That’s really a good debate.
the argument of older is better, comes when it’s time to re-furbish.
Circuitry wise, not all new is better, or, that there is not much that is actually new in the world of circuitry.
It’s almost like we are claiming new circuits in the hype end of promoting the new... when all we’ve really got is like going from a brand’s 20 year old scotch to the same brand’s 25 year old scotch.
Except in the case of a circuit refinement, this new refinement can be swamped by other differences in the gear, like parts quality not being up to snuff compared to the older item of the circuit layout, or the intelligence of the designer and maker of the older gear, being superior to the guy/item with the new circuit refinement in hand.
All of this is so complex that it is many times impossible to say that the new is better than the old.
The question becomes attached to the need to re-cap the older item, as capacitors wear. The next is that contacts on switches degrade due to oxidization. The next is that some (not many) transistors get noisier or degrade over time in a noticeable way. Or some oft used (in a lot of older gear) small signal diodes that are prone to failure--but after 40 years, so the diodes can be forgiven.
If we upgrade the older gear in a competent fashion (intelligent capable high audio oriented technician has a hand in it), then there is every reason to believe that the ’right’ choice in older gear can compete with the new.
One of my games it to take older gear and revamp it with crazy levels of parts quality upgrades.
Like taking a NAD 3020 and upgrading the circuity design (to eliminate some of the budget aspects and issues), and the parts quality to something akin to a $6-7-10k integrated (and better!), and then going beyond the current levels of high end chassis isolation, and so on. Ie, some of the mods are not seen even in the $10k integrated. As not everyone has the same level of knowledge or skills, in their builds.
Then I can show the simple and innocent looking NAD 3020 to people and have it fight on even ground with those $5-7-10k integrated. Albeit with low power-- but still.
If it is about the sound quality we enjoy 99% of the time and forget about those few moments of high power use.... then it’s a major win.
I do these sorts of things to show people where all that is extant as new and modern, is not always a form of progress. That we and others can be and are a victim of the projections of ourselves and how we sit within our moments of time - on the stage of life of the now.
Eg, one time I opened up a loudspeaker from the 60’s (one that shall remain nameless!) and found some bracing techniques that exceeded in intelligence, effectiveness and application...all that is in high end audio speakers in 2019 (to my knowledge, which I consider to be fairly extensive). Then the issue where I’m not sure everyone opening up that older speaker would even have what it takes to understand what they were looking at.
That the intellectual heights of thinking in the past ...can be as valuable to the person of today as the thinking of today..where progress can many times be an ignorant egocentric illusion. Scrape any human of today hard enough and you will find the ancient animal of the core reacting as blindly and as as violently as it did 50,000 years ago. Which helps illustrate that the wisdom of the past can be as valuable today as it was back then.
The same goes for the pinnacles of design in audio circuitry and build... from 30-40-60-etc years ago.
Conversely, nor can it ever be that history reveals all - and dictates the future. Brains and open progressive awareness (intelligence and mindfulness) are required in order to be an efficient navigator of the now.
Eg, rebuild lets say (mentioned just cuz I saw one yesterday)... a Pioneer a-27, with some intelligence and capability applied in the rebuild..well..there is no reason it can’t compete on equal ground with today’s $4-5-10k integrated.
But it would have to be a fairly well rounded out skilled tech to make that happen, but it can get +90% of the way there to the modern retail $10k quality range, just from upgrading the unit with basic audiophile technical intelligence.
