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Is new better than old?

I have been looking at upgrading my speakers. I have a budget of around $1,200. There is a plethora of speakers on A’gon and C’list in that range. I did a search of Full Speakers priced between $900 and $1,300 and got a list of over 100 really nice (or not) speakers.

My question is, are the newer speakers in this price range better than the older speakers in this range? Are the newer models with the latest and greatest technology, research and design likely to sound better that a speaker that is 6 or 8 to 12 years old, but when new was twice the price (or more)?

A good example is the 13 year old Vandersteen 3A’s vs two year old Paradigm Studio 60 v4’s. Both of these are around $1,000.

Another example is the Von Schweikert Gen: II at $1,099 vs new ERA D14 at $1,100 (seller says these are half price).

I may not be comparing apples to apples above, but I think you get my point. Is a speaker that cost $4,000 but is 10 – 12 years old better than a two year old speaker that maybe sold for $2,000 when new?

Thanks
ben77059

Showing 1 response by texas42

texas42
98 posts
 
Considering roughly 50% of the cost on 'new' speakers go to the distributor, store owner, etc...I personally prefer 'older' vintage classic designs and think many of them are actually 'better' than many of the newer design which I find rather tilted up in the midrange and designed to have thinner profiles to make them more WAF acceptable. Plus, considering I like (often) trying different designs (I've owned over 150 different high end speakers in the past) I don't lose a lot of money when I want to try something new. I couldn't afford to do that buying everything at full (new) price and selling at roughly 50% of new. I currently own the classic Martin Logan CLS, Klipsch Chorus (great with tubes), DefTech BP2000TL's (great for home theater) Infinity Modulus System (original, early 90s), KEF Reference 102/2 and Von Schweikert VR 4s. All of these do certain things as well as anything made today and yes, I do listen to the new offerings and go to the big audio shows for comparisons.

Of the several pair you mentioned, the Energy Veritas is an excellent design that you definitely should audition. Very fast and articulate with good, tight bass.
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