Really good stuff- JBL SRX, RCF, QSC will hold its value decently, but the used market is a volatile place. For example, JBL raising prices quite fast the past few years and the extreme shipping delays, I’ve seen JBL SRX sell for more than the original purchase price, but I’ve also sold those boxes used for substantially less than purchase.
There has been a huge market disruption over the last two years where Professional used equipment is either super expensive or not available due to people holding on to their gear as manufacturers struggle to make sufficient quantity of new gear.
On the other hand everyone blew out their beat up UPAs for fire sale prices when the X40 came out but those deals seem to be gone now.
It’s funny that you consider these brands really good. I consider them mid level consumer grade. Really good brands are d&b, L’Acoustics, Meyer and Adamson. THOSE brands really hold up there value
I keep getting downvoted to oblivion on this sub for calling JBL prosumer grade so lately I’ve been calling it good.
But in the context of OPs post, the good stuff on there is SRX and QSC.
L’Acoustics, Meyer, D&B i feel like I rarely see for sale used anyways. If my clients can afford that stuff, we buy it new, and I don’t want to sell it at any point. Happy to sell my JBL inventory though…
Many musicians and audio fans did not go through the decline of JBL - and they invested in the brand myth.
JBL had some good products and some questionable products. Then they were surpassed by Altec and urei in the studio - outside of maybe their 4311b monitors.
I’ve never really liked the sound of JBL speakers. Not quite sure why.
On the other hand old speakers deteriorate and rot eventually.
They’ve got a weird thing in the horns. Every time I tune a JBL rig I have to really get in deep to smooth the horns out.
JBL used to be a very premium brand, but imo they rested on that and then got crushed by manufacturers who embraced DSP and got a 10 year head start figuring out how to make the DSP-AMP-CABINET work as an incredible system.
Plus audio architect has probably taken years off my life.
It’s something you can definitely sell used and still get some money. But it’s not an “asset” that becomes more valuable or even keeps its value rather good. So take reselling into account when budgeting for new stuff but don’t expect to get the most of your investment back.
Try to look at it from the buyers perspective when thinking about pricing, what would you pay and why?
From my experience, while there are still big differences, speakers “evolve” slowly and don’t become useless when one or 2 generations behind (think of phones or even more so computers, if you can’t get updates anymore or software you’d like to use doesn’t run smooth you probably won’t pay even a very reduced price apart from special cases). Some old speakers still sound great and work very well for the intended purpose so as a buyer, if you get a good deal, you can save a bit of money and still achieve what you try to do, you’d probably pay still a significant price as long as it is cheaper than the new option.
But then, speakers are tools, they have to be maintained and reliability is a big point in our business and also the actual speaker can degrade over time and if eg active speakers are handled poorly there are some risks involved so, as a buyer, you want to save enough money that buying used is still cheaper than buying new even if some maintenance is required (cost of spare parts + effort to acquire and installing them).
So there is definitely a market for used speakers and it makes sense to sell them, especially if you used them long enough to make the money back your resale price is basically bonus money. For the buyer it may also a good option in some cases since he can not only save money but also maybe buy more or better stuff than he could afford new, speaker development is slow enough that he can still get good results from older gear etc and that is reflected in the price they are willing to pay but also there is some risk involved (degradation of some parts, no manufacturer/seller warranty depending on the local laws that apply to you, probably additional maintenance), some of them grow with age so that also reflects in the price.
Two things 1) I was given a pair of vintage JBL passive speakers that turned out to be collectors items, so possibly
2) whenever my powered speakers make me money, they are paying off the debt they owe me. If I sell after they’ve earned me more than I paid, I consider it a total win even if I sell low.
Also, generally the higher quality the better the resale value is compared to the new price. It is very important if eg spare parts are still available and easy to get and maybe presets for amps/controllers are updated and available for newer “system amps” by the same manufacturer.
The chances for good support and long time supply of spare parts are generally speaking higher with established manufacturers and make buying used more viable for potential buyers which allows you to ask higher prices
Good speakers hold their value fairly well over time, but now of your examples are in that category.
If you buy Meyer, d&b, L-Acoustics and a few others, they will still be worth a decent chunk of money 10-15 and maybe even 20 years from now. Your examples will not.
Well a speaker is a transducer.
A lightbulb is also a transducer.
Does a lightbulb hold its value over time?
(Yes, I know it’s technically called a lamp but we’re audio people).
It’s simplistic but light bulb filaments wear out.
So do voice coils and surrounds eventually.
Yes, you can replace the surround but when you look at the labor cost and what you might be saving in cabinet and magnet cost it’s debatable whether the costs work in your favor. I can’t think of many speakers that I’ve seen wear out naturally that had cabinets in good enough condition still I wanted to keep. Maybe if they’re decorative or architectural I suppose but that doesn’t really appreciate in value either.
Really good stuff- JBL SRX, RCF, QSC will hold its value decently, but the used market is a volatile place. For example, JBL raising prices quite fast the past few years and the extreme shipping delays, I’ve seen JBL SRX sell for more than the original purchase price, but I’ve also sold those boxes used for substantially less than purchase.
There has been a huge market disruption over the last two years where Professional used equipment is either super expensive or not available due to people holding on to their gear as manufacturers struggle to make sufficient quantity of new gear. On the other hand everyone blew out their beat up UPAs for fire sale prices when the X40 came out but those deals seem to be gone now.
It’s funny that you consider these brands really good. I consider them mid level consumer grade. Really good brands are d&b, L’Acoustics, Meyer and Adamson. THOSE brands really hold up there value
I keep getting downvoted to oblivion on this sub for calling JBL prosumer grade so lately I’ve been calling it good. But in the context of OPs post, the good stuff on there is SRX and QSC. L’Acoustics, Meyer, D&B i feel like I rarely see for sale used anyways. If my clients can afford that stuff, we buy it new, and I don’t want to sell it at any point. Happy to sell my JBL inventory though…
Many musicians and audio fans did not go through the decline of JBL - and they invested in the brand myth. JBL had some good products and some questionable products. Then they were surpassed by Altec and urei in the studio - outside of maybe their 4311b monitors. I’ve never really liked the sound of JBL speakers. Not quite sure why. On the other hand old speakers deteriorate and rot eventually.
They’ve got a weird thing in the horns. Every time I tune a JBL rig I have to really get in deep to smooth the horns out. JBL used to be a very premium brand, but imo they rested on that and then got crushed by manufacturers who embraced DSP and got a 10 year head start figuring out how to make the DSP-AMP-CABINET work as an incredible system. Plus audio architect has probably taken years off my life.
[удалено]
Getting 70-80% after getting some good use out of them would seem good to me.
For a couple of years probably yes, for 5+ with these mid-level type brands might be well outdated.
I sold my Nexo rig for the same price I paid 4 years prior.
It’s something you can definitely sell used and still get some money. But it’s not an “asset” that becomes more valuable or even keeps its value rather good. So take reselling into account when budgeting for new stuff but don’t expect to get the most of your investment back. Try to look at it from the buyers perspective when thinking about pricing, what would you pay and why? From my experience, while there are still big differences, speakers “evolve” slowly and don’t become useless when one or 2 generations behind (think of phones or even more so computers, if you can’t get updates anymore or software you’d like to use doesn’t run smooth you probably won’t pay even a very reduced price apart from special cases). Some old speakers still sound great and work very well for the intended purpose so as a buyer, if you get a good deal, you can save a bit of money and still achieve what you try to do, you’d probably pay still a significant price as long as it is cheaper than the new option. But then, speakers are tools, they have to be maintained and reliability is a big point in our business and also the actual speaker can degrade over time and if eg active speakers are handled poorly there are some risks involved so, as a buyer, you want to save enough money that buying used is still cheaper than buying new even if some maintenance is required (cost of spare parts + effort to acquire and installing them). So there is definitely a market for used speakers and it makes sense to sell them, especially if you used them long enough to make the money back your resale price is basically bonus money. For the buyer it may also a good option in some cases since he can not only save money but also maybe buy more or better stuff than he could afford new, speaker development is slow enough that he can still get good results from older gear etc and that is reflected in the price they are willing to pay but also there is some risk involved (degradation of some parts, no manufacturer/seller warranty depending on the local laws that apply to you, probably additional maintenance), some of them grow with age so that also reflects in the price.
Two things 1) I was given a pair of vintage JBL passive speakers that turned out to be collectors items, so possibly 2) whenever my powered speakers make me money, they are paying off the debt they owe me. If I sell after they’ve earned me more than I paid, I consider it a total win even if I sell low.
Also, generally the higher quality the better the resale value is compared to the new price. It is very important if eg spare parts are still available and easy to get and maybe presets for amps/controllers are updated and available for newer “system amps” by the same manufacturer. The chances for good support and long time supply of spare parts are generally speaking higher with established manufacturers and make buying used more viable for potential buyers which allows you to ask higher prices
Great insight. Thanks.
Good speakers hold their value fairly well over time, but now of your examples are in that category. If you buy Meyer, d&b, L-Acoustics and a few others, they will still be worth a decent chunk of money 10-15 and maybe even 20 years from now. Your examples will not.
Well a speaker is a transducer. A lightbulb is also a transducer. Does a lightbulb hold its value over time? (Yes, I know it’s technically called a lamp but we’re audio people).
i feel like this is a pretty poor explanation of it. i dong have a better one tho
It’s simplistic but light bulb filaments wear out. So do voice coils and surrounds eventually. Yes, you can replace the surround but when you look at the labor cost and what you might be saving in cabinet and magnet cost it’s debatable whether the costs work in your favor. I can’t think of many speakers that I’ve seen wear out naturally that had cabinets in good enough condition still I wanted to keep. Maybe if they’re decorative or architectural I suppose but that doesn’t really appreciate in value either.