PSB Stratus Bronze

**I'm open to offers on these, if you can come pick them up, I will not be insulted by a lowball offer.** PSB Stratus Bronze floorstanding speakers. These are what PSB called a "2 and a half way" speaker, with two 6.5 inch cones and the tweeter in the middle. I'm the original owner, I bought them new in late 1998 for $1,100. I used them consistently until 2006, when they saw infrequent use, a couple times a week for an hour maximum. They have not been used for the last 18 months since I've moved, and now they need a new home. Sonically they are excellent, the sound has not degraded at all, the cones and construction are tight with no damage. Obviously they have a lot of hours on them, but for the price its hard to imagine you could get better sound in a floorstanding speaker. They have a nice, neutral sound, and are capable of very good bass with the right cables and equipment. I can't stand bright treble, and never experienced any brightness issues with these. They are sensitive to speaker cables, Nordost cables took a lot of the bass out but had great clarity, PS audio Xstream (great cables btw) gave them much improved bass and soundstage. I also used them with progressively increasing integrated amps, including the Creek 4330 and the Creek 5350se. The difference was significant, these speakers will let quality equipment shine through for sure. There's one issue cosmetically. First off, these have a wood-look laminate exterior. The sides and back are fine, there are a couple very minor blemishes, but I'd give most of the exterior an 7/10. The tops however need to be redone. The laminate on the top has shrunk and is peeling off the top of both speakers, and they need to be replaced. Underneath the laminate is a very dense resin-fiberboard looking material that looks like it will be very easy to paint. As you can see in the pictures, the laminate is peeling off very smoothly and not leaving any residue that will make painting difficult. A good paint job for the top and these will be looking great. I decided not to do it myself and rather let the buyer make the decisions there. I also have every single piece and accessory they came with. This includes 2 sets of feet, there are the spikes which are nice and thin, and will easily penetrate carpet, as well as the plastic feet for hard surfaces. I also have the PSB binding post wrench, the allen wrench it came with (I'm not sure why, but it did), and the binding post jumpers and binding post dust caps. BTW, these sound much better wired, so I rarely used the jumpers. They each weigh about 60 pounds, shipping would not make sense, so local pickup in Charlotte, NC. I'll be happy to answer any questions. I wasn't sure how to rate them, they are 14 years old, need a little cosmetic work, but sound great as they always have, so instead I've simply tried to describe them as best I can with pictures to support it. I have more pictures, but can't figure out how to post more than 6, so please email me if you'd like to see them. Thanks for looking.