2. misc-audio
  3. 142546-124043

Some components too old now?

I have a traditional HiFi. Some bits are really old, but still working fine and I wouldn’t have a clue about updating even if I wanted to. Just wondering how long I can expect them to last, and whether I should pro-actively seek to update before there’s a catastrophic failure.
In particular, my CD player, pre-amp and DAC date back to around 1990, so these are about 30 years old now:
Marantz CD80 / Aragon 24k (with phono stage that I use) / Aragon D2A
Thoughts?
vinyloid

Showing 1 response by gents

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gents
116 posts
 
If money is constrained I would highly recommend yo listen to Schiit.
That's the problem. The Schiit is plentiful. We need upgrades! :)

I have to applaud the music loving OP and a couple of other posters for getting a system you love and just...*loving it* for 20 & 30 years. It screams 'mentally stable'.
I know I'm not alone when I say there have been about a dozen amps in my life during that span. And PREAMPS. Christ, I can't even remember more than a handful of 'em.
Another option for the OP, if you love your stuff that much, perhaps you might think about 'modding' your pieces with some, if not all, of the caps replaced. Look at it like preventive maintenance, and it is. Old is magnificent, but caps do dry out.

So you can try out a Schiit Bitfrost MB directly from Schiit. If you don't hear a moving difference, bounce it back. They take returns.
And the mods, you can spend anywhere from a couple of hundred to a serious $600 or so. Depends on who, what, where.
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