What would you Do? Speaker purchase advice needed.

[bryans12v]

Hello gang, I need help as my head is spinning.

A friend of a friend has some speakers he is considering selling to me that, at one point, were very high end speakers. German Physiks Borderlands.





Apparently these are still considered state of the art with the DDD driver that they still produce on the current MKIV's. Supposedly they retailed for like 20k.

Problems is, in being told that they are not working and one of the titanium DDD driver has a dent. I'm sure I can work the dent out with large magnet balls the way dented tubas, trumpets etc are restored.

I can get these for 600. I've been in touch with a rep at German Physiks and they say they may be able to be repaired. At worst drivers would need to be replaced. Haven't gotten a price on those yet though. I need to decide on these by Thursday morning.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WmartinB]

These were posted on CL a while ago, I thought about buying them but I believe they are the first gen which (I think i read?) were greatly improved upon in later gens so I passed.

Also, they ugly.

$600 is a pretty good price to try em out though -

 

[bshorey]

I'd be all over those for $600. But then again I'm a sucker for Walsh drivers.

Not sure how thick those titanium cones are, but titanium is a bear to work with. The dent probably won't affect the sound too much, so if you wan't work it out then just try it and see how it sounds. Also, I don't know what German Physics might have done with their drivers, but the original Ohm F's had some damping material on the inside of the cone, so if GP did something similar then it won't be so easy to push from the backside of the cone.

I'll wager replacement drivers aren't cheap. I'd gamble the $600, and then cross my fingers and hope it's a fuse or a loose connection. If the driver is simply not working, then maybe it's the wires going to the voice coil.

bs

 

[Descartridge]

I did listen to a pair a year ago (version unknown). They were the most lifelike, spine-tingling speakers that I have ever heard.
As above, I'd take the gamble too.

 

[darkblue94]

They are most definitely not ugly!

 

[davidb1]

I would buy them. I remember reading a review years ago, i think in TAS, of an earlier model. The reviewer bought a model a step up from the ones he reviewed.

 

[soundmotor]

Hello gang, I need help as my head is spinning.

IMO your purchase should not be about whether or not they fix a deficit in your current system. If they do and $600 is within your budget, go for it.

But, consider that you may not be able to sell them quickly later if you don't like them long term. They will need the right and uncommon buyer.

 

[vinyl1]

The $64 question is 'why don't they work'? if its the electronics inside, there are many skilled guys on this site who would be able to figure out the problem and fix them. If you have to replace drivers, that could get very expensive.

 

[bryans12v]

The $64 question is 'why don't they work'? if its the electronics inside, there are many skilled guys on this site who would be able to figure out the problem and fix them. If you have to replace drivers, that could get very expensive.

That's a good question.

The guy told me that his amp and speakers all stopped working at the same time and he never figured out why. I'm assuming the amp took a poop and had taken the speakers out with it, too much DC maybe.

Unfortunately there are no internal fuses. I find it very odd that all four drivers failed at the same time. Wondering if it may be crossover related or if it was just his amp.

Either way it's a big gamble and I never gamble. I just see what could be a way into the high end at low cost. They also come with the special trunks they were originally shipped in.

I think I'm going to go for it.

 

[Dave_1962]

Snap 'em up and restore.

 

[Thocom]

A friend of mine has a pair of these, although I don't know which version. They sounded pretty amazing to me the. Brief time I've listened to them. He has said that they need a lot of power to open up.

 

[jhoyt]

Any way to do any cursory testing prior to buying? Of course, if they indeed work, the price might suddenly rise substantially...

 

[OMGCat!]

If they all just crapped out together that would point more to the amp. As long as it had protection circuitry the speakers should be ok. The easiest thing you could do would be to bring a DMM and see if the DC resistance is somewhere around 3-9 ohms and is consistent between speakers. If not then you may have some cooked components inside.
Since he's your friend he shouldn't mind if you bring a receiver or something with you to hook them up just to see if you can hear that they work.

Also, I'd definitely get a price on the new driver before buying if you think you'll need it. The tweeters in my much more pedestrian B&Ws run $600 each so I'd imagine those may be quite a bit more spendy.

 

[stevo137]

How much are the Carver amazings in the corner?

 

[Descartridge]

how much are the apogees in the corner (and model)?

 

[Hawkeye83]

how much are the apogees in the corner (and model)?

I was going to ask the same...are the Apogees for sale?! (Not to diminish the speakers you're looking at...dang, high end, good price!)

 

[Chazzer]

The Apogee's in the corner are either the Stage or the Stage section of the Mini Grand.

 

[stevo137]

Oh, my mistake, Apogees not Amazings.
Better yet, right?

How much are those Apogees?

 

[bryans12v]

Passed on these. The damage to the DDD cones is 100x worse than the images I was sent. They looked like crumbled up balls of aluminum foil. Took off today and drove 3hrs for nothing.

 

[WmartinB]

Passed on these. The damage to the DDD cones is 100x worse than the images I was sent. They looked like crumbled up balls of aluminum foil. Took off today and drove 3hrs for nothing.

Also, they ugly.