New preamps making new claims.

pedrillo...don't mean to get all 'economics-ish' on you, but literally over 'one thousand' more companies would be severly crippled or gone, if the big 3 where to go away tomorrow....for better or worse, the old saying may still be somewhat true, 'whats good for general motors is good for america'(i wouldn't wish job loss on anyone)....as for newer is better..maybe for many, but i love old stuff(even though i buy new stuff too)..cars, houses, audio, music and yeah, my wife(who i sometimes wish i could trade in).

Macdadtexas: the vibe is not a GM car. It is a toyota marketed by pontiac. Which just goes to show you that the american brands have created a tough reputation for themselves-stylewise. As for quality the GM cars and especially the buicks are as good if not better then the competition.

As for preamps, ill take a fisher, pilot or older Joule any day. Incidentally, most of the good preamps are made in the usa...

If you have the cash the new stuff is better, if you dont than the new stuff isnt that much better than what you have to worry about buying...right?
Or is it just me?

Actually the economics work like this: When a manufacturer introduces a new version of the same product, then all the retailers/distributors have to get rid of their display model and show the new version, and they are frequently under contract to do so. So they goose up their profits, at the cost of the dealers.

The dealers then thumb through their rolodex for their top group of customers, who can be counted on to trade in their "recent" stuff for "new, improved" stuff, and the dealer makes back some of the profit they lost having to sell off the display model for cheap.

Used/discount buyers then buy up the display model and the customer's trade-in . . . but these people usually like to change out their gear a lot, and the value of this particular model has plummetted since the new one came out, so they all, in turn, lose money on it until it ends up in a landfill.

And after awhile, since people don't want to spend much money on something they're going to be getting rid of . . . the manufacturer has to sell their stuff cheaper, in order to keep their sales. So they start the cycle again . . .

. . . and we all start leveraging our credit with each other to keep it going, but nobody knows how much debt each other has . . .

. . . well, you get the picture.

New stuff, the right new stuff, will run circles around the old stuff. I love old tube gear and have owned and still own some good old stuff. Fisher, Bogen etc.....

For example a new ART SLA 2 amp can be had for $260 on Ebay new. It sounds so wonderful and is far more refined sounding then many older pieces. $260!!

Also, low priced Chinese amps are all over the place for little cash new. They use similiar design and circuits as many of the older tube amps, but use better sounding, new parts and offer great cosmetics.

Bill