Older higher end or newer mid-fi...better bargain?

Items with moving parts, given time, will break; (i.e. tape decks, cd players, turntables). I have always bought this new. Items without moving parts will last longer (amps and pre amps). I have always bought these used. Used speakers will reveal their condition quickly, just listen. IMO; used equipment gives you a superior cost to quality relationship.

Good used values:

VTL Ultimate preamplifier..true dual monaural
Audible Illusions Modulus 3A
Audio Research SP8, SP 9
Audiomat Arpege, Prelude
Audio Note SORO
Audio Note P2SE and P1SE (el84 based)
Bryston 2b-LP...great sounding 60 watt SS amp
older Accuphase amplifiers in the 1500 range
Accuphase T100 AM/FM tuner at 550/600..will only go up
Convergent Audio Sl1 Signature phono preamplifier
Audio Note DAC products; older DAC 1, 2, and 3 are excellent values with great performance
PS Audio 2C and 2C Plus very good and very cheap when they come up for sale

anything ten years older or more should be put on a bench with a qualified technician as almost certainly parts will need to be replaced; include this in your budget. For example, I was advised that if I ever wanted a used Kondo Ongaku one can be found in the 20k price range. But, once I acquire it I need to budget an additional 5000 bucks for service/upgrades to bring it to modern standards. Same applies with less expensive units.

Thanks to all...some very good ideas and recommendations here. Hopefully this thread will continue and yield even more fruit.

In your case (and almost as a general rule) old hi-end may serve you better, I switched some years ago from an almost new Audiolab 8000 to Naim separetes (half size versions 32.5/xps/180) and improvements were not subtle.

Fernando

I second the Pass power with Cary/AES pre combo.

I use a AES (Cary) AE-3 DJH signature pre with the newer and sonically better Pass Labs Aleph 30 poweramp.

The Alephs are single ended pure class A poweramps with 30/30 per channel. It has 26 db gain with the RCA inputs (20db gain with balanced inputs). The Aleph 30 has higher input impedance than the older Aleph 3, so it mates with tube preamps better.

The AES (Cary's sister company and a better value) AE-3 DJH is their signature tube preamp. It has 20 db gain not 12 like most preamps so it compensates for the Alephs 30 watts.

The synergy is awesome.

An interesting note is that when Stereophile reviewed the Aleph 3 and said it was one of the best poweramps available that the reviewer used the older AES AE-2 preamp.

AES/Cary AE-3 DJH preamp used $800 (1200 new)
Pass Labs Aleph 3 or 30 used $900 (2000-2500 new)