I have a buddy who is into vintage muscle cars. I have heard his horror stories about breakdowns. In my vehicles as well as my stereo system I want reliability. I have had friends over for a listening session and had something go on the fritz and ruin a great time.Having learned the hard way, I have built redundancy into my system so if anything goes down except for my speakers, I can quickly get us up and running again.
So let’s tackle your question directly. I have no problem buying used gear with some caveats. I will never buy a used phono cartridge. I will not buy speakers or amps more than 10 years old unless the capacitors have been recently replaced. Digital gear is changing so fast that last years best might not have the performance of the latest and greatest. You really have to look at the price. Something less than five years old at 50% off the original msrp I would consider. Same goes for speakers.Cables are in a different category all together. I have been delighted by some of the used cables I have purchased at terrific discounts.