General qeustion regarding audio equipments' life [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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kingcu
03-31-2006, 12:23 PM
Greetings,

I've been surfing the audiogon website for a while and have been wondering what is the real condition of a pre-owned equipment. For example, a Meidian 568 surround processor used for 5 years, or a Classe CA-300 power amp used for 5 years; assume they are kept in good condition, what is the remaing life? Will they perform equally well as brand new ones?

Sorry, these questions may seem a little dumb, but just like to know what othes may think.

Cal Blacksmith
03-31-2006, 12:35 PM
There is still a lot of SS gear from the 70s that sounds great and works just fine. There are a lot of tube amps from the 50s and older that are in operation but they probably have been rebuilt as electronic components drift after that many years.

My tube equipment is from 6 to 13 years old and still crank out the tunes very well.

SlumpBuster
03-31-2006, 03:44 PM
The Meridian and Classe will have many more than 5 years left on them. Both are top quality brands designed to last a lifetime. As a rule of thumb, solid state equipment is going to last very long. Also, the longer it lasts, the more likely it will continue to last (at least statisically speaking). If it is going to have a problem, it will most likely experience that problem with the first year. Amps are like people, if you make to age 70, you triple your chances of making it to 80.

General rules of thumb:
Amps, preamps, DACs and processors are pretty solid buys on the used market.

CD and DVD players can be hit and miss.

Speakers may need to be refoamed (particullarly those from the 80's) and are often the most abused component.

Turntables will generally need some work if bought on eBay. Audiogon is a much safer bet for turntable. Assume cassette, reel to reel, and stuff like that will always be in need of much TLC regardless of the seller description.

My amp just turned legal drinking age (21). I have a cassette deck approaching 30 years and 8-track older than me. My quad receiver is from 1973 with matching speakers, still chugging away.

In the used market I think prior abuse of the product is a bigger risk than age alone