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LaScalas……what’s up with these prices?


Shakeydeal

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3 minutes ago, nickyboy6100 said:

Prices have been up for quite sometime now. The days of $1000 La Scala’s are gone. 


The days of 1000.00 Fortes are coming to an end too.

 

A few years ago my buddy bought a pair of Fortes in excellent condition for 400.00. Not long after that I bought Cornwall IIs for 600.00. 
 

Those days are gone too………

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1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:

A few years ago my buddy bought a pair of Fortes in excellent condition for 400.00. Not long after that I bought Cornwall IIs for 600.00. 
 

Those days are gone too………

 

 Deals are still out there just have to be quick. Last pair of forte 1's I bought a few years ago mint condition from original owner $50- he was moving back to Japan and just wanted them gone.

 

 A pair of Chorus II's popped up recently on CL $350 of course sold right away 3 days later relisted for $1700? 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:


The days of 1000.00 Fortes are coming to an end too.

 

A few years ago my buddy bought a pair of Fortes in excellent condition for 400.00. Not long after that I bought Cornwall IIs for 600.00. 
 

Those days are gone too………

I agree and it’s not just the economy doing this. People are finally realizing that all the above mentioned speakers sound much better than anything new at the $1,000 price point. Plus, original Heritage and  extended Heritage (Chorus, Forte) are getting up there in age. The supply is just not what it once was. 

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17 minutes ago, nickyboy6100 said:

I agree and it’s not just the economy doing this. People are finally realizing that all the above mentioned speakers sound much better than anything new at the $1,000 price point. Plus, original Heritage and  extended Heritage (Chorus, Forte) are getting up there in age. The supply is just not what it once was. 

 

You must be smoking the same stuff as the seller in the US Audio Mart link above. Asking/selling prices are going up on everything, not just Klipsch.

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26 minutes ago, 82 Cornwalls said:

 

You must be smoking the same stuff as the seller in the US Audio Mart link above. Asking/selling prices are going up on everything, not just Klipsch.

As I stated in the first sentence of my comment. I actually can’t afford to smoke anything these days. Thanks for asking though. 

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I sort of agree about the value of these speakers. There really isn’t much that can beat heritage speakers at their respective used prices. But I think the price of new heritage is what’s driving the used market. As good as the Jubilees and Klipschorns are, there’s a lot of competition at 35K and 17k. But people with 30 year old examples think they have a pot of gold sitting in their basements.

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Inflation, price increase of new Heritage speakers, and limited supply for sale is a big part of the reason for rising prices of Heritage speakers. For decades old LaScala's sold in the neighborhood of $500 a pair. Price has steadily risen the last decade or so. Having bought my LS's in 86 the price increase only makes me smile even though I have no intention of parting with them. 

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You can think about it like this.  A $500 pair of speakers bought 10 years ago at 3% inflation (Not compounded):

Year 1: $515

Year 2: $530

Year 3: $545

Year 4: $560

Year 5: $575

Year 6: $590

Year 7: $605

Year 8: $620

Year 9: $635

Year 10: $650

 

Now look at it with current inflation (or at least what the government is claiming it is!): 9%

Year 1: $545

Year 2: $590

Year 3: $635

Year 4: $680

Year 5: $725

Year 6: $770

Year 7: $815

Year 8: $860

Year 9: $905

Year 10: $950

 

I'm a firm believer in a speaker is worth what it's worth to the person buying it.  If you think it's a good deal, then it is.  Obviously, everyone's income level differs greatly, so one might consider something a good deal while other's may feel like it's priced way out of line.

 

Anyone can ask what they want when selling something.  Just like on eBay/ Craigslist/etc..  I have seen speakers priced at twice what they should be selling for, and of course they are still listed months/years later.  When pricing, I always look at what recent ones have sold for in similar condition and use that as a starting point.

 

We all have our once in a lifetime deals... the Forte's I bought for $100 when going to this guy's house to buy a Klipsch SW12.  He asked if I was interested in the pair of speakers that he used with the sub...and low and behold they were original Forte's in decent condition.  He only wanted $100 for them.  I told him they were worth more than that, but he just wanted them out of his basement.

 

On the other hand, a local Illinois guy listed his quartets for $900.  They are black with water damage to the tops, and over all about a 6/10 condition.  I asked if he was willing to accept offers.  Of course he said these are very rare and in great condition.  When I sent him links to sales on the Forum for ones that are in great condition that sold for $400, etc., he lowered his asking price to $800.  Obviously he thinks they are worth that to him.

 

If you are wondering if holding onto speakers is a good financial investment...probably not.  But if you think it is a "sound" investment for your enjoyment, well then heck yes!

 

Thanks for reading my random thoughts!

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2 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

I sort of agree about the value of these speakers. There really isn’t much that can beat heritage speakers at their respective used prices. But I think the price of new heritage is what’s driving the used market. As good as the Jubilees and Klipschorns are, there’s a lot of competition at 35K and 17k. But people with 30 year old examples think they have a pot of gold sitting in their basements.

 

If they are in good shape they sure do. I think most members of this forum are really not realistic as to the TRUE VALUE on the market today for these speakers, some of us understood full well just how good of a deal we were getting in the oughts for these, and just how undervalued they were, then the market figured out what it was missing (thanks to us for a decade, then Klipsch bringing all of these into new production and thus setting a "price bar" for everything below them) and now the true market is being discovered for these.

 

The other thing driving the used market is that all those GOOD CONDITION Heritage have homes and have found their "place" - and those owners sure know what they are worth given new prices - and are oft restored/reworked such that they are assuredly good for another run of decades. All those Cornwalls being owned by newly married dudes with wives insisting getting rid of those for Bose back in the 90's/00's are loooooooong gone and those speakers are now in homes that want them (like mine).

 

If CIV is worth $6500 at issue than a nice clean set of CI is worth 2K - that's almost no-brainer territory if you ask me. Of course I knew this in the oughts 20 years ago when I bought up three really nice CI pairs and a pair of Belle Klipsch for what those Belle Klipsch would assuredly cost me today. A Cornwall II cost about 2K per pair in 1989, thirty years later (if you figure a doubling every ten years) the $6500 Cornwall IV isn't far off the mark. Might be a little low, even.

 

I used to say in the 00's that the Cornwall I and similar Heritage series from the late 1960s to the early 1980s was the best speaker deal on the planet, getting those out of the used market. Even with prices pretty much tripled, they are STILL the best speaker deal on the planet.

 

 

1 hour ago, geezin' said:

All the above. Doesn't negate the $6K for the ones in the OP aren't worth it.

 

They're not, but It's not as shocking/out of line as it may seem, particularly in a situation that if the buyer is local and no long drives or shipping is involved the odds increase that he will get the seller closer to his asking price. As soon as someone starts to figure out what it takes to ship halfway across the country and add those costs in, some buyers might well bite on these if convenient/local. Maybe not at 6K, but at a price that still gives a good return to the seller, because goods like these have real value. These aren't $1000 pairs anymore, either.

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1 hour ago, Iteachstem said:

You can think about it like this.  A $500 pair of speakers bought 10 years ago at 3% inflation (Not compounded):

Year 1: $515

Year 2: $530

Year 3: $545

Year 4: $560

Year 5: $575

Year 6: $590

Year 7: $605

Year 8: $620

Year 9: $635

Year 10: $650

 

Now look at it with current inflation (or at least what the government is claiming it is!): 9%

Year 1: $545

Year 2: $590

Year 3: $635

Year 4: $680

Year 5: $725

Year 6: $770

Year 7: $815

Year 8: $860

Year 9: $905

Year 10: $950

 

Actually, we did not have 9% inflation for 10 years, so how about 3% for 9 years and 9% for last year? That makes the number $692.

 

But if your chart is for buying a $500 speaker today and holding inflation at 9% compounded to 10 years, we're good to go.

 

But as Shaky pointed out, the price of new Heritage speakers is one of the drivers. In 2019, you could buy new Ls Scala IIs for $5500/pair. Now try a minimum of $10,000. These are the same issues that have been driving the price of used cars: there is actually a finite number of a specific consumer product on the market at any given moment. Factor in specifics such as make, manufacturer output of that product, whether new or used  & its location, the number of choices dwindles. Scarcity is a real market driver.

 

 

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