another Altec Valencia thread - what are they worth in 2026?

Jcricket

Jcricket

not someday, but today
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Hey Folks,
I did the google thing, and I searched AK. I am looking to get the opinion of the current value for a set of the Altec Valencia speakers. I have a very good friend that has aquired a set and wants to sell them to me. I want to be sure to give him a good, fair offer.

More info:
these are here in the Denver metro area
He will not entertain any shipping on these, strictly door pick up
He wants these sold much sooner than later - think 30 days or less
The wooden grills are perfect
The cabinets have some scratches - nothing major
The finish is a little thin and worn in places
they are all original
They seem to be in perfect working order

Things I consider:
what is top national value - not really relevant as he will not advertise except the local CL and FB
What is local value for these in a similar metro area to Denver? - about 2.5 million people
Garage sale value and flee market value.

The info I found is a bit dated. The most current stuff is around 2023. I suspect that these have become harder to find due to their age, The values I have found are very low for basket case, must be repaired unit - maybe $400. The top end kind of stupid price is above $1500. In the middle there seems to be a pretty big variation from $700 to maybe $1300.
I have seen and heard these. I am very interested in them. BTW, I have owned 2 sets of these in the last 25 years. The first set I put back together from parts and a set of cabinets, They were missing grills. The cabinets had been refinished on the quic and cheap. The looked okay but sounded very good. I traded them for a Dynaco st70.

The second set was in exc condition. I sold and traded them. $800 cash and a Pioneer sx-780. Tht was maybe 12 years ago.

I'll post some pictures of them and what they will replace a little later today.

So thought opinions and ideas please!
Thanks,
Mark
 
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Traded a pair of Valencia’s for a Dyna 70??
I guess you needed the space.
But monetarily you wound up on the short end!
 
Assuming you are talking about the 846A? I paid $1,200 for a pair of Flamenco’s 4 years ago, no wood grills, otherwise in good condition.

Since they rarely appear locally and these
were, I felt that the price was fair and I was willing to pay it.

I actually prefer the looks of my Valencia’s over the Flamenco’s because of the walnut which I assume is what you’re looking at.
 
I sold my 846A Valencias for $2200 about a year ago (I was motivated to sell—likely could have gotten more). Granted, it's the NYC market, they were Art Dudley's, and they went to Devon Turnbull, so it would likely be less in other markets. I'm seeing generally around $1600-$2200 (and occasionally quite a bit more—) for pairs in good condition in the Northeast.

You can use the eBay Seller Hub to research sold prices over the past three years or so:

Security Measure | eBay

www.ebay.com www.ebay.com
 
I have spent the last couple of hours researching the value of the Valencia speakers This would include the 846a, 846b, and flamenco versions. For my search, I went to FB. I searched within a 250 mile radius of the top 25 largest metro areas across the USA. I disregarded any unis that were missing grills, badly damaged grills or very rough cabinets. I tried to stay in a group similar, with the idea of "ready to take home and put in the living room". Here is a general summary of what I found:

The $2000 price point - I found many listings at this point or above. "Many" means somewhere around 20 sets. Most of these listings had been listed for some time. Marybe 25 weeks plus as an average. I feel that $2000 would be above top dollar for 95% of the sets that are sold.

The $1800 price point - I estimate about 6-8 sets. Interesting point - most of these that had been listed at this price were marked down to $1350 to $1600. They also showed as being just listed and up to 5-6 weeks. I would assert that the actual real top dollar is $1400-$1550. This is following a premise that I want them sold within 8-10 weeks on the outside. If you are willing to wait longer, or have an exceptional set you might get between$1600-$1800.

The $1400 price point - I found one pair, in good, not very good, condition. It was listed at$1600 3 weeks ago and had been marked down.

$1200 gets you a "reasonable" but not good set. They should be in good working order but are rough cosmetically.

$1100 and below are project ranging from basket case to "in need of refinishing, new grills or fabrication, maybe not working or missing drivers.

To round this out, I did find anomalies and units I did not consider. An example was a set that the grills were destroyed, the units looked terrible, and they were asking $4000. Another was VERY NICE but asking $6000. There were a few sets in the $900 to $1000 that were completely missing the grills or the grills were broken beyond use.

For Denver, I searched all of the major cities within 500 hundred miles. I only found a couple of sets, They were asking $2k and had been for sale for some time. The set I am looking at I would place at just about top dollar in Denver, or about $1600.

My Last point to make. Some of the cities I searched have a considerably higher income level. You could think "California" or "New York City". Even there the most available units were at $2k and up. The
point - I feel $2k is more than most units sell for today.
 
In my humble opinion, I would show him your research and let him set the price.

The set you are considering is very nice.

As a good friend, he might set a price too low and you might up it a bit.

That way, both parties should be happy and the friendship will remain intact.
 
He should do the research, but so be it, since he isn't I would think about taking two approaches, one just say the prices are all over the place and just ask him what's his price. Two show him your examples, less your rationalization because it kind of sounds like you're making a case for a lower price. IMO considering the condition of the grills and the rest of the wood, those are in really good shape, those grills damage easily. On these Altec's, to get top dollar is really all about marketing and letting them soak, with the right photo shoots (professional) and hooking up with crating and shipping they can fetch a good amount. For quick sales, it really is what the local market will bear and that will swing dramatically on who is looking at the time of sale.

And if it were me, I would just step back from being his marketing man and just let him name his price. If he gives you a low price and he is truely a friend, he should be happy that he was able to give you a good deal and will probably feel good about that. He named his price, you paid him in full and didn't try to get him down a good deal or even aif his price is a bit high, and you pay it, that is all good, no one can complain.
 
And for the record, I own a pair of Flamenco's, in perfect shape which are almost the same speaker other than grills, and I think the Flamenco's have a slightly larger cabinet. I don't care for the looks of the Flamencos as much as the Valenia due to the grills.
 
Are the Valencia and Flamenco grills removable without causing significant damage to the cabinet? What do the speaker face look like without these grills? (I don't like'em).
 
Hey Folks. First thing, I always try to do a fair deal for both sides, at least if it a sale between two stereo afficiandoes. Of course, if I go to a garage sale and find a screaming deal, I buy it.
The friend in question is a person I know very well. We have been good friends for almost 15 years. He is one of my best friends. He told me to find out what is fair market value. and then cut that in half. That is what I will pay for them. So my research would put that at $800. I'll probably give him $900 and an extra amp or preamp I own. He is a tech and can fix stuff easily. I am planning a hafler pre and matching amp. Amp works fine, preamp is stuck on one of the function select buttons. I can't get it to change manually or with the remote control.
 
Jon L said:
Are the Valencia and Flamenco grills removable without causing significant damage to the cabinet? What do the speaker face look like without these grills? (I don't like'em).
Click to expand...
My bud had a pair of Vals and he tried to carefully remove the plastic grilles. Sadly the grille plastic didn't age well and had become brittle over the decades. During removal one grille exploded into many small pieces with no real way of putting the puzzle back together. He did locate someone that was making metal grilles for them but sadly that never happened. So he kept them as one with a grille and one without. They look much better with the grilles on imo.
 
Jon L said:
Are the Valencia and Flamenco grills removable without causing significant damage to the cabinet? What do the speaker face look like without these grills? (I don't like'em).
Click to expand...
IIRC, to remove the grills without damage, requires the removal of the motor board. This involves taking the back off and probably the drivers too. Then there are maybe ten wood screws that unscrew and the motor board comes out. This is from memory of course. It could be absolutely wrong.
 
Jcricket said:
IIRC, to remove the grills without damage, requires the removal of the motor board. This involves taking the back off and probably the drivers too. Then there are maybe ten wood screws that unscrew and the motor board comes out. This is from memory of course. It could be absolutely wrong.
Click to expand...
Presuming motorboard is the front baffle board, yeah that sounds like a lot of messing around with frail, aged parts..
 
Ken Boyd said:
And for the record, I own a pair of Flamenco's, in perfect shape which are almost the same speaker other than grills, and I think the Flamenco's have a slightly larger cabinet. I don't care for the looks of the Flamencos as much as the Valencia due to the grills.
Click to expand...

Flamencos basically the same speaker and sound great as well, but almost always fetch a lower price due to the spanish-ish design of the cab, not many seem to care for it. Had a pair and only made it a couple weeks. :biggrin:

Sounds like you have an easy deal there OP -- I'd consider anything from $800-1000 to be a very nice deal on a set such as this. You can fix almost anything, but cosmetics are probably the hardest and I bet with a little shine that pair will be quite beautiful. Enjoy, I love the sound of most Altecs with horns.
 
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