How long do you or should you keep your gear.

I kept my Infinity Reference Standard 2.5s for 25 years.

I still have this (an X-mas gift when I was 4 years old).

My father used to borrow it, when the power was out, to check weather alerts during rain/snow storms.

It was eventually superseded when my sister got her first battery powered transistor radio.

DeKay

To each their own. One of those topics that people do not need some guy on the internet to tell them what they should do.  It's a very trivial thing on the grand scale of things after all, eh?

@mapman thanks for sharing.

Merry Christmas.

Have a peek at my 3 systems shown here. I love keeping Vintage both active and performing at their best. Spare parts acquired, newer stuff for convenient features primarily. Still listening to the speaker drivers made in 1958 that got me hooked in 1973 in custom enclosures.

I'm also Mr. Fixit (mechanical stuff only, not electronics). That helps with Vintage.

@elliottbnewcombjr very cool. You like to tinker with your gear.

Nice.

@mapman thanks for sharing.

Merry Christmas.

@jerryg123 ..and a Happy New Year!

And to you to sir Happy New Year.

I still have my Pioneer SX-750 that I bought new in 1976.

Early in my pursuit of a high end system it was a ongoing effort. But as my system got better and my income increased listening to music became more common and upgrading became episodic. Over the last couple decades it has been upgrade about every seven years. 
 

When you own true audiophile components then it is really 7 - 10 years to get a “wow” from an new similar component. 

Don’t know yet. College system stayed with me from the late eighties through last year when I decided to do a ’small’ upgrade. From April 2020 to date, the entire old system disappeared into the basement, the components of my new system have changed twice and I built a back-up/office system. Seems to me that barring a couple of ’better’ power cords these systems are finished. I like ’em.

Depends on the gear.

New-fangled tech like streaming notwithstanding, I tend to keep my stuff until it breaks. If I like the sound I'm getting, I'll just continue to turn the machines on and let myself fall deeply into the music.

I have a gear I wanna keep forever. I purchased it in 2003.

I have FJ-Cruiser that I want to keep till 1M miles or over.

Until it doesn't do it for me any longer.

Dig the hole extra deep and drop my stuff in first.  Me afterward. DONE.

The headstone should read "He was buried with his GEAR working"

Merry Christmas and happy gift give away..

I’m a hoarder, pure and simple. No logical reason to have as many amps as I do. Or Dacs, speakers, headphones etc.

And aiming to part with more of them in the New Year.

A few pieces I won’t let go.

One being my first pre/power amp, a Plinius that served in my main system for 25 years. Even though there are much better sounding components.

One of those topics that people do not need some guy on the internet to tell them what they should do. 

See Jerry? And you thought I was a wanker.

It's a very trivial thing on the grand scale of things after all, eh?

Same point, driving it home.

It depends on the particular type of component.  Something like a streamer is, by its very nature, something that has to be newer than stuff that can be decades old.  My speakers I bought somewhere around 2003.  But, I switched out the midrange horn and driver for something better.  The something better being a driver that was built around 1939 and a vintage horn of unknown age.  My amp and linestage are from around 2011, but, they are custom builds with some parts being about 60 years old.  My turntable is around 16 years old, although the motor controller is newer.  My streamer/DAC are around two years old.  My power conditioners are a year old.  My headphones are around 16 years old; the amplifier/energizer for the phones are probably 9 years old.

@millercarbon yes you are and that is a compliment. Merry Christmas.

@oldhvymec Yep I agree.

@jerrybj I am a hoarder also and it makes my wife crazy.

Crazy thing is I'm lookin' at 20 acres. Maybe 40 after I think about it. LOL

Regards

LOL wife and I were cleaning out a closet in our guest bedroom (son and wife coming home for xmas) found 2 old Integrated amps in that closet and 1 more in the attic.

@oldhvymec wife said she is going to have one hell of a garage sale when I die. 

I grew up in Amish country. Might trade in the horse and buggy someday for an upgrade. Oh and wind power rules! Very clean, no noise … except the darn wind always howling.

McIntosh MA 6100 and JBL 65s purchased in 1979 still jamming.  Thorens TD 160, TD 124 and 125 still spinning.  I love vintage.  I have some newer stuff too but it is also fast becoming vintage.  Pretty soon, now is going to be a long time ago.

When I hit the 10 month mark  the tremors begin to flare.

You keep them until ASR comes up with something that “measures” better 😉😉

I'm happy with my vintage (mostly) gear. Sometimes envy the guys buying new toys but I've no idea what I'd buy. Feel free to suggest ideas.

What was the ?….. I may resemble the answer, and this is beater system 3

As long as you are happy with it.

@tomic601 Great dog man.

@noromance Great stuff I would keep it all especially if you are happy!

@baylinor Yep you nailed it!

I have a pair of Met 7's as my tv sound component. Decided to put them there when my audio budget allowed me to buy different speakers. Could never part with them. 

@elliottbnewcombjr , nice batches of this 'n that...love the 8 track (or does it just hold down that side of the shelf...).  Spouse would freak if I pic'd my feet without socks....no 'off property' in sandals, no...

@oldhvymec , be sure to get the mule with the 40 just for the sake of it. ;)

Bulk here is vintage'...the Behringer stuff is new to newish, space is atrocious at best but I've coping mechanisms in play.

@jerryg123 , thanks for the AR article, which (ho) likely states the status of most here unless seized by 'lectric lust of some sort...*L*

@dekay...If I were you, I'd perch TinyTim on top of your regular system and call it the Alexa remote to any that ask.
If MC can sport a lava lamp, you can tune it to a hiphop station if it still works....

If I can use a 9" tall gold metal mobius loop (found at Target, no less) to support a headphone...;)

Great holidays, all....beware the amateur alcoholics (way too many brew dungeons these days) out 'n about....

" 'Bot Brew!  Beta-tested to ensure your blue screen! "

If you don't know how to fix or keep it running, until it dies. If you do, then until you can no longer lift it or you really need the money. All of my "vintage" equipment has gone up in value 2 to 4 time the price I paid for it.😁

@tomic601 ...Dawg can roll tubes, but not how you’d like, no doubt....;)

Oh, well....back to the drawing screens....'ciao

’Botted, potted, rollin’ through the gears ’n years...

The conclusion of the piece completely confirmed my suspicion at the start not to read it. D'oh!

How an audiophile deems their system’s sonics and need to replace any part of it is a personal choice. If we choose to do so once every twenty years, every once in a while, or as soon as upgrades are introduced are decisions we all make for ourselves.

I bought my turntable (Aniston RD-11S) used in 1976. I built my Ampzilla in 1975. Old stuff can be good. I used my Ampzilla until this past summer, when I got a used SST Son of Ampzilla! Is better…

I still have the Technics SL-150 turntable with an SME tonearm I bought about 45 years ago. It's still accurate, and still plays beautifully. But everything else in my system has been changed out for the better every decade or so.

How long do you plan to live? 

I still have an ARC SP9 mkll that I still use at least once a week with my Acoustat Model X’s  and a EC-2 crossover that I’ve stopped using. 
 

All the best.

JD

I think there are two of kinds sound equipment enthusiasts, automobile buyers and hobbyists. To automobile buyers sound equipment is an appliance. You buy the best your income allows and drive it until your income improves or you get tired of looking at it, and then you drive the next set of gear. The hobbyist is on an endless quest for a new aural experience. It is like a heroin habit, if your habit was limited to your income and you could sell your old heroin. Because the absolute sound is unreachable, the pursuit is infinite.

I myself have always been an automobile buyer, and due to various career hiccups I was driving an old banger for the longest time. You are probably familiar with this kind of setup: Quality brands but the cheapest thing they make. Musical Fidelity amplifier but the old shoebox-sized one they used to make; Sota turntable but a Moonbeam bought used, that sort of thing. Lately through improved circumstances I have moved up to what I like to think is a gentleman’s mid-fi, which I suspect I will be driving for the rest of my life. If I spent half as much as I do on records I’d have something much better in the electronics line, I think, but such are my priorities.

I occasionally remind my wife that I don't hunt, fish, nor go to casinos..  And I tend to replace my audio equipment very infrequently, so I'm a relative bargain.  😄  I just replaced 31YO Counterpoint amps with PrimaLuna EVO 400 amps, but I kept my 31YO Dahlquist DQ20s, as I didn't hear anything compelling enough to replace them (without spending $20K+)..  The addition of a Rel Acoutics 8/12 subwoofer facilitated that decision.  

Rather than how long does one wait to chuck stuff out, a more interesting question for me is how long does one wait to release/buy new (not necessarily better, could be just another version, perhaps worse) technology.

They are two completely different issues.

Another alternative, Carlsbad, is to focus your time and energy on improving the sound produced by the gear you already own.  This can be a lot more rewarding and considerably less expensive.  A different kind of challenge...

Ariston RD11S in use since 1977! Original belt still good - it gets an occasionall wipe down with Armor All. Presently has a Grace 707 arm/Denon 103 cartridge mounted.

In 1980 I bought a JBL L212 system (3 speakers including a 12 inch sub).. They were about 2 grand, and I thought they sounded incredible..  Amps, dacs, turntables, have come and gone, but I still have those speakers, and love them as much as day one.