Should I buy these Allison Fours?

[ge0geo]

Hi,

The seller is asking $400 for these Allison Fours. They appear to be in good condition, but I have read that all Allisons need to be refoamed. I know little about refoaming, but I imagine it is either expensive or difficult, and so I am wondering if $400 is a fair price. Is it possible that the foam has not rotted on speakers this old?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bodegabandit]

They may have been replaced already.

 

[RichPA]

Moved to the appropriate forum for value questions.

 

[aidynphoenix]

can you listen or inspect them first??
it might be a gamble getting them shipped, always the risk they were played with bad surrounds..

 

[ge0geo]

can you listen or inspect them first??
it might be a gamble getting them shipped, always the risk they were played with bad surrounds..

I will be able to inspect them first. Is there an easy way to check the condition of the foam?

Any tips on what to look/listen for when checking out these particular speakers?

 

[onepixel]

I will be able to inspect them first. Is there an easy way to check the condition of the foam?

Any tips on what to look/listen for when checking out these particular speakers?

Alison 4s are great sounding speakers. But I think the asking price is a bit high.

To check the foam, you will need to lift the somewhat fragile plastic grill on top. It will just come off, no fasteners. Because of the upward facing bass design the thing collects dust like crazy. The foam should be soft and pliable, if you push it, it should spring back. If it's original it will definitely need to be refoamed.

Be careful with the wires on the tweeters, they are extremely fragile.

 

[wizargoz]

High price- and make sure you listen to the tweets. Had a pair and that plastic tweet bubble and the open wire combo were weak. If I pressed against the round enclosure a bit they would sing, but unpressed they changed their tune!

 

[Nat]

$400 for a pair of 1s, maybe. For 4s, not for me. Sure they are nice speakers, but you can buy a pair of DQ 10s for that price, and maybe for half that price. And that's not counting lucky tag sale 20 finds.

 

[ge0geo]

Thanks, all. Nat, I am really looking for something bookshelf-sized, as I would annoy my neighbors with anything bigger. DQ 10s do look amazing though!

It seems like everyone thinks $400 is too much to pay for the pair.

 

[Nat]

I was just using the DQ 10s as an illustrative example -- for 400 bucks, there are a lot of really excellent full range or almost full range options. The Allison's near wall placement fill out the bass, but they are still limited in their depth.