New vs uses in your current setup

Close to 50/50.

100% new in my system. I would consider certain used items under the right situation though.

100% new. In earlier days I purchased used. I know exactly what I want and would like it to be in the most up to date form as I keep things for at least a decade now. 

Nothing is New, Much is Bespoke Commission Design and Build, A Proportion is Branded Items acquired as a used purchased, but changed quite substantially to the OEM when it was originally being marketed, the PSA PWT is the only device that is a used purchase and remains as supplied OEM Standard. 

I walked away from the New Purchase Branded Item Market in the Mid 90's and have been having great experiences building relationships in other places.

In the 90's one of my best audio support was from HiFi Confidential nr Victoria Station in London. When Luigi Left the business, it was very difficult to find the knowledge he had at other outlets, sales were the goal not teaching somebody where monies were to best placed as Luigi did with Great Aplomb.

If Luigi is looking in, I am still into Audio as a result of the early nurturing from yourself. This little Acorn did become a Tree with good set roots.    

0% new, all used for me.

Mostly all new.

100% new except cables, most of them were bought used. Not all, but most.

Other than cables, used. I couldn't afford  this stuff new.

60/40 new/used. 

Much of my gear is both new and used simultaneously.  My amp and linestage, for example is "new" in that a custom builder made it for me, but virtually all of the parts in it are used and vintage, some transformers being as much as 80 years old or so.  My speaker system I bought new, but, I replaced the midrange compression driver and horn with a very old Western Electric combination (713b compression driver and KS12035 horn).  

Out of my 6 intergrated, all new except one. All interconnects used. 2 paid speaker cables new. 12 pair of bookshelf speakers with 2 pair used. Streamer, dac, cd transport and Eq new.

My K340 are vintage and used...

I doubt that there exist something really better on all count at any price anyway...

And if it exist i paid it less than 100 bucks...

 

my Sansui alpha is a TOP vintage Sansui...  But it is way easier to beat it than my headphone so good it is and it is at 300 bucks ...

 

I was busy understanding how to make a system/roo0m sound good not by the gear as such... Each one of us ordinary mortalk has a budget...

 

 

everything is new except my subwoofers and monoblock amps which I repurposed from my immersive setup that I had to downsize from @cantorgale 

All new

Turntable, including arm, cartridge and phono stage bought second hand last year, but partially upgraded with new components.

Pretty well everything else bought new, although up to 25 years old in case of power amps, cables and loudspeakers.

So I’d say approximately 20% used.

 

 

 

Started out on craigslist and accessories4less.com. At this point, I trust my dealers advice. 

I’m 50/50 although my ProAc demos are now about 35 years old.

Installed equipment is 70% used, 30% new.  Carts are ~ 95% new,

Looking at the replies, a Questions Can be worded:

Does the audio system produce an end sound that is attractive and remains as wanted to be maintained with audio devices in use Purchased New but from an Olden Market Era?

Does the audio system produce an end sound that is attractive and remains wanted to be maintained with audio devices in use, Purchased as used Items from a wider range of offerings from Olden Market eras? 

Answers need not include purchase values, but will be beneficial if Items that are impressive are declared for their time of being launched into the Market Place and their Value to the user.

As a pointer I have used Olden Market TT's as a Analogue Source for bulk of my interest in replaying Vinyl. I have only sold on one of these TT's but have kept  a selection of different drive types at hand. 

Currently and for quite a few Years the Analogue Source is Standard Design Technics SP10 Mk II with a Platter Spindle Bearing Overhaul, Refurbished Electronics inclusive of a Improved Speed Control and completely redesigned Tonearm off a 1980's Vintage.

This combo with a rebuilt Ortofon Cart' from a market period from the early 00's has sat in the Company of Belt Drives, DD's and Idler Drives where a few TT Sources are approaching £20K new has not been bettered, but has been instrumental in encouraging expensive TT Source Owners to sell up and start over.    

Currently a SP10 Mk II is also in use that is a new and quite a different design to the Standard Model that is used. Trials are ongoing but infrequent, the gauge of favour from short durations swings toward the new design.  

3 Systems, Majority Vintage, all used, much inherited or gifted (except 1 DAC bought new in 2022; 1 dual cassette bought new in 1986)

MAIN, newest: 2 pieces 2008

Electrovoice 4 way speakers from 1958, inherited

McIntosh mx110z preamp from 1964, bought used, had overhauled

TT, 3 arms, SUT from the 1980’s, bought used, assembled piece by piece 

Chase RLC-1 Remote Line Controller for remote volume and remote balance of a Vintage System, let’s say 1994, bought used

Cayin A88T Tube Integrated amp from 2008, bought used

Sony xa5400es SACD player also 2008, bought used

OFFICE, 2 new pieces from 2019 and 2222

AR-2ax Speakers 1968 bought and restored myself

Topping DAC (streams from PC), bought new: 2022

1 nearly new Luxman Tube Integrated SQ-N150 2019 (tubes, only 10wpc to minimize heat in this small room).

Teac X2000R Reel to Reel 1984, bought used, overhauled myself

TT, Mitubishi Vertical LT-5V, lets say 1986, traded used, assembled 1 working from 2 non-working

Chase RLC-1 1994, for remote power only, bought used

SHOP/GARAGE: All Legacy Formats, newest, 2006

AR-2ax Speakers 1968, bought used, restored myself

Chase RLC-1, again for remote power and volume, say 1994, bought used

Yamaha Receiver CR1020, 1978 (drives 2 pairs of small speakers), bought used

8 Track 1966, bought at garage sale, overhauled;

Onkyo Dual Cassette 1986, bought new in 1986

Onkyo 6 disc cd spinner 2006

Sony FL-1 Drawer Type TT 1982, bought used

When I was younger and still working it was maybe 80% new.

Since retirement I have improved my digital setup and upgraded almost everything else, but it is now 90% used. Having a fixed income isn't conducive to losing the depreciation when I upgrade.

Preamp, amp, DAC, Aurender, speakers, power cables, IC's, and SC's, all used.

Rack was new, woohoo!

Puritan was new. 2nd woohoo

I was never in a position to have a $100k retail system at new pricing. Lots of research and sharpshooter shopping.

I find it a bit surprising, the concept of buying "all new".  When buying higher end equipment, my assumption, and experience, is that it's going to last for decades.  Why then, would anyone be concerned with a couple years of use?  I'm getting 90% of the life and paying 50 -60% of the new price.  Big dollars to get the new car smell.  IMHO  There have been times when buying used is simply not an option.  In those cases I look for a minimum 25% off asking.  

new. everything still in boxes. I set them up roughly where they should be if they were plugged in. 

Once I open them, they would no longer be new. 

Speakers, DAC, Transport, Streamer new...Amps, phono pre used...preamp demo...subs 1 new and identical one used...Turntable/arm./cartridge used, though from a friend...

+1 Secretguy

Different systems different percentages.  Mostly new except office system is all used.  

Power conditioner - used

Innuos Zen - new

PSAudio/APS Audio Transformers Direct Stream Signature Seties Limited Edition Plus -new

Aric Audio Motherload XL -new

Atmasphere Class D - new

Radu Tarta SET 45 being built currently 

Charney Audio Companion Excalibur AER BD3 -used

all cables new

Funny, before I spelled it all out, I would have guessed 1/2 of my equipment was used

Most of the new equipment did replace used/demo units I had. The money from the sale of the used equipment made purchasing  new a lot easier

Until a couple years ago, almost everything was used. Now the turntable is used, and the speakers are demos, although the manufacturer considers them new.  Everything else is new. Thanks for the interesting thread. 

I guess if you’re the kind of audiophile who’s constantly changing combinations of gear in search of the perfect system, it’s going to be prohibitively expensive to repeatedly buy new.

If like me, you’ve kept items for 25 years and in one case 40 years, the high depreciation cost of buying new is spread over a much longer time period.

Also, I’ve stuck with one manufacturer, Linn that tends to facilitate upgrades of existing products, sometimes at heavily discounted prices. For example the latest model of their top streamer cost me about 50% of the full retail price to upgrade to. 

Only once, did this backfire on me when a new much better DAC upgrade came along only a couple of years after I belatedly did the previous upgrade. Fortunately, that was an outlier. The upgrade was so significant that I bit the bullet on that one.

Basically, I’ve been happy with my system for the past 25 years and have just been refining things as new developments came along. Now I am old, I am less inclined to pay huge sums to keep up.

All early 80s to early aughts except DAC is new. It is temporary as well as my worst quality piece.

About 40% of my gear was bought in working order and 60% required I perform various levels of refurbishment.

Across three systems, approx. - new-33%, used-67%

Cables are mostly used.

Phono carts are always new.

While not opposed to used speakers, all that I have now were bought new.

 

In it's current state there are only two pieces of new equipment in my system. The Lumin streamer and the Denafrips DAC.

Main items are mostly used.

Speakers, stands, Dac, DDC, USB regenerator, speaker cables, ethernet cables, RCA cables.

New is streamer, I2S cable, switch, LPS, some power cables.

20% used.  Purchased a Simaudio Moon 860A v2 amp and a KEF KF-92 sub used.  The amp I could never of afforded new by a long shot. Very happy and will certainly look at used purchases in the future. 

pre-fire I had a lot of used, inherited, or refurbished gear. Mostly those pieces are being replaced very slowly with new, and not all of them are being replaced. Going forward, I will look for bargains, discounts, close-outs, and take advantage of whatever incentives I can to control my out of pocket cost. Given the realities in today's insurance landscape, the odds of actually being made whole by my insurance are zero. Funding everything out of pocket requires a different strategy than it would if Insurance was paying for it. 

Interesting topic.  Stirred up some cobwebs in the way-back machine.

As a retired dealer/speaker nerd, all of the source components, cables, and amplification in my system are discarded demo gear, and rep samples.  "Hey, Mr. EAT rep: That's a nice turntable.  When it's done making the rounds in the territory, send it my way."  So, technically, ALL used.  With a full factory warranty.

On the other hand, I designed and built my own speakers from 100% new parts -- raw drivers, caps, coils, etc..  After 35 years they are well past the "gently used" classification, and solidly "used/vintage."

Thanks for the topic.

 

100% used or demo for me. I am a very patient shopper and I buy carefully.

My system canton 9k speakers Technics SGU700 integrated,maker interconnects, monster m2 speaker cables, martantz cd 6006 player all used all trouble free (hope I did not jinx myself) for years. Before that bought all adcom gear pre &power amps, snell c2 speakers,same interconnects.quick story within hours of my installing the adcom system one strand of speaker wire touched the oppisite speaker wires from it resulting in immediate amp dying. I called adcom which was 30 mins. from my home in new Brunswick NJ at the time and  for a dozen donuts they went through the amp and fixed it like new! I sold it after years of flawless service just to try something different.In hindsite I should have kept it for another room. Adcom Good stuff, good people.

All used except my tt (Rega P10), cart (Hana Umami Blue), and one pair of speakers (Revel Performa F328Be).

With careful research of both potential items and sellers I find that you get unbeatable value from buying used. Careful and diligent are the operative words, though. 

Latest reference system

New:
Oppo UDP-203 4K player/streamer
Silversmith Fidelium biwire speaker cables (connected to Treo CTs)
Silversmith Fidelium XLR cables (Tambaqui to Moon 700i)
Sablon 110 ohm AES/EBU XLR - 1m with Bocchino palladium xlr (Grimm MU1 to Tambaqui)
effe-isolator Ethernet/Fiber Optic Isolator 
Sablon Network cable (between effe and Grimm MU 1)
Trident Ribbon cable Elevators
Nordost cable loom
Nordost QBASE Mark III AC Distribution Unit
Furutech Ultimate Nano-Crystal Rhodium-Plated AC Duplex Receptacle

Used:
Moon Evolution by Simaudio 700i integrated amp
Vandersteen Treo CT speakers (terminal strip spades - 6mm)
Grimm MU1
Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC

Mine is 76% new.  You should ask for the composition in terms of price.

Interesting discussion.  90% used, 10% new.

My setup is almost all vintage, only things new are my streamer, some cables (others are hand me downs from a audiophile friend), power cords. 

I did do a full referb on my pre & power amp, put in well over 100 new parts that were old or out of spec. Plus new crossovers in my speakers. 

You should ask for the composition in terms of price.

@lanx0003 

So asked! 

 

I'll Chip In again with the owned Quad ESL 57's bought in the Late 90's as a 1 Year Old Quad Full Serviced Speaker.

These and another pair are a refurbished Stacked Quad Array.

These are easy to surpass and difficult to surpass.

I really have a good gauge on the Stacked and Single Tier Strengths and Weaknesses. 

I use other Speakers for Periods of time and can forget about the Quads, and as a result certainly have the Quads Shortcomings laid out bare to witness.

Plug the Quads in to the Mains and connect to the System, and immediately the beating oneself up begins for not having them in use.

I would suggest in the UK at the prices these Speakers can command, they are the HiFi Bargain of all Bargains. As an influencer in the modern world, this Speaker has much to reveal that will win many admirers.

@devinplombier @lanx0003 

Good thought. Here’s one way to look at it:

Total MSRP of system - $125K

Total cost of system - $90K

Helps me sleep at night  lol 

 

 

 

mine is pretty much 80/20 (New, used)

New and well on it's way to being used.

Probably 50/50 for me. When I was younger, I almost always bought new. Now, most of my 'new' gear is demo which has saved me a ton of money. I may not ever buy new again.