Market value of classic Allison One towers

[rnathans00]

I have a pair of classic Allison Ones, still working great (I'm listening to them now), and almost all original. But it's just one of myriad speaker sets I've got - a pair of Allison CD-6 and a pair of Allison CD-7, Celestion 100 and E 0.5 pairs, Martin Logan Encore TF (back) and Snell CLS (center), and a recently acquired Outlaw BLS pair. That's just too much.

Due to some remodeling, the Allison Ones don't really fit any longer. (The CD-6 makes a dandy surround, even better than the CD-7, which sits too low, so those I'll be keeping.) What's a nice pair of Ones fetching these days? Except for some roughness on the top veneer, the wood is still nice, the grills almost flawless. One woofer in each is the 10" offered by Allison Acoustics in Lexington, so is a bit more efficient than the original; the other woofer is the original, recently rebuilt. I've yet to see them available here or through Audiogon (though I recently saw a pair of the revised Four), and rarely on eBay.

[JKent]

A former CSP member wrote to me:

"I have had 5 pair still have one left. All four sets sold for $1100 to $1280 with original packing."

YMMV

Kent

[Martin]

Thanks for posting that pricing info, Kent. That's enough incentive for me to dust off my beloved Allison Ones & put them up for sale.

[rnathans00]

Oh, I wish I could have gotten that kind of money for mine. I didn't have original packaging, and after several weeks posted on both Audiogon and Craigslist, I drew interest from only one local party. I was already interested in some lightly used Revel M22 stand-mounts and didn't want to lose out. So I sold the Ones for far less than suggested above, but I got the Revels at a good price.

I still have a pair of CD-7s, which I'll either sell or pass on to a sibling. But I'm keeping my CD-6 cubes.

[Jeff_C]

I have a thing about original packaging boosting the price. You cannot listen to the packaging. Even as a museum exhibit there is limited benefit having the packaging next to the loudspeaker. I just do not get it. It's only purpose is to ensure a better price when these items are moved on. It is weird.

Can anyone explain why you would be prepared to pay more for speakers that in all other respects are pretty much identical in terms of condition, but one set comes with the original packaging. I would love to know.

I hope you got all the original packaging that came with the Revel M22s. The outer box is huge, and the two inner cartons are big enough for such small speakers. I bought some brand new Oct 2013.

[JKent]

Can anyone explain why you would be prepared to pay more for speakers that in all other respects are pretty much identical in terms of condition, but one set comes with the original packaging. I would love to know.

Jeff,

In general I agree. But here's one advantage to original packaging: It was designed for that item and therefore the product will be less likely to be destroyed in transit.

I've purchased vintage electronics that were damaged in shipment because of poor packing and I'll admit that a KLH Model Five speaker (similar in size/weight to the AR-3) that I packed myself was damaged in shipment.

My local technician told me he is considering imposing a $50 surcharge on any equipment sent to him that is placed in a box with Styrofoam packing peanuts. Things shift and get damaged.

Kent