$20K to spend on speakers…. . wait! There’s a catch!


Greetings,

Perfect sense says buy stuff only after you have heard it. Only after an in home audition.

Sometimes we are forced to wing it.

Admit it, best guess trigger pulling happens a bunch because not everything is everywhere.

For some unknown reasons we seem to feel we know what we want or need in spite of never having auditioned it.

Here are a couple scenarios based on a “this thing should work’, “shot in the semi dark” buying practices.

Premise: You have $20K and it MUST be spent entirely on loudspeakers.

Here are the options:
1. The used speakers option.
You have NOT heard them ever. At all. Nada.
The deal here is you’r egetting them for about 50% off retail in quite good esthetic (8/10) condition, excellent working orde according to the seller, and about three - four years old and landed or shipped.

The seller has good feedback. No negatives.

All of the speakers numbers are amenable to your existing power plants. They should do well in your room.

2. brandy new speaker option.

The brand new units you’re paying $20K for include a 25% discount from MSRP and sold by a brick & mortar dealership.

You did hear the brand new ones, but only with modest SS gear and nothing on the level of your own equipment which is tubes, or vice versa for sake of this argument.

These come with warranty. ..and in your color preference.

Lastly, neither of these two sets of speakers are what could be called very popular, loudspeakers. Meaning they aren’t littering the pages of the speaker for sale pages with any regularity.


The carrier arrives. The boxes are fully in tact. No issues at all. Still, there’s a nagging thought. Did I do the right thing?

Shouldn’t I have bought used speakers and obtained still more value given just a bit older speakers sell for much less than MSRP.

Or, I bet I should have bought the new speakers and put up with another long run in.

Man! I hope I did not messs this up!!


What is your choice and why?

Thanks for the ideas and insights..

blindjim
Life is not a riddle to be puzzled out, but a mystery to be lived. R Kippling.

Fear is a big deal. It will keep one from driving on the wrong side of the road, stepping off tall buildings, or spending too much time with one’s mother in law.

Fear can also run a person’s life if not kept in check. We’ve all got it. Or them at some time or other.

This scenario’s impetus was to delve into how deep the drives are. Fear vs compulsion. Both are hopefully tainted with prudence and some restraint beyond what the wallet declares at the moment. Credit lines not with standing. Lol

Its all about how deep into the pond one wants to wade. Risk vs reward. Or merely settle on only known factors.

“the lure of easy money has a very strong appeal”

buying pre owned at a significant discount is that lure for nervous ‘philes. I’ve done it. Likely will do it again.

IMHO, the strongest petition here and possibly the best view point, seems to be if you are OK with buying used, then buy the most predictable or supposed amount of performance you can readily afford. If you believe in that product, seller, and cost, pull the trigger! Period & paragraph.

Then all one has to do is pray. Pray we can withstand the carrier and shipping incidentals. Albeit as a reminder, the carrier is the major unknown in any out of area transaction, be it on new from a dealer or used from a dealer or seller. Always.

Of all the factors, carriers scare me most. I once worked in that industry and saw how they manage containers. Yikes.

If fear of shipping is immense, and the cost of goods, great, spend more for faster transit. I see that aspect as more ‘insurance’.

Do your due diligence, buy some Tums. Watch the tracking, and setup notifications for descrepencies, and all will be well.

hopefully.

If it ultimately don’t fit. Flip. Easy peasey.

Thanks all, for the enlightening commentary. And or, any which may be forthcoming.

Post removed 
Blindjim

This is a tough decision. Let me drink on for a while....more to come. 


Jim
dealer 
Whatever you might eventually get you will think that you might've not discovered something better. You cannot have anything really good, it is not possible.
One of the reasons I suggested Gryphon Diablo 300 to you - there is nothing better in solid state integrated amplification. And if you want hybrid integrated amplification - there is nothing better than Ypsilon Phaethon. If you do separates you will be somewhere in the middle. Full warranty covering expensive equipment is a big plus and should not be dismissed.
Soon enough you will spend more on electrical bills talking to us than on the equipment that you can have. I will not say a word from now on.
Build the Linkwitz LX521 and do the whole project for about $5000.  Spend the other $15,000 on concert tickets and recordings.  You won't find a better loudspeaker anywhere at any price.  But if you truly insist, you can drop your $20k on some monkey coffins and wish you had more to spend on bigger monkey coffins.

Up to you.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/LX521/LX521_4.htm