eleakist Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have just been offered a heavily mod'd pair of Belle and am curious how such work affects value. Price is yet to be discussed. Mods include ALK XO, Martinelli wood horns, Altec 902 and Beyma CP25. These are DIY changes but photos indicate the work is of high quality. In this enthusiast market, is the value of the speaker enhanced $ for $ invested; does the value remain unchanged; or is it diminished due to mods. For this purpose, since I have yet to see the speakers and assuming very good condition, what is the estimated value range? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon_66 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 $1735 - $2463. Welcome to the forum. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merkin Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 depends, if those are mods you want. I'm pretty sure they would sound good with those mods. I think cabinet shape is just as important. Mods are pretty easy to change and or sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have just been offered a heavily mod'd pair of Belle and am curious how such work affects value. Price is yet to be discussed. Mods include ALK XO, Martinelli wood horns, Altec 902 and Beyma CP25. These are DIY changes but photos indicate the work is of high quality. In this enthusiast market, is the value of the speaker enhanced $ for $ invested; does the value remain unchanged; or is it diminished due to mods. For this purpose, since I have yet to see the speakers and assuming very good condition, what is the estimated value range? The seller is going to say they are worth everything he has put into them, but look at it like the collector car market. Say I build a 100 point restoration of a Boss 302 Mustang and spend $100,000 on it. I also build a 1,500 HP Pro Street Blown and Injected Hemi Cuda and spend $100,000 on it. Which car is going to sell for more money when it goes across the auction block? Hands down, it is going to be the rare, restored orriginal. On the hot rod, a buyer wanted a different color, or different rims, or a different trans, what-ever, but on the orriginal, the build sheet says what it came with from the factory. The speaker seller is going to say, well this piece cost me this much, but he isn't going to tell you how much he recouped from selling the stock parts. If you go to resell them down the road, you will find that there are guys like me, that don't considder it Klipsch if it is modded. The only mod I would considder on my speakers and still considder them Klipsch is a beutiful veneer. If these modded speakers are really the bomb, how can he let them go. I would rather spend my money on a better set of more expensive Klipsch than on non factory mods. The sad fact is that you will loose some buyers interest with modded speakers vs: orriginals, hence you won't get as many bidders bidding on say eBay. In the final annalysis, they are only worth what you will pay for them, and what the next guy will buy them from you for. The big kicker is how can you compare or know what it should sound like, unless you have heard the same set-up? How do you know you will even like the way the mods sound? Just my 2 cents, good luck with your descission...... Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Reduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I agree with Roger except I'd prefer upgraded crossovers to stock in most cases. They can be pricey and especially with older models, it's something you will need to do anyway. We've had this discussion many times on the forum and while they might sound better than the originals to some or even most, many folks like to start with the real thing then mod them to their liking. I personally don't consider those Klipsch speakers anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Reduced. Yup I would keep the original parts and revert it backto stock or close for a quick sale. If you posted on agon it might be easier to sell modified klipsch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I recently sold a totally stock pair of WO Belles in very good to excellent condition for $1600. They don't bring nearly what they used to. However, those mods don't come cheap if you want to upgrade a pair of Belles. Of course you can't charge retail price for the mods, but I don't think they lose their value that quickly. Patience is the key. Someone is always upgrading their gear, so eventually the mods will sell for a reasonable price. If and when I sell my Khorns, I will bring it back to stock and sell the mods separately, but that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 After the Big Brown Truck delivers my next set of mods I will have close to $4K in mods to my $600 Belles. I will never get anywhere close to what money I will have invested but I don't look at it that way. I am fairly confident that if I were to install the factory components I could still get my original purchase price back. The fact that I got these on the cheap allows me to spend on trying different horns, networks, tweets, etc. In the mean time I can compare the 'modded, non-Klipsch' version to the other 5. I like the hot rod analogy previously stated. My stock '69 Z-28 would sell for more than my '79 Z-28 with the bottle fed, tunnel rammed 427 big block but since I have one I can play with the other. The '69 is going the same place my Belles are....to my grave, the '79 is "expendable". I drove both off the lot new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I will take the other side in this discussion. If you look at the barrett jackson auction in Jan- some modded hot rods brought stupid money provided the mods were done very tastefully and buyers wanted them. On the other hand some modded cars brought a fraction of their unmodded original value. Recently there was a set of K horns for sale on the garage with everything that I would do to mod a set and the asking price was 3 k. i would have gladly paid it as the mods were top shelf. I think they must have have sold as I have not seen them back out for sale. Depends on the individual set of circumstances. If the parts are highly sought after on the forum they may be worth more than the cabinets themselves. Or the whole thing may be a 500 dollar beater if not done in a manner to appeal to others. Must be carefully evaluated. I agree with the idea that modded speaker are not real klipsch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gartenman Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 modded speaker are not real klipsch why is it so important for us to label things...i'll take a barrett jackson modded '69 Z-28 over an original any day...the complete redo if far superior mechanically to the original...so if i can't call my Camaro a Camaro because it's been modded by barrett jackson, what do i call it then...why if we improve on a good idea does it make it not real? my VRD's came with Valve Art power tubes...now, since i changed them to Tung Sol 6550s are they now not real VRD's? this whole analogy of qualifying an item as real or not serves only to feed the egomanical, obsessive-compulsive types who think that if its anything but stock then its inferior...i'll take my unreal VRD's against any real VRD any day of the week...now i just have to come up with a name for them...judge not lest yea' be judged... price is based on the quality of workmanship, period... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 You can go either way with this. Look at turntables and how they are modified. I have a Thorens 125 MK II, that is so modified you can only tell by looking at the inside, where it came from. I prefer Klipsch as unmodified as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Speakers look nothing like cars, but Twisted can always come up with some analogy there. [][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 modded speaker are not real klipschwhy is it so important for us to label things...i'll take a barrett jackson modded '69 Z-28 over an original any day...the complete redo if far superior mechanically to the original...so if i can't call my Camaro a Camaro because it's been modded by barrett jackson, what do i call it then...why if we improve on a good idea does it make it not real? my VRD's came with Valve Art power tubes...now, since i changed them to Tung Sol 6550s are they now not real VRD's? this whole analogy of qualifying an item as real or not serves only to feed the egomanical, obsessive-compulsive types who think that if its anything but stock then its inferior...i'll take my unreal VRD's against any real VRD any day of the week...now i just have to come up with a name for them...judge not lest yea' be judged... price is based on the quality of workmanship, period... gartenman, Barret Jackson does not modify ANYTHING!!! They are NOT Carol Shelby, Saleen, Yenko, or Baldwin Motion, they are only an auction house. You have to look at the buyers of these modified orriginals as this is only a trend, and will not pan out over the long hall. You cannot put good sense into vastly uneducated minds. The vast majority of these high priced hot rods are not the car collector market, but rather idiots that don't work very hard for their money and hence don't place much worth on it. "Easy come, easy go" The buyers of these modified hot rods are over paid sports stars, rap stars, and movie stars. They are not car guys and know nothing about orriginal specs but want the flash and the bragging rights. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and you cannot point to any "OLD" aftermarket parts that bring the kind of money that extremely rare orriginals in the same shape that do the same job will bring, for example; What is the rarest possible factory option for a 1967 Mustang?? Answer; An optional black and white tube set TV that was an option in the console. You had to know about the option, and you had to option the console before you could even considder it. A non working orriginal is worth more then the car is!! And your aknowlogy on your VRDs is wrong! I could build that same amplifier schematic, with different tubes and market it as a different amplifier and probably get by without being found guilty of infringement rights. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 Speakers look nothing like cars, but Twisted can always come up with some analogy there. Like This [Y] Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylanl Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Yenko Honda is right up the street from me. I drive past the old store and never give any thought to the muscle cars that at one time came out of there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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