Advice on buying a used speaker up to 3k

I build a lot of loudspeakers and have used most RAAL models I would offer a ported monitor 91db 4 ohm 38hz-32khz I build under KCS you can look me up John Kalinowski on google.

Freemand-Look for a used pair of Focal 826w/836w the size of your room will determine which is best.

Probably hard to give a precise sensitivity cutoff, Freemand, because for various reasons manufacturer's numbers are only a rough guide (For instance, I've seen speaker builders sputtering about rivals overstating their efficiency.) That said, if you can't try the speakers in your room and see, 92 db seems a pretty safe cut off for your Pass. More would be better.

+ 1 with Jazzcourier on waiting in the weeds. :) Partly because the bigger models are a headache to ship, markdowns in the used market can be huge, and with 3k and some patience, you can be looking at 6-8k retail. You might get lucky and get a discounted price on a cash local sale, as I did recently, to come in around 40% retail. PBN Montana is one example of an excellent larger line that sometimes trades way below retail (There's a lovely pair here at 25% retail, but out of your price range, alas.)

And shopping is fun. Happily check the boards for a few months, and pounce if there's a really good deal that interests uou. (The better the deal, the easier the resale, if it doesn't work out.) Shows are also more fun if you are shopping, so you might hit one of those. Think of the shopping as practicing your hobby, not a chore.

A high efficiency line not yet mentioned is Zu. Great guys, nice speakers. They often have good deals on their site. I'm not a stickler for listening before you buy, but in the case of Zu, I'd try to, because they re pretty distinctive.

John

jdoris, the speaker hunt is a bit tricky due to its size and ability to try such speakers. So buying unheard using forums like this and reviews are a good avenue. I think the key like you said is buying at the right price so you dont take a hit if you want to sell them. Why are Zu speakers distinctive? I like there high efficiency.

I spent a two separate days talking with Walter at Underwood hifi at length about his Emerald Physics KC II open baffle design which where huge hits at the Newport audio show. They are brand new to market so there is not much info on them yet.

I am thinking the way of the future is open baffle designs (being able to build at a much lower cost due to the fact the box is the big cost we pay for speaker) and eliminating all the issues with box vibrations and such. You may need to ad a sub get to the low bass of traditional box speakers. I have 4 subs in my HT setup and would take the JL fathom 112 from that setup to mate with the KC II in my dedicated two channel room.

I have done extensive mods and tweaks to my kef 104 and many people would be surprised how these do for 26 year old speakers. That said, I need to experience what else is out there which is what this hobby is all about!

One thing for example is did some isolation of the crossover in the kef 104 and was shocked by the improvement. Fact is are these (and weakness of box speaker) intense vibrations on both the crossover, speaker connectors and wire in contact with the speaker box degrades the sound. We spend so much time isolating our speaker cables from vibrations on the floor with cable risers and put vibration control technology in speaker cables to thereby let that delicate audio signal get hammered with them in the speaker connectors, crossovers and and wires that touch the speaker walls.

Thats one aspect I like about the open baffle design. You have an external crossover you can isolate and put cones under and on a platform, and then wire the drivers from the crossover keeping them free from all vibrations on the cabinet. This is a superior setup to conventional box speakers crossovers and speaker connectors attached to the speakers box inside.

And at an intro price for the KC II at $1999, is so attractive. I am debating the whole used box speaker thing????

Anyone at the Newport audio show last month hear the Emerald physics KC II?

Hi Again! Walter knows a lot, is no nonsense -- and persuasive! I've bought several pieces from him in the past, and always enjoy chatting.

The standard story on OB is that they play best when well into the room, like 5-6'. Prohibitive for me, as I expect they are for many people, for this reason. Too bad, they can get great airy sound.

If you can do OB, you might consider building them. The carpentry can be pretty manageable. You might check audiocircle, which has a lot of OB people, including the highly regarded GR Research.

John