i would go for an older model that was SOTA in its time and have it upgraded/or have vunerable parts replaced. there may be a lot of changes in the years since they were SOTA but not all were necessarily for the better, just different to encourage sales. don't confuse mfa w/ melos. mfa had some prime stuff, melos i'm not so sure. (i still have an arc sp10II, 18 years old, running strong and have not heard anything that has tempted me to replace it.)
Older vs newer with comapinies like CAT & AI??
#What are some observations out about cost of newer gear versus older.I know that say after 10-15 years you need to worry about replacing Caps etc but when I see a AI Modulus 3 I wonder how much more of the 'oggds" I would get with a 3A.Saw a 3 posted rently for $600 versus twice that for 3A.I hear that the newest CAT "Ultimate" is overpriced.At $3500 used I wonder if one of the earlier variations might be better bet $$ wise.So I gues the issue unless a major change in desugn happens are newer variations of a piece which "evolves" worth it?Maybe a 6922 change over to a 6H30 would be a marked change but again I thought rently about Counterpoint or MFA Melos(one of the designers of this was Bruce Moore who developed Modulus for AI).I am thinking about newer product like Rogue 99 but when I see some older pieces even if they needed some work I guess I am trying to get high value as opposed to assuming latestis greatest.Thoughts?