$1400 is where I started and I would still go that much. Don't know if he'll drop from $1500 or not. I have owned all the Axiom speakers so I don't need to listen to them to hear how they sound, only to hear them to make sure they work OK. He doesn't have any electronics so I'm going to have to take my own.
This can be a win win for both of us, especially if these don't sell on ebay again.
You can also point out to the seller that if they sell on eBay, he's going to owe eBay a percentage on the sale. I don't know what the fees are these days, but it can be significant on a $1,000+ transaction. I haven't sold anything on eBay in years, but IIRC, eBay & PayPal would usually get somewhere around 8%-10% of the total sale price; listing + insertion + auction close + PayPal fees.
So, a $1,400 cash-in-hand, local-pickup, do-it-right-now-sale will probably net him more than a $1,500 eBay auction, especially if PayPal is involved.
