At What Age Does An Audiophile Buy His Last Amp?

At what ever age I am when I scream out to my wife to turn on the rig, only to find it has been playing for the last few hours. At that point everything will go up for sale and I will use the proceeds to retire and live comfortably.

Looking forward to it, aren't you!

I"ve lost track of the exact year that I told my wife that I had bought "my last amp",but it was sometime in the early 80's.

All I can say is that I still have the same wife.

I did have a friend- (fellow musician) who when quizzed about his preference for always buying red guitars stated-"Whenever I open the case, all she( his wife) sees is a red guitar".

I changed my system last year when I was 62.The new speakers are full range electrostats with tube mono block amps, sort of bucking the trend to downsize in the golden years.

But, I have started to train my ears to listening to headphones, just in case.

62...the perfect age...and part of the "new old."

Wolf, we just get better with age... like a nice hunk of Limburger Cheese.

Not fair to generalize when comparing men & woman. How does the saying go: "Men age like fine wine and woman age like bread". Sorry gals, not my quote.

Excuse me while I trim my ear hairs and de-wax before my next listening session.

How about installing a nice coffin system?

Around the same age. Have yo-yo'ed countless times with the upgrade/downgrade beginning well before there was an audiogon. I'm concluding with an integrated amp, set of speakers, decent cables, modified disc player and music server/dac. I have a portable setup for travel, but my travel these days is usually for a funeral and those hotel/motels rooms can lonely places without a music respite.

As a lifelong audiophile and music lover (aged 70) my system is the best ever, has recently been upgraded in a major way, and will undoubtedly get better in time, as long as I can hear and function. How we age is a factor of how we care for ourselves (diet, exercise, etc) and many live full lives into their late 80's and beyond. Thus, the 'last upgrade' is a completely individualistic issue. An interesting read is "Younger Next Year" by by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, available in paperback on Amazon. I highly recommend it.

87 or 88

I'll buy my last amp next time.

NEVER!

Hi Mitch, I`m almost 59 [march] I don`t see any end in sight, I am however loving the journey a lot more these day`s
Regards

Hear me now and believe me later (Hans and Franz from SNL)...If you love music, when you have lived with a well built SET mated with the right speakers, that will be "the age" you stop upgrading. Well, close anyway.

I'm in my 60's and got the "vintage" bug a few years ago. I've enjoyed putting together a few nostalgic systems that in no way are an upgrade to what my main system is but I get a tremendous joy out of doing it and listening to it. I will say this though, the Marantz 8b/7c/120b tuner driving SF Guarneri Homages, that I'm listening to right now, gives me something real close to my ref system.

I fully agree with Onemug.
When does age beget wisdom?

Twb. That younger next year has some interesting ideas. I'm with you there.

I would add, that since seniors can remain healthy and active into their 90's, and if I am so lucky, I might just buy a new amp at that age!

I am 67 and just put together a pair of NCore monoblock amps last month. What does age have to do with it?

Bob

I find that living like a maniac at full speed is the way to go. And I do mean go.

My main issue now is with a listening room on the second floor is how big an amp I can carry up stairs. I think it is about 90 pound now.

Tbg- I hear ya. I'm beginning to have second thoughts about storing speakers I'm not using, but like too much to sell, in the basement! Getting 'em DOWN w a handtruck w/o a crash was a bitch, not sure what I'll do when I want to fire em up again.

65 in my case, but then I thought my last amp was last one as well, so who knows. You can never say never and of course any amp, particularly a tube one, has a finite life, even the ARC Ref 75 I have bought recently.

I know half the fun is swapping and tinkering, but you have to stoip sometime. In my case it is retiring soon as the cut off.

Great question, great answers. For me music is a tonic. Last year I had major surgery and I spent months recuperating at home. I spent my time doing three things for the most part- listening to my music, watching James Bond movies, and sleeping the day away on pain meds (well, that was especially the case the 1st month). I also found renewed interest in my system through that time. I had been working so hard up to then I sort of neglected listening to music. In the 1 yr plus since my operation I have 1- changed my digital source; 2- had my tuner upgraded; 3- changed interconnect cables; 4- changed speaker cables; and 5- changed integrated amps. I also had my turntable tuned up; the only thing I didn't change were speakers and my phono preamp. And with my speakers, once I could actually move them around (I had a weight limit of how much I could manipulate; heck, I found it hard to open the fridge door at first)I used the Cardas placement program to reposition my speakers (it worked out well).

So my answer is this- as long as I am healthy and can still get enjoyment out of my music, and the funds allow, I don't see that there really is any age at which to buy one's last amp.

Probably 2 weeks before he kicks the bucket after exclaiming "That's it! I've found it! I finally have perfect sound forever!"

True...you actually never know that was your last amp until it's too late.

Holocene epoch for sure.

Remember what happened to the priest in Caddyshack.