The answer is entirely subjective, based upon your own perception of what you yourself prefer.
Value-wise & considering your budget constraints, I believe that you might be better off with some older equipment, compared to the price you would have to pay today for equal or better performance. Ie: what you can buy new today for $400 price point probably won't be able to come close to the performance level of the same $ invested in some older gear that was previously priced at around $800 to $1200, even when factoring-in the advances in technology.
The considered opinions of many members here, in fact, place a higher value on the performance of selected pieces of older equipment vs. today's offerings.
Value-wise & considering your budget constraints, I believe that you might be better off with some older equipment, compared to the price you would have to pay today for equal or better performance. Ie: what you can buy new today for $400 price point probably won't be able to come close to the performance level of the same $ invested in some older gear that was previously priced at around $800 to $1200, even when factoring-in the advances in technology.
The considered opinions of many members here, in fact, place a higher value on the performance of selected pieces of older equipment vs. today's offerings.