SDA1(C?): to buy or not to buy

On3s&Z3r0s

In the Seattle area, a pair of SDA 1's (pretty sure they're C's but seller doesn't specify has just popped up for $600.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/ele/1728516822.html

I realize that's a bit high, but I haven't seen many of these pop up in this neck of the woods. Is it worth the purchase if they are in good shape?

TIA for the input!

heiney9

Not really that high of a price. Remember local pick up is worth a few extra dollars. Offer $525 and meet in the middle at $550. Go for it, if they are in nice shape and all drive function.

1C's are much nicer than earlier models, IMO

Vette C6.r

Def. 1C's.

Looks like he needs quick cash. Go lower.

hearingimpared

Yes sir those 1Cs are fantastic. H9 has the right idea.

On3s&Z3r0s

Great, thanks much for the feedback! Got an email into the seller. I'll update on what comes of it.

nooshinjohn

Great speaker. Good luck with the purchase.

ben62670

Again not a bad price if they can be picked up.
Ben

dpowell

I love my 1C's. I agree with the others that they are overpriced so see what you can negotiate. Keep us posted!

BuckeyeTim

I recently purchased a pair of 1c's from a fellow CP member. They have the new tweeters and crossovers that were rebuilt by Ben. I am thinking more like offering in the $400 range and going as high as 5. You can always increase your offer, but can never reduce it. I say, make an appointment to see them in person and have cash in pocket. If he is in need of money...cash in front of you now is better than hopefully getting 50 bucks more later.

If you hang around here you will then no doubt have another $400 in upgrades in the near future. It is a very slippery slope once you experience SDA.

I think I will be buried with mine.

heiney9

Picking up a local pair that you can see and hear is a luxury so don't haggle too much over the price and then walk away when you can't get them dirt cheap. It's worth a premium for sure, but BuckeyeTim is correct, put your negotiating hat on if you are good at that sort of thing. Cold hard cash wins everytime

H9

Toolfan66

I only paid $250 for mine in mint condition with the origainal box's, but I just got real lucky to say the least. they are worth the asking price but I am sure you can trim that down by $100/$150

Good Luck keep us posted,


Larry.

cnh

Have to agree with Brock there....that's how I picked up a couple of things on audiogon: showed up, listened, had CASH...it works!

cnh

heiney9

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

I only paid $250 for mine in mint condition with the origainal box's, but I just got real lucky to say the least. they are worth the asking price but I am sure you can trim that down by $100/$150

Good Luck keep us posted,


Larry.

Yeah, but those deals are few and far between and pretty unrealistic for most. I picked my 1C's up at a local gathering over two years ago for $500 w/RD0's and Sonicaps and I wasn't even in the market for a pair. I "fell" into them and promptly sold my LSi 9's after hauling the 1C's back home. The CP member even took a check because obviously I didn;t have that kind of cash on me. Best purchase I have made.

The OP has to balance how much he wants them vs. when another pair will come along. Always negotiate a better price but decide before hand if you really want them or are willing to walk away for $50-100. Local pickup is the only way I'd buy speakers and it's worth a premium to me.

H9

hearingimpared

heiney9 wrote: »

Yeah, but those deals are few and far between and pretty unrealistic for most. I picked my 1C's up at a local gathering over two years ago for $500 w/RD0's and Sonicaps and I wasn't even in the market for a pair. I "fell" into them and promptly sold my LSi 9's after hauling the 1C's back home. The CP member even took a check because obviously I didn;t have that kind of cash on me. Best purchase I have made.

The OP has to balance how much he wants them vs. when another pair will come along. Always negotiate a better price but decide before hand if you really want them or are willing to walk away for $50-100. Local pickup is the only way I'd buy speakers and it's worth a premium to me.

H9

I had won a pair of mint SDA/SRS 1.2TLs, with 50 hours on them, on ebay for $1500. I had to drive from Philly to Medford MA 340 miles with $1500 in cash on me. I was taking no chances. When I got there they were even better than I advertised, they looked brand spanking new and came with an AI-1 cable with the original receipt and all the paper work. There was no way I going to try to haggle with the seller regardless of the fact that it was an ebay auction.

It's doesn't always have to be "local" pickup" but pickup and SDAs go hand in hand and a must IMHO unless you know the seller.

On3s&Z3r0s

Thanks, guys. I definitely appreciate all the input. Haven't heard anything back from the seller yet after my email a day and a half ago. I'd think a motivated seller would have contacted by now. I didn't lowball him in the email or anything so doubt I offended him... guess it's possible someone else got to them first. But the ad's still up so I'll drop another email from a different account just to make sure the first one didn't go to a spam folder.

I'll definitely save my haggling hat for if I get to take a look and a listen and get a read on competing interest, etc. I wish I had been in the market a year ago when a pair of amazingly rebuilt 1C's sat available for 4+ months for just over $600. (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79106). What a phenomenal deal that would have been.

DaveHo

IMHO, do your price negotiation before going to the seller's house. When I sell stuff locally, I try very hard to weed out time wasters & tire kickers. If I am making arrangements to meet you or allow you to audition the equipment, it's because I am 99.9% sure you are going to complete the transaction as agreed upon. Someone who shows up & wants to re-negotiate the price gets told to take a hike.

-Dave

Fongolio

On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »

I wish I had been in the market a year ago when a pair of amazingly rebuilt 1C's sat available for 4+ months for just over $600. (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79106). What a phenomenal deal that would have been.

I remember that..........because I eventually bought them!!! And yes, they are amazing, and yes, the price was $625. Originally listed in February and sold to me in July.

Kelvin

On3s&Z3r0s

DaveHo wrote: »

IMHO, do your price negotiation before going to the seller's house. When I sell stuff locally, I try very hard to weed out time wasters & tire kickers. If I am making arrangements to meet you or allow you to audition the equipment, it's because I am 99.9% sure you are going to complete the transaction as agreed upon. Someone who shows up & wants to re-negotiate the price gets told to take a hike.

-Dave

I agree, and that's my normal MO. If I feel like I have a good reason to ask someone to reduce the price I lay it out up front before taking too much of their time. It's hard to know with CL pics and posts, though. I've gone to see "mint" speakers with water damage that didn't show up in the pics where the MDF was actually crumbling away on the bottom of the cabinets or grille cloth stained by and reeking of cat urine. I the latter case I bought the speaks (redid the grilles obviously), but I definitely called an audible on what I was willing to pay for them after seeing them in person.

Anyway, it's all academic in this case. I sent two brief emails just expressing interest with a contact phone number, no response after four days (from the first), and the ad's still up. Jeez, I hate craigslist. Sorry for venting on the forum.

On3s&Z3r0s

Fongolio wrote: »

I remember that..........because I eventually bought them!!! And yes, they are amazing, and yes, the price was $625. Originally listed in February and sold to me in July.

Kelvin

You're a lucky man, Kelvin. But looking at the rest of your rig, you're getting more out of them than I would be at this point anyway, so it's appropriate that the fates decided that you were the more worthy.

vlam

I guess it's all dependent in your market but I would offer the seller $500 and no more. Lots of people overprice items on CL thinking that they will get lowball. IMHO, SDA 1C with original parts is worth $500 top (at least that's all I would ever be willing to pay for).

Hypnotoad

As far as cost goes it depends on the condition.

You may for example see a pair for $250.00, but they may have some blown drivers or a frozen woofer or two, the cabinets might be scratched up and have some tears in the grill.

Then you may see a pair in the original boxes, that look like they just came out of the factory and work perfectly. The owner has obviously looked after them. To me they are worth double what the other pair is worth.

Because you don't have to spend money on repairs on something that has been mistreated and may have more problems in the near future.

That's my 2 cents worth.

dpowell

Once you hear them, you'll be so blown away that an extra $50 or so will seem like nothing.

On3s&Z3r0s

I woulda been happy to pay full price, but even though I mailed the guy literally hours (less than 4) after the post went up someone else must have beat me to them. I never heard back. Meanwhile a nice looking pair of 1B's just sold on Ebay for local pickup in Tucson, AZ for $187.50.

I must have been a real a__hole in a former life.