Why buy older digital gear?

This is a very good D/A I am also using it with my old Karik and when I compared it to the Numerik it was no contest for the Alfa. Also have in mind that you can upgrade it for $450 so it will not be outdated. For less than $1000.00 you will be able to compete with anything up to $2500.

In the past week I sold my Sony 777ES for $1500 and replaced it with an Audio Research CDT-1 transport (paid $600, retail was about $2500) and an EAD 7000 Series III dac (paid $500, retail was $2500). The new old stuff sounds a lot better than the Sony. Improved dynamics and real bass is in my system once again. I chose the EAD over a loaded Theta Gen V that was priced at $950 versus retail of $5700. The old stuff at 20-30 cents on the dollar is the greatest bargain in high end. By the way, I purchased an Ortho Analog Reconstructor a few months ago for $350 on the 'Gon and it makes most redbook CD's sound like SACD. That is the main reason why I unloaded the Sony - super audio wasn't that super and there is still no software. Who needs it.

When first tried a Meridian 263 DAC with my Panasonic A-120 DVD player I stopped listening to sounds and gear and was pulled into music.

Much later after replacing my Meridian with a Monarchy upsampler paired with a MSB II DAC the sense of musicality was gone. Now I'm listening hi-fi again, not music.

Dying to get that Meridian´s "musical rightness" again.

Differences are found among older equipment as well as in new stuff. A well executed older design offers long lasting satisfaction. Cost less also.

Well prices have gone way way up since this topic was started 8 years ago. I was just thinking about (ultra high prices) as I was scanning the CD players in Stereophile's 2011 Buyers Guide. My digital front end is aging and it may not last much longer. Looks like most top brand players are nearing $10,000 and some even cost more than a nice nice car. What are we supposed to do- cash out the 401K plan? Is demand for stand alone Cd players droping and people moving on to something else? I even notice my dealer is now just using low cost Chinese players in his show room, because who can afford to stock up on $10,000 players just to demo. What are we going to do if not dirty rich?

Prices have gone up, but the budget gear has narrowed the gap somewhat IMO. With that being said, a lot of people have the impression that new digital gear trounces old digital gear. Not in my experience. There's far more to digital gear than DAC chips. Power supplies and output stages are critical IMO. Just because a DAC has an ESS Sabre chip (or any other flavor of the month chip) doesn't make it a great DAC. Wallwart power supplies and op amps can't compete with beefy torriodal power supplies and discrete class A outputs. If the Musical Fidelity V-DAC and the Bryston BDA-1 had the exact same chip, do you honestly think they'd sound similar? No chance.

I sound like a broken record (or skipping iPod!), but my 16 year old Theta Cobalt 307 easily beat several current budget DACs in my system. Good power supplies and output stages aren't cheap and they don't get beat by the latest and greatest fad.