Are These Finds Good Deals?

Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Pair of KEF R11 less than a year old on Canuck Audio Mart. These retail at C$7k and new with tax would be $7,910. Take maybe 15% off from retail for $6,700 new. C$4,500 (about $3,600 US) for a mint pair seems pretty reasonable. How do you guys price used speakers in general? Is this a good deal? Really tempted to go check these out. The R3 measured well on ASR, although some say that an R3 with duel subs would be better than the R7 or R11 due to less interference from adjacent drivers. I need a fairly narrow cabinet due to space limitations and these are only 12" wide with the plinth.
 
John Parks

John Parks

Audioholic Samurai
Pair of KEF R11 less than a year old on Canuck Audio Mart. These retail at C$7k and new with tax would be $7,910. Take maybe 15% off from retail for $6,700 new. C$4,500 (about $3,600 US) for a mint pair seems pretty reasonable. How do you guys price used speakers in general? Is this a good deal? Really tempted to go check these out. The R3 measured well on ASR, although some say that an R3 with duel subs would be better than the R7 or R11 due to less interference from adjacent drivers. I need a fairly narrow cabinet due to space limitations and these are only 12" wide with the plinth.
The R11s are my "next step up" speakers. I auditioned them extensively next to a pair of Reference 5s and they come dangerously close to the Reference. Granted, the Reference 5 is a better speaker in every way, but $14.5K better? Hmm... Anyway, 67% of new MSRP is seems like a pretty good price.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
The R11s are my "next step up" speakers. I auditioned them extensively next to a pair of Reference 5s and they come dangerously close to the Reference. Granted, the Reference 5 is a better speaker in every way, but $14.5K better? Hmm... Anyway, 67% of new MSRP is seems like a pretty good price.
The Reference is out of my league until I win the lottery. My spouse would rather have two weeks in Europe than a modest upgrade in our HT system. Diminishing returns and all. Not sure if these old ears could discern the difference between the Ref5 and R11. Might be an end game speaker for me but since it's my HT setup would have to see how my Paradigm centre matches up and whether I would need to add the KEF centre later.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Pair of KEF R11 less than a year old on Canuck Audio Mart. These retail at C$7k and new with tax would be $7,910. Take maybe 15% off from retail for $6,700 new. C$4,500 (about $3,600 US) for a mint pair seems pretty reasonable. How do you guys price used speakers in general? Is this a good deal? Really tempted to go check these out. The R3 measured well on ASR, although some say that an R3 with duel subs would be better than the R7 or R11 due to less interference from adjacent drivers. I need a fairly narrow cabinet due to space limitations and these are only 12" wide with the plinth.
Huh. $3600 seems to be a popular used asking price for those. Seems fairly reasonable if you're specifically looking for those speakers.


Same thing, same price here in Phoenix. I'm not super impressed with the bass extension for a speaker on the large side like that, but I s'pose a sub makes it a moot point. I'd definitely want to audition. Found a pair of R3s for $1325 also.


Then just today I noticed a price drop ($800 obo) for these LS50s that have been in there for a while. They were asking over $1000 originally.

 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Thanks Pogre. Yes, I would audition them first. He has some nice Mac gear to drive them. I've been wanting to try some towers to get more punch in the bottom end (and a little more clarity in the highs). The R11 is rear ported and benefits from room extension. 46Hz @ -3dB does seem a little high for a speaker in that class, but it's rated down to 30Hz @ -6dB and 27Hz in a typical room. I'll be pairing it with my SB-1000 any way so not a deal breaker when using a sub. Thought about your Sierra towers too but with the exchange rate and shipping it's a hard sell. If these don't pan out might drive to DC to hear Dennis' towers.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Thanks Pogre. Yes, I would audition them first. He has some nice Mac gear to drive them. I've been wanting to try some towers to get more punch in the bottom end (and a little more clarity in the highs). The R11 is rear ported and benefits from room extension. 46Hz @ -3dB does seem a little high for a speaker in that class, but it's rated down to 30Hz @ -6dB and 27Hz in a typical room. I'll be pairing it with my SB-1000 any way so not a deal breaker when using a sub. Thought about your Sierra towers too but with the exchange rate and shipping it's a hard sell. If these don't pan out might drive to DC to hear Dennis' towers.
I auditioned the older KEF R900s. There is absolutely nothing that makes me wonder "what if?" between those and the BMR Monitors, or the Phil 3s. I think the BMR Towers should more than easily compete.
Just my 2¢. ;)
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
I auditioned the older KEF R900s. There is absolutely nothing that makes me wonder "what if?" between those and the BMR Monitors, or the Phil 3s. I think the BMR Towers should more than easily compete.
Just my 2¢. ;)
Same price point as the used R11 and the BMRs do have one of the flatest responses around and great off axis response as well. Biggest difference is that these are 1½ hrs away and the BMRs are 9+ hours. ;) Have to look into import duties as well. There are no tarriffs on speakers but tax and customs clearance adds another $800.
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
An unusual find on eBay I’ve never seen these for sale here in the states these are from the 90’s I’d guess . A different take on this style of enclosure.
 

Attachments

Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Same price point as the used R11 and the BMRs do have one of the flatest responses around and great off axis response as well. Biggest difference is that these are 1½ hrs away and the BMRs are 9+ hours. ;) Have to look into import duties as well. There are no tarriffs on speakers but tax and customs clearance adds another $800.
So how does that work anyway? If you drive across the border, make a big purchase and drive back are you s'posed to pay extra taxes on the way back? Or does the extra taxation come into play with shipping? Do they even care?
 
Mark E. Long

Mark E. Long

Audioholic General
These aren't on my radar for $3k, but look pretty interesting. Old Kef speakers that look more like B&Ws.

View attachment 49593

They are pretty interesting and I’ll bet sound very good too .
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I haven't seen @ryanosaur talking about a sub project in a while...
The place I was gonna buy MDF from went up to almost $70 per sheet of the .75" stock. Conversely, HD and Lowes are still at $43.xx per sheet.
The local independent store has a very new Panel Saw that they actually maintain and keep calibrated! So not going to the other stores is a bit of a no-brainer. ;)

That said, on the brighter side, 3- and 5- ply Sheathing has come down from almost $100 per for the 15/32 5-ply to under $50. The 11/32 3-ply was just under $40. Likewise, Redwood dimensional lumber has also seen a jump in availability and affordability. I had been holding off because of the cost but finally dropped $45 a couple 2x4x8s... the rough stock was down at ~$10 each as opposed to the $20-something ea for the higher grade.

So soon, I'm certain I'll be working on my first test box!!! :)
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
So how does that work anyway? If you drive across the border, make a big purchase and drive back are you s'posed to pay extra taxes on the way back? Or does the extra taxation come into play with shipping? Do they even care?
There is a provincial and federal harmonized sales tax of 13%. Some items have import duties applied. When we cross the border there is a limit to what we can bring back tax/duty free. Over 24 Hrs it's $200 but over 48 hours it's $800. I'd be looking at 13% tax on speakers (no import duty). If shipped, they have to be cleared through customs so there is the import fee charged by customs brokerage firms. Courier companies tend to have very high fees, but you can specify your own broker to save some money.

You can cross the border and not claim any purchases but two very large boxes in the back might draw attention. Dark tinted windows recommended. ;)
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
These aren't on my radar for $3k, but look pretty interesting. Old Kef speakers that look more like B&Ws.

View attachment 49593

I wonder if those mids are made of the same material as the woofers in my KEF 103.2? TLS Guy mentioned that that material is prone to getting brittle with age.
 
-Jim-

-Jim-

Audioholic General
Hi Gents,
For Canadian importing goods from the USA, they need to comply with the "new NAFTA" agreement. (And visa versa) Relatively quietly on July 1, 2020, the new Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) entered into force. NAFTA eliminated virtually all tariffs between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with very few exceptions. CUSMA maintains these benefits and ensures that the vast majority of North American trade will continue to be duty-free. (There are some areas were political interference has some goods subject to tariff but these are the rare exceptions. Sometimes folks call "national security" just to mess things up for a while.)

As I sometimes buy goods (say like my HSU CCB-8s) from the USA that aren't readily available here in Canada, I need to keep up to date on the cost of doing so. The provincial and federal harmonized sales tax of 13% Eppie refers to actually varies a bit (due again to political whims) in different provinces and territories of Canada, but typically applies to almost all goods purchased in Canada, or imported into Canada. (No escape from the Tax Man!) The Federal Government has recently announced it's going to Tax "Internet Services" like Netflix after ignoring it for ages. Like all governments it seems, Canada too is always on the hunt to suck as much revenue from it's population so it it can waste it in various ways. (OK soapbox over...)

There is a clause in CUSMA that is supposed to eliminate any duty or import processing fees for "low value" goods shipping direct to households (think like from Amazon, or via FedEX, UPS, etc.) This was suppose to about $800 per shipment as I remember, but when Covid hit, it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. My last purchase was still nicked for processing (not called duty!) as the shipper continued to apply NAFTA rules and their old process => not the CUSMA process. This was suppose to increase Web based commerce amongst the 3 CUSMA nations. But as this seems painfully slow to get implemented, the benefits aren't really there.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Yeah, I've seen $25 brokerage fees on a $15 item charged by the courier. That's why I try and use the postal service whenever possible. Typically $5 for small packages.

Have to dig up the invoice but I purchased some CDs and DVDs recently, shipped from Germany and Japan. Customs clearing wasn't too expensive for those. Arendal has an all inclusive price for shipping to the US. Would be nice if they included Canada. I tried an on-line calculator for BorderBuddy and it's about $200+ for brokerage fees in addition to the HST.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
These aren't on my radar for $3k, but look pretty interesting. Old Kef speakers that look more like B&Ws.



You mean B&W speakers that look like KEF? Which came first? Hint: You're looking at them in that ad.
 
P

prerich

Audioholic Intern
These aren't on my radar for $3k, but look pretty interesting. Old Kef speakers that look more like B&Ws.

View attachment 49593

That's a steal for the 207's they retailed for $20k
 

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