CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[RonnieGriffith]

Sorry in advance for the long post. I came across this site looking for info on these speakers, and hope someone can shed some light on my brother's situation.

Found one post from last year about how much these speakers should be worth. It appears $200-$250 is reasonable for a pair in good condition. My brother just bought a pair of these speakers, appearing to be in excellent condition, from his friend for $400. His friend told him he bought them for around $800 to $1,000 during a half-price sale sometime between 12 and 15 years ago, and that they retailed for about $2,000 at the time. Apparently, the friend did not buy any other CED system components, just the speakers. When my brother got home with the speakers and removed the covers, he noticed some dust and tried dusting around the cones, and voila, some of the foam backing around the cones crumbled. He called me up to see what I thought. I figured the foam had dried out and deteriorated, and that $400 seemed a bit much for 12- to 15-year-old speakers, even if they were high-end.

My concern, besides how much the crumbling foam would affect the sound quality, is the fact that according to my brother, his friend gave him the impression he bought these speakers new. That would not be possible if I'm reading Tom's website correctly, that these speakers were manufactured around 1987 specifically for use with the RCA CED System. It seems my brother's friend would've had to have bought them used. I'm very concerned because this friend appears to have misled my brother in addition to getting him to pay maybe twice as much as these speakers are actually worth. My brother did say his friend hooked one of them up (he had rarely used them) to test it and it sounded great--that's before he got them home and started trying to dust the cones.

My brother still needs to get some wire so he can hook the speakers up and listen to them. I told my brother that at $400, his friend should've included some suitable speaker wires. I also told him that if the speaker's performance is affected by the crumbling foam, his friend should take them back and return his money, and if he doesn't, he should dump this friend. I'm not sure they'd be worth repairing if the speakers are worth $200 or so for the pair.

I'm trying to arm myself with as much info as possible to help my brother see that his friend has most likely taken advantage of him again, as I believe he has in the past with other items he has sold to him. My brother is very close friends with this guy and stubbornly refuses to look at the situation objectively.

Can anyone tell me exactly what years these speakers were manufactured, and were they manufactured solely for use with the CED System? Many thanks for any help, and again, sorry for the long story.

[ecoury]

Just had woofers in my SPK-500 re-foamed today -- good as new! email if you want details. Ed(put the "at sign" here)edcoury.com