Thanks for all of the responses. I thought maybe I hadn't heard about a decline in quality, as I wouldn't have expected. I agree with many of the replies as one brand with a huge amount out there will commonly have more available in the resale market. As for the forward/brightness issue, I actually have not auditioned the brand in many years, so it's good to know this characteristic. For the models I see often, being in the mid-fi price range of less than $2,500/pr., I would guess that most of these buyers have paired them with less than ideal amps, often being used with multichannel home theater receivers, thus compounding the brightness and forward soundstage presentation. It also reminds me of my college years, circa 1980, when I knew several guys that had JBL loudspeakers. Although they were popular and cost 2x-3x my Large Advents, their brightness made my ears bleed. But that was their trait and very few fed them anything other that the power from a Japanese receiver.
