Question - is new always better than old?

[Bodywonderful]

An FYI regarding USHER speakers. If you are looking at a solidly built set of used speakers these fit the bill. I pulled apart a center speaker as I had a buyer only interested in the drivers. WOW, these things are really nicely built! I also have my nearly 30 year old Paradigm Phantom V3 towers (retired to act as the rear speakers in 7.1) which still look and perform as new. You CAN get really nice stuff if the owner isn't special needs and takes care of it.

 

[Teetertotter?]

In my case, the newer front main bookshelf, in the Klipsch RP series, are much better sounding, than their R series.

I dislike Neutral speakers for movies, and prefer Klipsch sound for MOVIES and now music. The newer Klipsch Bookshelf RP-500M II's are perfect for Movies and ALL types of Music. In my case, the speakers are best balanced/perform, pointed straight out into the room, at a listening distance of 7 Feet. All tweeters are at ear level, including the center channel.

Yes, I still have the old JBL Northridge old mains, and even tried the ELAC Debute 2.0, B6.5, with Klipsch bookshelf models in between. The RP-500M II's were in my budget range too. Yes, newer is better, in my case, for my ears.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

My opinion... it depends.
Is a '68 Chevy II SS 295 HP V8 w/ Muncie 4 speed and 12 bolt rear end better than a '24 Camaro 335 HP V6 w/automatic? No, not even close. You could argue the '68 is a much cooler car but it's definitely not a better car.
On the flip side, I think my old Acurus A250 amplifier will hold it's own against the newer amps.
Same with speakers, it really just depends

Yeah but v6 muscle cars are dumb.
Except twin turbo GN’s.

 

[Bobby Bass]

If you’re happy with the sound suggest keeping them especially with your recent other upgrades. If you want to as part of your hobby and you have the budget then by all means. The Founder 100F look beautiful and sounded great when I heard them. Enjoy the next step on your musical journey.

 

[NMG]

I’m still running my B&W 703s and matching HTM7 and they’re probably about 15-16 years old now?

I’d like to replace them with something a bit less aggressive on the top end, but can’t really justify it right now as they still perform great. The brightness is really only an issue if I crank on the volume and I really don’t do that as much now that I’m getting older

I imagine I’d have to spend a considerable amount of money to get a meaningful upgrade so I’ll likely just wait until I’m forced to. I do like buying new just for warranty and the joy of having new stuff, but I’m sure there are great deals out there on used stuff you’re willing to look.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think the OP really wanted to ask if it’s a good idea to PURCHASE old equipment vs brand new.

Not whether our current speakers (that we bought 10-20 years ago) sound as good as the new speakers on the market.

When you buy pre-owned equipment, there’s always a higher chance of something bad happening since we have no idea how those equipment were treated/handled/kept over 20 years- they could have been mishandled or misused, etc.

 

[NMG]

I’d personally have a hard time buying pre-owned speakers as I’m paranoid and would want warranty. I have purchased demo speakers from dealers before, at a substantial discount, but they came with full warranty and the condition was as new.

 

[Bodywonderful]

I’d personally have a hard time buying pre-owned speakers as I’m paranoid and would want warranty. I have purchased demo speakers from dealers before, at a substantial discount, but they came with full warranty and the condition was as new.

Fair enough.
I bought a new set of Focal Flax car speakers (the top Flax model, whatever that was) a couple of years ago from a local dealership. The most I've paid for car speakers, and as of today it's also the only speaker I've ever had blow (the left 6.5 - drivers door). lol
So, with the warranty on most audio equipment being one year, makes it close to irrelevant to me.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Fair enough.
I bought a new set of Focal Flax car speakers (the top Flax model, whatever that was) a couple of years ago from a local dealership. The most I've paid for car speakers, and as of today it's also the only speaker I've ever had blow (the left 6.5 - drivers door). lol
So, with the warranty on most audio equipment being one year, makes it close to irrelevant to me.

That’s a good point. A warranty of only 1 YR or even 2 YR is not much.

5YR or 7YR or longer warranty is more worth it.

In general, buying pre-owned has a higher risk; but whether the risk is worth it is the question, which depends.

 

[dolynick]

I have toyed with the idea of buying something high end/fancy on the used market just to see what it's like on several occassions. In order to get down to an price even worth considering, it generally has to be 15+ years old though. The idea of unknown wear and tear on something that is still relatively pricey and may be nearing it's end of life anyways usually stops me. I'm not sure if that's a rational fear, but it's there.

Warranty is nice. I was shocked when Sonus Faber offered me an extended 8 year warranty on my Lumina Amators if I registered their serial numbers.

 

[Gil_Pena]

Well I cannot contribute too much to this conversation however, something to think about, the population in 1980 was 220 million. The population today is 320mil? I thought it was more but that's what Google told me. It seems like they were making everything back in the day better because less people to make it for. Makes sense