[Ron Ramirez]

Sam

I have a Masterpiece VI with a Clifton cabinet. I wrote about it in this thread when I acquired it just over three years ago.

Unfortunately, as you probably know, far too many Masterpiece V and VI sets have had their Jensen Super-Giant 18 inch speakers pulled to sell to the "audiophools" in Asia who are more than willing to shell out big buck$$$$$ for these speakers.

My MP VI was missing its original speaker.

I haven't looked lately, but when I was considering biting the bullet and going for a Masterpiece V or VI, I saw a few with a cabinet - but without the speaker - sell in the $2000 to $2500 range. Three years ago, the speakers were selling in the $5000 to $8000 range.

I don't think there is any difference in value between a V and a VI. The "value" in these sets is, again, in the speaker.

Now, an exception could be made for the very late version MP VI sets, which seem to be more of a cross between a true Masterpiece and the lesser model 15-17. My friend Bruce (y2kbruce) has one of the late version MP VI sets. His research indicates that it may have been intended to be a Masterpiece VII prototype since McMurdo Silver, Inc. went belly up in 1938 before a Masterpiece VII could be put on the market. I would imagine that a set like Bruce's would have to have a higher value than the regular MP VI.

My MP VI now has an 18 inch Jensen theater speaker, with many thanks to someone whom I consider to be a a good friend, an extremely knowledgeable collector, and a Great American. It looks nearly identical to the Super-Giant; the only differences are the two screw terminal boards on the pedestal, the different sticker in back, and the lack of an audio output transformer built into the pedestal.

Radios have come and gone in my collection, but my MP VI will never be sold, nor will its speaker, as long as I'm around.