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Are older speakers(not vintage) still relevant?

rochester21 said:
Just reuse the cabinets and filters...? Of course the original sound is gone, but it's better than throwing all of it away, no?
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What I don't like are sellers who take speakers in very good to excellent condition, such as classic Infinitys as an example, and part them out because they know that owners with crapped out speakers will pay silly money for working spare parts. There are also a couple of notorious sellers on Ebay who buy up Infinity speakers from deceased estates, distressed sales, auction houses etc and build frankin' speakers for profit. Each to their own, but I can't stand those unscrupulous practices.
 
Bodhi1 said:
What I don't like are sellers who take speakers in very good to excellent condition, such as classic Infinitys as an example, and part them out because they know that owners with crapped out speakers will pay silly money for working spare parts. There are also a couple of notorious sellers on Ebay who buy up Infinity speakers from deceased estates, distressed sales, auction houses etc and build frankin' speakers for profit. Each to their own, but I can't stand those unscrupulous practices.
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I don't like the idea of stripping away items like that, but when the parts become scarce it's inevitable that someone will decide to do it.
 
Bodhi1 said:
What I don't like are sellers who take speakers in very good to excellent condition, such as classic Infinitys as an example, and part them out because they know that owners with crapped out speakers will pay silly money for working spare parts. There are also a couple of notorious sellers on Ebay who buy up Infinity speakers from deceased estates, distressed sales, auction houses etc and build frankin' speakers for profit. Each to their own, but I can't stand those unscrupulous practices.
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I see nothing unscrupulous about running what is in effect a speaker junkyard. Nor in using available used parts to build commercial speakers. Think of it like car parts.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I see nothing unscrupulous about running what is in effect a speaker junkyard. Nor in using available used parts to build commercial speakers. Think of it like car parts.
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It's crapping on Infinity's heritage. And when I see High Energy emits being sold for as much as the original speakers, yeah that is uncool. That is price gouging. And have you seen some of those frankin' speakers. I mean we're talking ceyote ugly. Yeah I get it. Frankistein the monster deserves equal time (did I get his pronoun right?). But as an Infinity lover, it just pisses me off.

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There are people looking for parts, and people selling parts. No different than cars, cameras, bicycles, etc. I doubt anyone is getting rich on speaker parts, either. I bought a pair of Frazier woofers on cl years ago, they'd been stripped out of water damaged cabinets. Seller was happy to get something out of salvage, I was overjoyed to get those uncommon parts. Better than the landfill. Capitalism.
 
Is a 1988 Yugo GV still relevant? Depends on if it still runs and who you're asking. The same applies to audio speakers and anything else. A more interesting question would be "would you replace the speakers in your newish (produced within the last 5 years) system with some that were made 30 years ago"? But that question really isn't relevant to those who've never owned a system that new.
 
One of these days I plan to update the Scanspeak tweeters in my Dahlquists with modern Hiquphon ones. Modern tweet with 1980s speakers. Its a popular mod. I suspect you would have to spend 10x on something modern to compete with the $700 total Ill have sunk into them.
 
jayvis said:
Is a 1988 Yugo GV still relevant? Depends on if it still runs and who you're asking. The same applies to audio speakers and anything else. A more interesting question would be "would you replace the speakers in your newish (produced within the last 5 years) system with some that were made 30 years ago"? But that question really isn't relevant to those who've never owned a system that new.
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Yugos are now collectible. I remember when they came out in the U.S. they were free with purchase of a Cadillac.
 
@jayvis
"would you replace the speakers in your newish (produced within the last 5 years) system with some that were made 30 years ago"?

Without hesitation. I have an excellent pair of Jamo C-103's purchased new about 6yrs ago, they play second fiddle to my 35yr old Infinity Modulus.
 
Bodhi1 said:
What I don't like are sellers who take speakers in very good to excellent condition, such as classic Infinitys as an example, and part them out because they know that owners with crapped out speakers will pay silly money for working spare parts. There are also a couple of notorious sellers on Ebay who buy up Infinity speakers from deceased estates, distressed sales, auction houses etc and build frankin' speakers for profit. Each to their own, but I can't stand those unscrupulous practices.
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I understand that it can be unsettling to see what you think is the demise of a product you're passionate about, but I think it could be a lesser evil than having them end up in a landfill, and be absolutely wasted forever if someone didn't salvage the parts. Good used speakers selling for dirt cheap are pretty common in our area...the supply of quality vintage speakers seems to outpace the interest level. Audio buffs just can't hoard all of them (but we try!) , and non-audio buffs happily settle for a new sound bar under their TV. :rolleyes:
 
knotscott said:
I understand that it can be unsettling to see what you think is the demise of a product you're passionate about, but I think it could be a lesser evil than having them end up in a landfill, and be absolutely wasted forever if someone didn't salvage the parts. Good used speakers selling for dirt cheap are pretty common in our area...the supply of quality vintage speakers seems to outpace the interest level. Audio buffs just can't hoard all of them (but we try!) , and non-audio buffs happily settle for a new sound bar under their TV. :rolleyes:
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I'll just never understand how they manage to keep old Altec Lancing theatre speakers original, but classic Infinitys end up in a alphabet soup of miserable parts, speaker carcusses and 'frankin' speakers after Infinity Systems spent 3 decades at the top :dunno:
 
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jayvis said:
... A more interesting question would be "would you replace the speakers in your newish (produced within the last 5 years) system with some that were made 30 years ago"?
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It would take something pretty special in a new speaker to hold my interest and get me to part with my 30 year old speakers even if there was no cost to me.

Cutting edge speaker technology has evolved, but so has corporate profit philosophies....very little of what's technically possible in a modern speaker actually ends up in most "profit box" big name speakers. Whatever is cheaper to manufacture is what is usually used, as long as they can market it. I amazed at the amount crap that's inside even modern high dollar speakers. Cutting edge technology from 30 years ago can still be extremely impressive. It often costs a small fortune to get the benefit that modern technology today.
 
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