I have only given away or scrapped my DIY speakers. I have tended to take the view that if the drivers are current then the speaker might be worth about half the driver costs since this is around what another speaker DIYer might pay if you can still find one in the UK. If the drivers are not current then a DIY speaker has little value because who would want to buy it? If you ask say £50 for a pair of floorstanding speakers then you may find someone local strongly constrained by budget but wanting decent speakers and willing to take a risk. If you raise the price more then you will be competing with branded speakers. You may get lucky and so it might be worth a go if you are not in a hurry.
I should stress that I'm not looking to make any money on these speakers; after more than twelve years of enjoying listening to them, I don't even feel it's even necessarily right to expect anyone else to pay for them. And I do understand that the aesthetics are very much a matter of taste - I appreciate the kind words from one or two quarters, and I can see equally why others would not want to give them house room.
I am coming around to thinking that I have two realistic options: (a) offer to give the speakers away free of charge to anyone who wants to take them; or (b) trash the cabinets and sell the drivers.
Alex
I am coming around to thinking that I have two realistic options: (a) offer to give the speakers away free of charge to anyone who wants to take them; or (b) trash the cabinets and sell the drivers.
Alex
Here in the US, we have second-hand stores that take donations and use their profits to help the community. Goodwill and Salvation Army are large organizations, but there are local charities that run outlets to help the needy, fund missions to third world countries, etc.
If you haven't had any luck selling, donate them.
If you haven't had any luck selling, donate them.
I like to recycle unwanted items through charity shops (in the case of my record collection, it's more of a continuous loop), but these are large, tri-wired speakers with external crossovers. A bit specialist for the Salvation Army or Cancer Research, methinks.
Alex
My first speaker build took me around 400 hours spread over 8 months, then another 4 months spent listening and refining the result. That's 8 months holding a vision in my head every minute spent in the workshop. I would like to think the result looks and sounds unique, and I think that in itself is worth something. So I'm darned if I'm going to give away my creativity for nothing. This one, for now, is a keeper until my next build is finished.
Truth is, there are lot of folks out there with taste and money who complain that there is nothing special to spend money on, and believe me, they look and look. A well constructed box that sounds good doesn't really cut it. If you want to sell speakers, then sell them to women, who in my experience have a far better understanding of how to live with audio.
Like motor cars, most loudspeakers (if we are really honest) are just plain ugly to look at. Being cute is not necessarily enduringly beautiful.
Truth is, there are lot of folks out there with taste and money who complain that there is nothing special to spend money on, and believe me, they look and look. A well constructed box that sounds good doesn't really cut it. If you want to sell speakers, then sell them to women, who in my experience have a far better understanding of how to live with audio.
Like motor cars, most loudspeakers (if we are really honest) are just plain ugly to look at. Being cute is not necessarily enduringly beautiful.
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Just like "location, location, location" in real estate. I guarantee they'd sell, and pretty quickly.
But after looking up your ad & links to the pics, it would be a sincere shame to risk them not going to someone who appreciates them. If there are no family or friends that would be good candidates, I'd be inclined to part them out.
I read your ad but completely missed the picture links. You might consider embedding some pictures in the post for those who don’t scan the text closely.
Also bumping every few days seems to be an acceptable practice so don’t give up on your ad just yet. Your price is right, and the speakers look great. I would be sorely tempted myself but I’m currently in the middle of two big and spendy projects.
Also bumping every few days seems to be an acceptable practice so don’t give up on your ad just yet. Your price is right, and the speakers look great. I would be sorely tempted myself but I’m currently in the middle of two big and spendy projects.
I guarantee they'd sell, and pretty quickly.
But after looking up your ad & links to the pics, it would be a sincere shame to risk them not going to someone who appreciates them. If there are no family or friends that would be good candidates, I'd be inclined to part them out.
It blows my mind how true this is. For instance, when I lived near Seattle, I could unload just about any speaker item. I sold a Kef subwoofer and quite a few drivers from Parts Express.
For damn near a year I've been trying to sell some drivers that I have in my garage, and it's just been crickets now that I live in San Diego. The people in San Diego just seem to have zero interest in DIY speakers.
Is any of this an affect from the Speakerlab days?
(I bought some JBL 2420’s for my PA in Seattle in spring of 1980.)
If you just want to sell your occasional random creation, you'll be hard pressed. The people who have good luck selling their DIY speakers have a decent internet presence, posting multiple builds on forums, Facebook and even their own websites along with valuable information about the speakers and audio in general, establishing trust between the seller and buyer. There's more to it than just sounding good. If your buyer isn't comfortable that you've built a product that will last and be supported if there are problems, you will have a hard time selling them no matter how good they sound.
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