Beveridge System 3's, worth repairing?


I have owned a pair of Beveridge System 3 speakers for over 10 years. they now no longer work and I have not used them in years. additionally, 2 of the bass drivers are now punctured. from memory, these were a very nice set of speakers. I have since replaced them, but I am wondering if they are worth repairing to either keep as my main speakers or put them up for sale. Rick Beveridge (son of Harold) is now in buisness restoring them. I currently own a pair of ML SL3's. are the System 3's the equal of the SL3's? I don't want to invest say, $2000 to repair only to find out I can only get $1000 for them. I would appreciate suggestions from anyone familiar with them.

thanks, Paul
pmwoodward
Unless you are just madly in love with them. probably not, at least not at 2000 dollars, though I do hate the thought of them going down the tubes. Few restorations of this sort
are worth the money, and I think you could find a used pair for less than 2k. ML's should be much better, though I have never heard them side by side. I would be asking Rick if he wants to by them, its not going to be much, but at least you would know they gave their lives saving others. Or I would be advertising them as parts units. That being said, if you did all the repairs yourself, perhaps a different story. Couple hundred dollars and 10 hours of your time lets say, it could be worth it. Tough call, but as I write everyone else with problems like this, feel free to send them to me.
Beveridge speakers are worth repairing them if you intend to keep them and listen to them. They are wonderful speakers and when propperly set up are unparalleled. The system 3s are more user freindly than the 2s or 2SWs. I don't remeber how many were made, so I can't give you an idea of the supply, demand is low, as not many people know about them.
Happy listening
Many years ago I owned a set of the System 3's. The electrostatic element was quite good and was one of the few speakers that created a stable image that did not move as you walked between the speakers. No matter where you sat, so long as you were between the speakers, the imaging was the same, no sweet spot. The woofers were unfortunately not very good and did not mate well with the electrostatic panels. The crossover also left something to be desired. If you refurbish, suggest that you remove the woofers and crossover and substitute an external crossover and woofers. Beverage had a nice crossover which the son may still be able to provide. The combination of an external active crossover and proper woofers might yield a world class system. Even returned to stock, they should be a nice improvement over the ML's.
The crossover is avaliable through Roger Modjeski, and Music Reference, it is the RM-3.