Need Guidance: Soundlab A-3 Content


Any help you could provide would be greatly valued!

The Find:
Recently I have come upon a pair of SoundLab electrostatics at a client's home. They have been stored in the basement for many years ( old clients ) I bought them for $200.

The Good:
They make sound (I briefly hooked them up)

The Bad:
They really need refinishing (gray paint!?)
One of the cloth front's has been damaged
The panels on the back have been beaten/bludgeoned and need new connections/knobs etc

The Questions:
1. Are these in any way rare/collectible/sought-after?
2. Would refinishing/recovering/repair be reasonable?
3. What kind of deterioration can I expect to find inside after years of storage?
4. What would YOU do?
litaly512
Those speakers are very unlikely to be rare/collectible, as the parts, materials, and technology that SoundLab uses has progressed significantly since that pair was made.

If the core (the part underneath the cloth) has a wooden frame, and/or cable-ties holding it together, then it's probably not a candidate for being updated and therefore not very valuable. If it's hard black plastic, with no cable-ties visible when you shine a flashlight into the cloth, then the core is much more valuable as it probably can be updated without the labor involved being cost-prohibitive. Of course if the cores work well as they are, they have some value.

The backplates can be updated/repaired. The wooden frame (everything outside the cloth) also has value (I assume it's in good condition). It's quite likely that the cloth you mention is no longer available; you'd have to ask SoundLab about that.

Now to give you a point of reference, the current generation SoundLab A3-PX retails for $19,970. So don't expect to put a couple thousand bucks into what you have now and end up with the approximate equivalent of a current generation model.

I suggest you call SoundLab and get an estimate on what it would cost to restore/upgrade what you have. If it's more money than you want to spend, then post 'em on Audiogon along with the upgrade cost information so that potential buyers will know what they'll have to invest in order to approximate the current generation version. SoundLab can also give you a better idea than I can of what to expect from long-term storage, as I don't have any experience with that.

SoundLab's number is 435-528-7218, and ask for Brett (he would probably be the one to do most of the work if you have them repaired/upgraded). If there's no answer, call back later. They can be hard to reach by phone sometimes. If possible, call them when you're with the speakers so you can given them an accurate description and answer any questions they may have.

Duke
SoundLab dealer