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

 

[NMG]

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.

Agreed. I think many/most higher end speaker makers have 5 year warranties at least.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Agreed. I think many/most higher end speaker makers have 5 year warranties at least.

Some speakers have a warranty of 10-25 years. But if the speakers have internal amps, the internal amps will only have a 1YR - 2YR warranty.

 

[Kleinst]

You have to be ready to strike when a rediculous deal is there and be willing to risk something being wrong.

I got my Klipsch RF7iii's and center for an insane price. There were a few imperfection on the wood that just needed touching up. Nothing wrong with the speakers themselves. And look good now. So I took a risk and man did it pay off.

But for used, I wouldn't pay ANY higher than 50% off even sale price. Ideally lower than that. If it gets higher than that just wait till they go on sale and buy new.

 

[Bodywonderful]

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.

I have a correction to make, I was wrong.
My left door speaker didn't blow. The temperature warmed up enough for me to remove the panel and pull the speaker yesterday (-8 C). It sounded very blown but it turned out to be water which had frozen (I broke off a big chunk of ice inside the adaptor pod). A night inside proved great medicine as I re-installed today and it performs like new. Once spring brings warm temps I'll see what is going on.
I know this is a home audio forum but I thought information is never a bad thing.

 

[MrBoat]

Some tips from someone who has bought mostly used gear, while most of my main speakers are DIY.

Buying headroom when you can. I have bought used JBL speakers that were decently high powered and with higher sensitivity. One set is rated at 175 WRMS, with a sensitivity of 89 db. Chances of someone pushing those speakers anywhere near their limit is highly unlikely. Twice, this has proven right with two pairs of the exact model. Most people that would buy these relatively budget speakers would not likely have an amp or AVR much greater than 100W.

Choosing speakers that have rubber surrounds instead of foam. I have speakers from late nineties to early 2000s. They all have rubber surrounds as many (most/all?) do now. The only exception being those with doped cloth surrounds like that found on Eminence woofers. Those types are robust as well.

The JBL woofers have heavy cast baskets and rubber surrounds, among other things. Their 'polyplas' cones are like an extra-durable paper composite of sorts. A lot more robust than I see in other brands budget offerings.

Midrange is stout for it's size, too, and they cared enough to isolate it from the rest of the cabinet. Weird for a budget design to go there. Can see the rubber surround on the woofer just past it. A damp cloth was all that was needed to clean them to like new appearance. Not bad for a 20 something yr old speaker. I ended up building improved cabinets with wood veneer for them just because I had enough leftovers around here to use up. I may have $250 in them but would not part with them, otherwise.

I also look for used parts availability online for a model I am interested in, in the event something is wrong with it. If the speaker is a great performer, I may even buy an extra driver from ebay if one just happens to be a good price, just to futureproof them further.

I'm not that audio complicated. I don't really enjoy "high-end" audio, or at least the marketers classification of it. High power, relatively neutral speakers, with low audible distortion, has not been that hard to achieve buying older, used speakers.