JBL PARAGON ACTUAL VALUE .....

boatdrinks77

Well-Known Member
Hi guys, My brother has gotten obsessed with the JBL Paragon / Metregon --- to the point of ordering plans for the Metregon so he can build one.

Question --- what is the real value of these silly things ?? I few years ago, I would see them advertised on the bay for $5k, then $8k, then $10k, then $12k ....... now they're asking $30-$50k. Of course I NEVER see them sell.


Does anyone know of anybody who has bought one of these Speakers ??? If so, how much did they pay for it?

I always find it funny when people want waaaay too much for their audio gear ---

One guy had an Advent Noise reduction unit listed on craigslist for honest to God a couple of years -- he kept relisting it wanting some outrageous price...... I wrote him once in a lighthearted way offering him $10 if he'd just delete the ad... haha

Then another guy had 4 sealed Maxell XLI tapes - He started out at $60 for all 4 or $20ea. --- I emailed him and told him they are at the thrift stores quite frequently for 50 cents ea.... I even took some pics when I was at the thrift store and sent it to him. He ignored me. Months later he lowered the price to $40 , then $30, etc.... I think he finally got down to $4 for all 4 after literally a year of listing them. I don't know if he ever sold them. lol

Anyway I was just curious about the JBL's Dan :music:
 
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The price of them is what someone is willing to pay, but also depends on the condition and what other similar units are for sale at the time. It just goes back to the old supply and demand thing. In this case, the supply is low and there (obviously) must be some demand for them. Kind of like looking for a Model T that someone has had in their garage for the last 90-100 years or so (or when ever they started building them).
 
I'd say around $15K-20K, based upon my review of many listings over many years (and see my note below on this point), but I can't attest to the actual sale prices.
 
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A home brew Paragon and home brew Metregon sold at an estate in town two months ago for just under 5k. The Real Paragon in town at auction is at 8k, with two bids already in hand, and it goes live on Thursday.

The previous live auction real Paragon, five years ago, went for 5.5k.
 
A home brew Paragon and home brew Metregon sold at an estate in town two months ago for just under 5k. The Real Paragon in town at auction is at 8k, with two bids already in hand, and it goes live on Thursday.

The previous live auction real Paragon, five years ago, went for 5.5k.

Home Brew ?? Does that mean someone built it ?
 
I'm happy to see this thread, I too have watched so many things that interest me be re-listed ad-nauseum. I stop watching the re-list after a couple of months and lose interest so even if they do sell (and the selling price isn't disclosed anyway) I am not aware of it.

Is the zipper pull from Janis Joplin's Woodstock performance pants really worth $20k? Just because it has been re-listed on the auction site for that 50 times?

Sometimes you list something long enough and a collector from Singapore will buy it. I don't however feel that this means that the value of all zippers from Woodstock are therefore worth $20k.

Same with a Paragon. If I had to sell it out here in the "midwest" it wouldn't be worth much unless I'm willing to ship/deliver. On the San Francisco coast it might be worth 10x what it is here.

I know people who can buy companies and sports teams, and if they want to spend 7 figures for a car, they can (and do). If one of them wants a perfect original Paragon and I happen to have one, ... I might just set a record. If not, ... it's a plant stand around here.

The simple rule with auctions is that you need two people ready, willing, and able to bid each other up to get a high price. With a price/best offer you might get away with one person who just wants it. Most of these prices I see on evilbay are just fishing expeditions IMO, looking for that big fish.
 
Home Brew ?? Does that mean someone built it ?

Based on plans published by JBL, any good carpenter is supposed to be able to build it.

As for the high listing price, and not seeing anyone buying it - in some cases, the buyer will counter offer at some price, the seller agrees, and the listing or ad disappears. Who knows what is negotiated??
 
Well, technically, someone built each and every one of them...but yes, this implies a non-factory replica. Possibly by a good woodworker, or a pro furniture/cabinet maker as a custom job.
 
$15k-20k from what I understand.

Location on these is irrelevant, unless it's Alaska/Hawaii. Any serious buyer will be fine with having a shipping company pick it up.
 
The first price driver is provenance. If it is not a factory built, 5k to 6k is tops in most of the Midwest.

The second price driver is condition and originality. A fabulous condition original with virgin 150-4 woofers and humpback 375s, and all paperwork, in rosewood, will hit 30k. Lesser examples will fetch lesser amounts. I have seen dogs that couldn’t get 2k.

Being original factory, this one should get 18 to 22k.
 
this is what I'm saying..... people asking $15 -$20K means absolutely nothing if NO ONE ever pays that much for one.

Of course your statement is literally true, but it's based upon a big IF.

And IF, as I have, you've seen those prices on eBay and other sites consistently for several years running, it is at least strong circumstantial evidence that the sellers are setting the prices based upon their own reviews of past completed auctions and/or other sales, which do in fact tend to show market value.

I highly doubt that so many sellers, across so many auctions and for such a long time, all are pulling their asking prices out of thin air, and just coincidentally seem to be setting similar prices.
 
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Here is a repro that looks well constructed that is local to me. Guy has been trying to sell it for ages. Woofers not JBL. From older listings I seem to recall that tweeters were JBL, but now it says Pyle so maybe he cashed out the tweeters. I once got some info from other local guys and seem to recall that this was a piece the seller inherited.

I can be commissioned (real, real cheap, like literally free) to go check on this one and take pictures for your brother. ;)
 
Here is a repro that looks well constructed that is local to me. Guy has been trying to sell it for ages. Woofers not JBL. From older listings I seem to recall that tweeters were JBL, but now it says Pyle so maybe he cashed out the tweeters. I once got some info from other local guys and seem to recall that this was a piece the seller inherited.

I can be commissioned (real, real cheap, like literally free) to go check on this one and take pictures for your brother. ;)


Thanks for the offer !!!! My brother is a master craftsman woodworker ---- He received the blueprints for the Metregon and is gonna start his new project soon...... He said he will take pics along the way and post them here on AK.
 
Interesting that an auction company is selling it at a stated price, not at auction. Even more interesting is that price has been dropped almost $3K.

Chip
 
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