Bad News 250 Ti's

[gmarascortt]

Just purchased a set of 250Ti's......should make me happy! Right?

UPDATE: Just partially unwrapped the new 250Ti's and I am just sick.

*both the tweeter screens are smashed in
*both grill frames are cracked and broken in two spots
*bottom edge of both cabinets are way more damaged than the sellers pictures indicated
*one of the bottom rear corners has severe water damage(still feels wet....actually) and looks to be unrepairable

I am afraid to totally take off all the shrink wrap. Scared I will find the real damage!

This is all before I even find out if they sonically perform.

Well....I guess I will contact and inquire what can be done between the seller, shipper, e-bay, and paypal.

I've got nobody to blame but myself! I knew better...thats what hurts so bad. Please wish me luck.

[jbl_daddy]

Could have happened to anyone of us, mine came from 1200 miles away. Where did you find yours?
Mark

[gferrell]

I just hope something good turns out for you. We never like disappointment.

[gmarascortt]

Could have happened to anyone of us, mine came from 1200 miles away. Where did you find yours?
Mark

Mark,
Mine came from Los Angeles. I live in Seminole, Florida.....about 2,600 miles away! Alot can happen along I-10.

[gmarascortt]

Here are a few pictures.

[pathfindermwd]

Very hisheartening. They look like they can be salvaged, but it will take alot of effort. The bottoms are trashed, but you knew they had problems. Let them dry out, and sand them down; get the bondo out, paint them black. Did you have shipping insurance? The tweeters look as if they were damaged in transport. The Grilles can be made out of mdf, so that's not a problem. As long as the other drivers are o.k., it shouldn't be a total waste of money. Even if the woofers do have problems I have a friend who bought brand new woofers for his 250ti's to make sure they keep running, his original price was $2k, plus the grand he spent on the new woofers. I just bought 044ti replacement parts from another forum member, not cheap. My point it that even if they were in perfectly good shape, vintage gear costs money to maintain. We have all been there. Get what you can out of the seller/insurance, and get to work.

[gmarascortt]

Very hisheartening. They look like they can be salvaged, but it will take alot of effort. The bottoms are trashed, but you knew they had problems. Let them dry out, and sand them down; get the bondo out, paint them black. Did you have shipping insurance? The tweeters look as if they were damaged in transport. The Grilles can be made out of mdf, so that's not a problem. As long as the other drivers are o.k., it shouldn't be a total waste of money. Even if the woofers do have problems I have a friend who bought brand new woofers for his 250ti's to make sure they keep running, his original price was $2k, plus the grand he spent on the new woofers. I just bought 044ti replacement parts from another forum member, not cheap. My point it that even if they were in perfectly good shape, vintage gear costs money to maintain. We have all been there. Get what you can out of the seller/insurance, and get to work.

I can't agree with you more!

[doyall]

... Get what you can out of the seller/insurance, and get to work.

The problem I have run into when invoking the shipper's insurance is that the buyer will be reimbursed his cost and have to surrender the goods to the shipper. If you really want to rehabilitate the item(s), you have to wait for the goods to show back up on eBay and buy them again. It is a major PITA no matter what. I feel for you. Been there, done that.

[Titanium Dome]

The problem I have run into when invoking the shipper's insurance is that the buyer will be reimbursed his cost and have to surrender the goods to the shipper. If you really want to rehabilitate the item(s), you have to wait for the goods to show back up on eBay and buy them again. It is a major PITA no matter what. I feel for you. Been there, done that.

Yes, my experience as well.

[stony22]

that sucks. I hate shipping companies... From the pics so far they are salvageble. Pull the tweeters out and if you pull them apart simply pop the titanium back out. Try to smooth the covers as good as possible. As for the bottoms sand and bondo them and paint just the lower end black to the line around.( that is if the rest of the cab's are in good enough shape). The grills most likely can be glued and braced. Good luck eitherway. I would try to salvage them if possible to keep them alive..

[berf]

If you can get $200 from the seller for his bad packing you've almost got enough for a pair of replacement tweets. They show up on eBay fairly often, just never at a reasonable price. The grilles seems repairable, a good furniture guy could handle the bad veneer. In six months you'll forget this nightmare and have many years of enjoyment in its place.

[gmarascortt]

Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful feedback! And thanks for keeping me positive!

[SEAWOLF97]

Pull the tweeters out and if you pull them apart simply pop the titanium back out. Try to smooth the covers as good as possible.

have you ever done that with 044Ti's ?? I have and documented it in a thread here, somewhere ....not quite as easy as you think ...and although they may then be workable, the creases are never all gone.

If you can get $200 from the seller for his bad packing you've almost got enough for a pair of replacement tweets.

that would be a good price ..you can always find anomalies to prove any point. I've also seen auctions where they were $200 each.

personally, if I'd paid that much for the pair + shipping ($500 ?) and had to do that much restoration to get them back to acceptable, a complete refund would be preferred. I haven't seen your test of the drivers, there may be more damage that you are not yet aware of.

it may take a while to find another pair, but why should you have to invest more time/money to fix the negligence of the packer/shipper ?

Very hisheartening. They look like they can be salvaged, but it will take alot of effort. The bottoms are trashed, but you knew they had problems. Let them dry out, and sand them down; get the bondo out, paint them black. Did you have shipping insurance? The tweeters look as if they were damaged in transport. The Grilles can be made out of mdf, so that's not a problem. As long as the other drivers are o.k., it shouldn't be a total waste of money. Even if the woofers do have problems I have a friend who bought brand new woofers for his 250ti's to make sure they keep running, his original price was $2k, plus the grand he spent on the new woofers. I just bought 044ti replacement parts from another forum member, not cheap. My point it that even if they were in perfectly good shape, vintage gear costs money to maintain. We have all been there. Get what you can out of the seller/insurance, and get to work.

I agree with most of this post.

So sorry for your pain, but don't suffer another moment with broken speakers.
go for a FULL REFUND, ship them back, and go buy 250tis from someone else ...

It may take a while, but be persistent, its YOUR MONEY and you did nothing wrong.

and this one.

[berf]

Last pair of 044ti's on eBay went for $135. I would hate to see another pair of 18ti's get scrapped but the last ones went for for way under $300. There's hope.

If the 250's were on a pallet and shipped upright were they damaged from being back to back or face-to face? If they were boxed were they damaged by being dropped or dragged on their face? I would think the most likely driver damage and shifted magnets would come from being dropped base or top down. You should be able to judge what happened to these.

I hate to see anyone's bad experience used as an example but this is a good argument for doing a local pickup on any speakers bought on eBay. I'd happily do a 2000 mile round trip using a 30 mpg cheap rental car or plane on the way out and a van on the way back to get a treasure home safe and sound.

[SEAWOLF97]

so what's the status ??? do they stay or do they go ?