Why buy older digital gear?

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.

My CD player cost me $2000.00 some 20 years ago and still plays wonderful music. No malfunctions, ever (I hope I didn't just jinx myself). What would a new one of the same quality cost today, $4000.00? I read all the time how some of these new (expensive) units are always malfunctioning. I think I'll keep mine and maybe get a DAC for it (someday).

some older digital gear sounds better than anything made today, such as forsell components, the original zanden dac, some older wadia gear--the 2000 series, the cal aria, rhe cal tempest, etc. . obviously, ears and preference are the relevant variables regarding such an assertion .

It's interesting that you mention the CAL. I had a CAL Icon II from 1995-98 and I still remember how nice it sounded with my Apogee Stages. But now I'm attached to my EMM, which I think is pretty awesome.