Buying used: how old is too old?

Dang, too late to edit. Of course I know it is Janis Ian.

Capacitors are not a problem if you use film.

Depends on the components and the seller.

Looking at a pro/studio speaker manufacturer like ATC they’re pretty much unchanged and cut from the same piece of cloth for more than 4 decades now, the most noteworthy changes being their newer, self-developed tweeter design, the Super Linear magnets, and some minor aesthetic changes (i.e.: no sonic impact here). If anything they’ve been a constant more or less for almost half a century and an unwavering marker for others to be measured against, during which time they haven’t gone from being the frontrunners over all other speaker brands to being a bland, outdated product overtaken by more "modern" designs (with their ever changing design revisions and new models). No, ATC is doing just fine and being a reference still for many, not least with their active iterations, a clear indication that when done right from the outset a design, at its fundamentals, will retain its pedigree for decades. That’s not necessarily to say a segment of audiophile-aimed "Hi-Fi" speakers haven’t evolved these last decades, but I’d wager this predominantly domestic part of speakers have for the most time worked from compromised outsets confronted with all sorts of restrictive aspects, and therein lies the real challenges to be faced.

A few months ago I listened to a pair of decades old, actively configured all-horn British cinema speakers, and anyone with a pair of ears on their head and some ability to honestly, openly and without prejudice discern listening impressions would be able to realize that this stuff plays music in ways that most domestic speakers simply can’t approach. No, it’s not really about volume only, dynamics only, presence only, ease, resolving capabilities, envelopment, engagement and other isolated, singular aspects, but an overall sensation of being presented to and immersed with music re-vitalized. You’d have to take my word for it, but it’s a fact if ever there was any. And yet in this business we’re to believe the wheel is constantly re-invented, when what’s at the basis of all is missed by many, if not most.