2. speakers
  3. 132508-3105

$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

Showing 3 responses by david_ten

david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Jim,

A. I'd be grateful and thankful I had 20K to spend on speakers. I feel that way for the 3K speaker pair I currently own.

B. Since they are different speakers, by default, one will / has to be a 'better' fit for your room, amplifier, and cabling. I would choose that one, whether it is new or used or heard / unheard.

C. You don't mention aesthetics. Maybe a factor, maybe not???

D. You don't mention your exit strategy. For me that would be the 'catch.'

E. Despite all our prognosticating, the future is an unknown. That's the second and more important 'catch.' : )
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Randy, New Aida is projected to list at Euro 82.000
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@blindjim

It’s the ‘exit strategy” I’m not getting

20K may or may not be significant to you. I don’t know.

For me, I find it wise to think downstream and long term.

What happens if life throws a curve ball and you need to move the speakers, financially speaking?

Or your system priorities change and the speaker isn’t a good fit?

Or you just feel like something different?

Knowing or being comfortable with or ’projecting' the potential impact of a current audio component decision, into the future, is something I consider.

Some are more present focused, others more future focused. I don’t know where you are on that ’spectrum.’

Your post is about an 'entry strategy’ (approach) which is why I pointed to an ’exit strategy’ (a departure, if you may).
More to discover