as long as it fulfills your desires.
When it looks old to you, then it is time to replace. If you have state of the art components, then whenever your heart desires a new bit is all it takes.
IF you are asking because you want to buy some used state of the art from 'yesteryear' and wonder where to start?
THEN: you gotta read the reviews, old reviews.
Some stuff is CLASSIC. It will (within this lifetime) be reguarded as wonderful. Marantz Model 9, Audio Research Sp-10 (with great tubes only), Audio Research Reference 3, ingeneral, Conrad Johnson, Audio Research, Mark Levinson, Classe, Boulder, Oracle, VPI,
Anywy, forget DACs, Forget CD players and transports. They are gonna break down and old means NO PARTS.
Tube gear NEVER really get too old. Turntables and certain carts.. old can be good. New can be good too.
Amps, replace the caps, forever, Preamps, caaps, also forever.
Phono sections, same thing.
A lot of the old good stuff is more style and romance than 'just' the sound.
(I owned an Audio Research SP-10, I did not like it, because Ididnot want to spend the fortune on tubes it needed to shine... and sold it for cash and a SP-15, way more to my liking.)
So a little study for your choice of 'poison' and your set.
When it looks old to you, then it is time to replace. If you have state of the art components, then whenever your heart desires a new bit is all it takes.
IF you are asking because you want to buy some used state of the art from 'yesteryear' and wonder where to start?
THEN: you gotta read the reviews, old reviews.
Some stuff is CLASSIC. It will (within this lifetime) be reguarded as wonderful. Marantz Model 9, Audio Research Sp-10 (with great tubes only), Audio Research Reference 3, ingeneral, Conrad Johnson, Audio Research, Mark Levinson, Classe, Boulder, Oracle, VPI,
Anywy, forget DACs, Forget CD players and transports. They are gonna break down and old means NO PARTS.
Tube gear NEVER really get too old. Turntables and certain carts.. old can be good. New can be good too.
Amps, replace the caps, forever, Preamps, caaps, also forever.
Phono sections, same thing.
A lot of the old good stuff is more style and romance than 'just' the sound.
(I owned an Audio Research SP-10, I did not like it, because Ididnot want to spend the fortune on tubes it needed to shine... and sold it for cash and a SP-15, way more to my liking.)
So a little study for your choice of 'poison' and your set.