Developing foot problems forces the sale (push mowing a 5 acre lot is not healthy); I need the money for a tractor.
Rare opportunity to purchase a pair of Sony's flagship, prior to the new SS-AR1. I bought these knowing that they needed some work, most of which I have completed.
To start with, both supertweeters are damaged - the cones are crushed. A pair recently sold on ebay for ~$850, so they are not impossible to find.
Secondly, one of the tweeters did not produce any sound when I bought them. I pulled the tweeter and checked it with a DMM, found that it read open. After determining that the tweeters are Scanspeak Classic 9300/9500 (both use the same recone kit), I sent both to Madisound and had them reconed with genuine Scanspeak recone kits. Both tweeters are now fully functional and look/sound terrific.
With the exception of the supertweeters, both speakers are now fully functional and sound unlike anything I have ever heard. When connected to a Joule-Electra preamp and Krell KSA-80, the timbre and tone are spot-on, and the sound has a depth/width unlike anything I have ever heard.
The cabinets are not perfect. There are a few chips in the piano black finish, and one of the corners up front has a roughly 1" chunk taken out of it. I touched this up with a black permanent marker and it is nearly impossible to see, but I believe in full-disclosure, so am pointing it out. There is also a small hole in one of the grill covers. Aside from that, both cabinets look quite nice and buff out beautifully.
Build quality is incredible on these. The cabinets are dead solid, the grill frames appear to be welded steel rods, the super tweeter assemblies are precision-machined aluminum (with a small, lubricated gear mechanism to allow for smooth, precise adjustment). I had a local machine shop fabricate some stainless steel spikes that will be included in the sale.
In addition to the speakers, I also have available a number of spare parts for these Sony SS-M9ED's. Parts include 4X woofers, 2X midranges, and approximately 8 spare crossovers. Open to offers on the spare parts.
I have shipping crates for these and am able to ship them, but would strongly prefer a local sale/pickup. This will allow the buyer to both see and hear the speakers prior to taking possession of them. However, if necessary, I will crate the speakers and drop them off at the shipping company of choice. Shipping will not be cheap, as the speakers are 135 pounds each, and the shipping crates are also large and very heavy.
These are by far the best speakers I have owned, and one of the best that I've ever heard. It saddens me to sell them, but as I mentioned above, I've been developing foot problems after taking care of a 5 acre property with nothing more than push mowers, so I really need the money to buy a nice tractor.
$4000 plus shipping for the speakers. Prices for the spare parts are negotiable.
