Why buy older digital gear?

...and because some brands still do old tech producing finest CD players such as BAT, Burmester, Cary.

Digital technology may have advanced as far as DAC chips go, but parts are still parts, and good parts and good design are still better than cheaper parts and a price point-compromised design. I'm sure many of the new sub $1000 players are great, but I bet a used CAl Audio, Muse, Theta, Goldmund, whatever...something that once cost $2500-$5000 new...is going to sound better than a $500 player with a current DAC chip. It may not have the resolution capability of the new DAC chips, but it should sound more natural, more transparent, have more bass, and smoother highs than a cheap player...all of the benefits that you normally get from a more expensive design and parts. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I bet most of the old hi-end CDPs and DACs that are selling for 1/10th - 1/3rd of their original retail are still a pretty decent upgrade for most people, and a good deal overall. They're certainly worth investigating if there are some in your budget range...especially in the $300-$700 range.

I got my first CDP in 1985. I haven't found these units to be very reliable and I am now on CDP #4--an inexpensive model recommended by many on this forum, now in a second system. All were in the $300-$500 range. Each generation brought a marked improvement in sound quality that made me listen to my CD collection with new interest. However, I recently purchased a used Anodyne ATAS DAC through Audiogon for about 1/4 its new price. The Audiogon blue book says this began production in 1992. Though my experience is somewhat limited because I don't audition a lot of gear, in my main system, this blew away the new CDP as well as my Sony DVP-S7700 and the stock ART DI/O I later hooked up to it. This purchase has given me a lot of listening enjoyment at modest cost.. If SACD and DVD-A don't catch on, I expect I will upgrade to today's state of the art in a few years at comparable discounts. If you are looking for good digital equipment at very reasonable prices, you should try to give some of this gear a listen.

The sound from all those older generation CDP/dac sound more natural, LP like and far more musical than the more modern machines. Most of the current machines are just too bright, too aggressive, uninvolving and produce very mechanical sound.... Live music(unampilifed) don't sound mechanical at all......... and they flow like liquid......

I still have a Meridian 263 bitstream dac and it sounds "less digital" than alot of newer technology I've heard.