I want to buy new speakers for 50,000 and see it used for 30,000, what should I do?


two issues here, would it be smarter to buy the used speakers not knowing where they’ve been or how hard they’ve been played or maybe there’s something wrong with them. And the other issue is what happens to the value of my speakers immediately after the box comes to my house. And I guess the third issue is, amI insane for buying $50,000 speakers.

It seems like I’ll be losing $20,000 immediately and of course probably a little more since if I ever sell they will need to be reduced further so used price can be 30,000 if a dealer is involved which they probably will be.

This raises a serious concern that very nice speakers are just too expensive.

Fortunately (and luckily) I’m not married so that makes this process a lot easier

emergingsoul

Can you see and listen to them before purchasing? If not, do you trust what the seller tells you about the condition and how well they were taken care of and how hard they were run? If not, then buy new and don’t look back. @tony1954 makes a good point, there are tons of incredible speakers much less than $50k. And to @dwcda point, do you have the associated gear to get the best out of a purchase like that or will you be upgrading the rest of your gear? Buy what you want/like just make sure you’ve thought through where you’re trying to get to.

Would you be buying the used speakers from a dealer? If yes, do they offer any kind of guarantee or have a return policy?

If they are newer speakers, replacement drivers are probably available, but I'd check.  I'd be concerned about buying an old set of speakers.  Drivers go bad with age and replacements might not be available.

I've never bought used speakers, but for $20k, I would consider it if they check out. They may have been owned by someone like me. The used stuff that I've sold was in like new condition. 

I have owned many speakers that msrp’d in the higher end brackets, never lost anything when I rotated them out. I buy such items used, etc or negotiate some cut even price with some dealer/others (helps if you know people). If you are not sure you will hang onto something for life/a long time, try and buy at a ’cut even’ price.

I would suspect 50K speakers haven't had a very hard life. There are very few 50K party speakers.  The other option is to find a used pair of even better speakers for 50K.  You would be less likely to want to exchange them in the future.

$50k buys you a lot of speaker new or used. Call Mike Powell @11stereo.com. His F&F lineup is very good and he always has high end used gear for sale. I have made several purchases from him and he is good people.