a Bose TV soundbar, etc.  

@rhg88

I can understand your attraction to these speakers. Big, bold cabinets. Lots of drivers ready to get the air (and music) moving about the room. As a speaker geek (I own a speaker patent) my guess is that the speakers were just a bit on the picky side in placement, but once dialed in, all the stars lined up and highly rewarding (and emotionally engaging) musical experience ensued. The fact you hung on to them as long as you did is a validation of their design. Your current choice of speakers indicates you have "good ears", so the Koss’s must have gotten a lot of things right.

Selling the speakers outright will certainly get them in the hands of someone with "skin in the game" who will have a high appreciation for the speakers. I also see the value of giving them to an audio club, and in the hands of someone who’s finances are a "couple of db down" from purchasing quality gear on their own.

At any rate, I hope your "old friends" find a good home. They deserve it.

I’m a member of both the San Francisco Audiophile Foundation here and the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society here .  Reach out to them first or PM me and I’ll try to pass your offer along.

I’m with you. In this disposable society, when a piece of gear have served me well, I’d like it to go to someone who can use, care, and appreciate it.  None/few would appreciate a good vintage speaker like an audiophile 

Thanks for your responses and suggestions.

I ended up listing them in Craig’s list and within 10 minutes I had 20 takers!

I gave them away to a couple. BTW, I even had the original boxes!

Nicely done! 

I'm late to the party but on Craig's list I like to sell at a low price.  There are resellers who will swarm you for free stuff but only people actually interested in your item will see it with a $5 price.  This gets it to an actual interested party.  A reseller will take it and try to sell it for a much higher price.

Jerry

Finding good homes for even great gear can be a bit of a crap shoot. When I was forced to downsize some years ago, I had to sell my pristine Quad ESL-57 system, which I’d lovingly restored and enjoyed for 20-30 years. Beautiful copper grills and a custom subwoofer built by a local speaker designer especially for my system & room. I could NOT line up a buyer before having to move & was forced to sell both to a gloating bottom feeder at the last minute for 10c on the dollar. A real heartbreaker.

Another example: I’ve got an old PS Audio 4.6 preamp (once a cult-audiophile favorite) in the closet that I’ve offered several times online for a mere $50 + shipping. Crickets. And none of my audiophile friends was willing to take it even for free.  Yeah, I haven’t fired it up in 10 years, but the last time I did, it still sounded great in passthrough mode. 

So go figure.

You could of used Facebook market place.But there happy and your happy case closed....