Wayne Parham Messages: 18783 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
I agree with everything you've said. I get really good deals on JBL drivers, but even though my prices are good I'm still stuck with slow availability. So if you don't want to wait, buying used seems to be a good alternative.
I do want to reiterate a warning though. Don't skimp on the recone kit. There are lots of inexpensive recone kits available but stay with the genuine JBL parts. They're only about a hundred bucks and change, so even with labor, you're looking at under $200 for a good recone job. If you start off with a $100 basket, that gives you a great driver at a pretty decent price. As long as the basket isn't beat up, the new recone makes the driver pretty much as good as new.
Honestly, I'd pay $100 for a pair of baskets that I knew were good before I'd pay $200 for working 2226 drivers, unless I knew the seller very well and trusted them. It's too easy to get cheap recone kits and some are hard to tell just from looking at them. So beware used drivers - Buy 'em just for the baskets and recone them.