Are Spitfire Albion libraires worth the price?

As far as quality & sound yes, excellent libs.
Yes, the verb is baked.
If you don't really need them or won't use them much it's probably not a wise investment.

Vastman
There IS NO VERB!!! 
As to this reverb nonsense, Spitfire does all their recording at Air Studios - Lyndhurst Hall, London, which is HUGE

Not nonsense at all.
The samples aren't recorded dry.
The reflections of the room is the space (reverb)

Claw, As to long in the tooth, the libraries are constantly being updated, gui enhancements, new features, new content... I have never known a company who constantly improves their products as Spitfire... and it's all free.

You're confusing dry samples with close mics. There are no dry samples in Albion.
The close mics still have a small amount of the hall (reverb) in them. You can open them up further using the tree, amb. or outrigger mics.
You cannot get rid of the reverb using only the close mics.
Try a dryer library from VSL , you'll understand & hear the difference.

Also the REDUX version release of Albion introduced baked ensembles.
Some prefer this type, others dryer sampled libraries to set up their own stage positioning & reverb.

It's also one reason why it's difficult to balance them using other sample libraries. You can use software like Parralax-Audio VSS & get decent results but you still have to deal with ER, micing & phase issues between them.

Either way they sound great, one of the best orchestral libraries to date.

Not critical at all, I said "quality & sound excellent libs."
 
You just have to be aware that you can't completely isolate the reverb & the baked ensembles can't be placed anywhere on the stage. You can run into problems using other libraries together.
It's something to consider when investing a good sum of money.
 
Myself, I use it all the time.
It's the first string, wind & brass ensemble choice I go for when starting a new project. 

Well I would say you have bases pretty much covered. 
There's no magic pill however even with Albion although it might fit your needs better. You could try selling your unwanted libraries.
Albion is nice for lush ensemble pads, that's how I mainly use them. VSL & others for solo instruments when needed.
For strings 8Dio's Agitato Sordino Strings lib might worth be checking out too-
http://8dio.com/#instrume...or-kontakt-vst-au-aax/

Hey, Claw... I just tried to figure out what you have... doesn't relate to this (VSL's list which is big).  If you're talking about their Special Edition Core Bundles, they sound pretty nice.  And if you like VSL and already know your way around their interface you might wanna just consider picking up "Spaces" from EW (think it's half price).  It's full of exquisit impulses from all the best orchestral halls and many other arenas.  I have a zillion verbs but Spaces is really nice for orchestral stuff and vocals.  It is quite wonderful and no play engine. I too started out with ewql's CCC stuff and Spaces is about all I use these days
 
I don't think Agitato is a viable option.  Adagio is 8Dio's main string library (pricy...1g);  the Agitato series, covers quicker legato transitions and dynamic bowings outside the scope of the original Adagio series; it should be thought of as a supplement to Adagio, which is their main library. The Sordino is just one of many of the Agitatos...I don't think they have a bundle yet but it's another grand if you start tallying up all the bits... They also have Adagietto, ensembles of Adagio which I picked up to see if I wanted to learn another interface and decided no way. All of these are just strings...and no ostinatum engine.
 
If you're watching and listening you'll realize the Albions' give you way more than the orchestra...There's a lot of independent folks doing soundtracks/trailers/games/tv that have posted albion work on soundcloud... Ya got till monday! The Darwin Percussion drums are just stunning and the Stephenson's Steam Band is an endless extravaganza of goodies and the Brunel loops are a trip.  Christian's wacked out synths lend an original awesomeness and Albion 3 is just gobs of intense awesomeness.
 
Thanks to you I'm downloading UIST right now...I'd forgone it earlier but while there is lots I'll never use, revisiting it today at half price helped me decide to spring for it. A pretty amazing collection of evolving playing styles... Kinda sucks, money wise as I just added Infinity and Gravity but it is quite unique.  And with the british pound down right now that's only $269.  Was gonna pick up Phalynx trumpets next but I got till July 1 to get the intro discount so....   BTW, their Phalanx Brass is sweet... Over at VIC we all keep complaining that Paul and Christian are keeping us all paupers but how to resist!  Evo-Grid is on my list as it is truly unique but I'm waiting for Evo-3 then the bundle deal... Spitfire is addicting but their other offerings are very reasonable, especially as they're now doing the bundle deals.  
 
carl, on the verb thing we are talking semantics... maybe some libraries are "miced" in dryer rooms... but they're ALL miced... and so we are only talking relativities here.  Personally I find their close in mics as dry as I'd ever want to use and the others make it easy to avoid external verbs... I love the Lynhurst sound but the close in mics without the others would be a deal breaker to me.  
 
Maybe I'm just all wet!  

carl, excuse me but what is your precise definition of "dry samples"?  How are they made?  How are they made differently? I maintain it is all about the room... some rooms are "dryer" or I would say "deader" than others... you keep talking about the facts and I don't see what I'm missing.
 
For example, in a discussion of Berlin Strings, it is noted, "The library was recorded at Teldex Scoring Stage, in situ, using a multi-mic configuration. The wetter ambience of the library means that the sound has more in common with Spitfire BML than either Hollywood Strings or VSL (both of which were recorded in drier studios), though Teldex is a symphonic hall with very different acoustic properties than AIR Lyndhurst (which has longer tails). As such, BST is a ready to use solution: it does not require any panning or reverb setup in order to be used in most contexts since all the instruments are in place and the sound of a concert hall is already in the recordings.
 
Again, as per the above, we are talking semantics... Spitfire uses a larger hall, therefore, like Berlin, it's a bit wetter relative to vsl or ew.  What is baked is the room, no matter what library we're talking about.  As to what libraries work good together, that is a very subjective issue and composers use  many libraries together, including berlin and spitfire... the ear is a subjective thing... You keep talking the facts and yet the only fact which is relevant is the room.    

ok, carl... thank you so very much.   

Don't know what you're getting at, Kite... Things are constantly evolving... especially the GUI. As they've refined it in BML and Mural, they've also incorporated these changes into the Albion GUI... I respect them for this.  In contrast, In Sample Logic's newest product, Cinematic Guitars Infinity, they did NOT update either CG1 or 2's GUI (both of which are different) to their new, more powerful GUI in CG3.  
 
They've also added new elements.  I can't speak for many other companies but, for example, Spitfire has added complementary elements from both their BML and Sable libraries to the Albions, both patches and new samples across the entire orchestra so as to provide some additional flavors.  Similarly, they've added oooodles of pretty amazing ostinatums...which are extremely useful and valuable.  In my experience, most companies just move on... so, from a user's perspective this is a valid question.  And it has nothing to do with "belief".
 
May not matter or be apparent to "people in the street"  but that's not the one buying it.  I contrast their refining of Albion to EWQL abandonment of their platinum orchestra...Even Project Sam didn't receive much of an update cept for the GUI last year.