ARC Ref 5se inferior to LS28?

+1 @jmcgrogan2

There are a lot of good points here but the most important one I think is simply older can be every bit as good as newer sometimes better. Good design is good design, and well designed well built gear holds up well. Also a well designed point to point wired tubed circuit is easier, and cheaper, to maintain over the long term. My amp and preamp in addition to being older, around 17 years of age on each, also use many vintage parts and sound fantastic. I just dropped a "new" Dac in my system that was built in 1995, it's the best digital sound I've heard in my system. Buy gear you like and if you really like it, hang on to it! Just my $.02.

Exactly. Tube design isn't exactly progressing further as the manufacturers would try to have you believe.

+1 @jond 

analogluvr3

Exactly. Tube design isn't exactly progressing further as the manufacturers would try to have you believe.

That's not entirely true. For example, the KT-150 tube wasn't available when ARC released the D-79. Similarly, the 6H30 tube wasn't available when ARC introduced the SP-10 preamp.

Other components - especially capacitors - have also improved with time.