Buy them now $18,000.00

[Steve Schell]

I have been enjoying the passing parade of gear on ebay and the ups and downs of pricing for over a decade now. Some things in good supply like Altec ceramic 515s and JBL 075 tweeters have hardly changed in value while more rare items are all over the place, though mostly up. Most of the Western Electric items have skyrocketed in value due to scarce supply and constant overseas demand. A dealer told me that thirty years ago he bought 555 drivers for $25 and tried to export them for $75. Now they are bringing upwards of $5k and beyond. Altec's ancestors, the Lansing field coil gear, is considerably more rare and hard to price, though generally bringing five to ten times what it sold for a decade ago. Part of the current nuttiness is probably due to the weak US dollar compared to foreign currencies.

[magnarc]

Steve, spot on.