Efficient used speakers under $5k

I really don’t understand why Great Plains doesn’t build and sell speakers. If they did I think they would be a huge player in this space. I guess building cabinets isn’t the business they want to be in. Or they have found a way to sell all the products they can produce and have no desire to grow the business. I believe the story is it’s the engineers and tooling from Altec when the company as it was when out of business. Perhaps it’s just not possible to increase capacity and get the same results.

 

See here:

Big boy speaker compnents; Altec, JBL, Emilar

 

Very cool. Is that your work?

 

I'd take these over Cornwalls. But....buying 40 year old speakers probably isn't the suggestion the OP is looking for.

 

Very coveted back in the day.

 

I've seen someone on my local Craigs list do orders for replicas he makes, $3,500 a pair. Originals in good shape are about $2,500 if you can find them.

 

Stonehenge 3 would be my first choice but used prices can go as high as $10,000. Hence the motivation to buy and build from Great Plains Audio. And the veneer job on the originals looks cheap, not what you would want for $10,000 speakers.

 

Here is one suggestion within your budget...almost universal acclaim from owners....92db sensitivity:

Spatial Audio M3 Sapphire Loudspeakers (Price Drop)

M Series | Spatial Audio Lab

 

bingo. love the sound of these speakers.
OP you can hear how these sound on newrecordday.com. he uses quality binaral microphones and with a good pair of headphones they mimic the deep bass you hear in person.

 

Why used? There is new stuff that can sound good at your budget. Fyi, it's usually some crap box hyped up by the revie... errrr ummm.. advertiser's club that constantly shows up on the used market...the magical stuff very rarely shows up...

 

What speaker can you buy new that never comes up on the used market for at least 30% less? I like buying new speakers and that is a reason I often sell them on the used market. It’s a financially painful way to do business. Buy used and you can get out of it without taking too much of a hit. Get lucky and you might make a couple dollars.

 

- Buy new at a "deep discount" when the dealer's having a couple of bad months and is willing to drop his gluttonous profit margin by a bit.
- Tell dealer that the ex wife's alimony checks are getting expensive, etc, etc...just shed some tears over the phone and tell him 40% less is all that you can afford. He will call you back discreetly a few months later and sell it to you for that price.
- Later on...you will cut even when you sell it used.

 

If you have dealers close by that have products that interest you...if you can even 10% off...if you don't really care about further depreciation if you decide to sell...then new is just as good if not better than preowned because often with preowned, you are waiting until what you wants hits the market. I have new gear and I have preowned gear...both made sense when I made the purchase.

 

That’s a good way to do it. I’ve bought floor models and demo equipment from the dealer but that’s kind of the same as buying used. Local dealers are different for everyone and for me the selection of HE speakers is very sparse. I prefer to shop and buy local but It’s really a mail order business for the most part. The difference between buying new and used is paying twice as much but you can return them
If you want. Not to jinks it for me or anyone else but generally when you are buying quality used equipment you are dealing with good people that are into the hobby. I’m a fan of buying used.

 

I’d really like to get a pair of these. Not that I’ve heard them but I really want to.

 

I would add that if you buy quality used stuff...desirable brands like Pass or McIntosh or Magnepan...etc. etc. etc. resale is not too difficult if you end up not loving the product and you rarely take much of a hit financially if you are careful not to overpay.

 

Yeah....and the in-room measurement that Andrew took was pretty impressive.

 

I'm a bit gun shy about Spatial........I once owned their M3 Triode Masters and they were a massive letdown to me, sounded so veiled and just bleh. I know the new versions are supposed to be better but that's my experience with them and they weren't as efficient as advertised.

 

No idea where to even start with this comment. huh?????

 

I'd say go take a listen to the new-ish Sonus Faber Lumina V. They are around 90 dB sensitive. Sure, they're only $2,799, but they sound pretty dang impressive. I did a head-to-head comparison to the Sonetto VIII on the same audio system, and the Lumina V didn't give up much at all to the Sonetto VIII. The Lumina uses the same drivers, as far as I can tell. The bass extension and slam is pretty impressive for their size.

And the look of these things is great.

IMG_2209 by MDTshots, on Flickr

 

Decided to also stop by another dealer in LA, Common Wave HiFi. They sell Devore, Harbeth, Dali, ProAc, Fyne and others but not sure what they have in listening rooms.

 

That's fantastic. I dare say you are driving those with far more than 45 watts.

 

Lol, this was at a dealer and they weren't messing around. They were being driven by that MICHI X-5 integrated amp at the bottom of the rack. I think it has something like 400 wpc.

 

Of the listed speakers and for under $5k and efficient… I’ve heard Fyne floorstanders that sounded really good.

 

I recently sat in front of some Fyne Floorstanders at a Dealer, being driven by a Hegel Integrated, streaming Qobuz. A detailed, airy presentation, yet was an easy listen. I believe they were the F501SP, IIRC they were around 5K.