Question Longevity of HiFi gear.

[Gray]

My first CD player was a Marantz CD 6000OSE KI

A good player for a first one 👍
Still got mine. Its sound sharpens up a bit (in a good way) when put through an external DAC.
Even so, I can't imagine too many people being unhappy with its own analogue output.
Can you remember what it was that you didn't like about it John?

 

[Friesiansam]

My Quad FM4 tuner is 40 years old next February.
Working well and fortunately not a throwaway item - in its life I've replaced the mains transformer, a logic IC, a couple of electrolytic capacitors and the backup battery....but I really wouldn't fancy my chances on much of the modern stuff.
View attachment 5462

View attachment 5463

I used to work in electronics and looking at the soldering there, if I did work like that (on a lot of the joints, the solder has not run through properly), I wouldn’t have kept my job for long.

 

[Revolutions]

I used to work in electronics and looking at the soldering there, if I did work like that (on a lot of the joints, the solder has not run through properly), I wouldn’t have kept my job for long.

Makes me think about a friend in NY who is still building p2p amps & pedals. His work is an art in itself.

*edit* forgot image for reference 😬

 

[Cricketbat70]

Ah, I see. Your not being cruel at all, just honest. I apologize for this inappropriate assessment of your listening needs as a couple. That's a shame for Rach, but I guess we all live with things the way they are.

No need to apologise. To be fair I get frustrated because sometimes I turn my music up but if an instrument/voice is just the wrong frequency it really hurts Rachel's ears and I have to turn my music down again. Hearing loss is a strange thing.

 

[barcpc]

To be honest I don't know any CD player that relies on rubber bands in the mechanism to last 15 years

Agreed, CD player I will not expect to last more than 10 years without some repairs

 

[Gray]

I used to work in electronics and looking at the soldering there, if I did work like that (on a lot of the joints, the solder has not run through properly), I wouldn’t have kept my job for long.

That may be true 👍
My work was in electronic servicing - concerned with repair rather than manufacture.....and as such I can confirm that none of the faults during its 39 years were due to the soldering (so I might argue that you'd have been unfairly sacked 😉).

Here's the solder side for your inspection:

 

[Friesiansam]

so I might argue that you'd have been unfairly sacked 😉).

Not when you consider what I was working on though, for example, boards for antilock brake controllers, for the first Virgin Pendolino trains and other devices going in to high vibration environments.

BTW, the solder side does look better.

 

[Gray]

Agreed, CD player I will not expect to last more than 10 years without some repairs

My expectations are based on experience.
Though, I can see I've been lucky, only the one broken cog in decades of owning Sony, Philips and Marantz CD players.
My Philips CD recorder must be due to fail, 25 years after first use in 1998 - because that has burned as well as read, hundreds of discs.

 

[JDL]

No need to apologise. To be fair I get frustrated because sometimes I turn my music up but if an instrument/voice is just the wrong frequency it really hurts Rachel's ears and I have to turn my music down again. Hearing loss is a strange thing.

Yes it is, my sympathy to you both. My father suffered with it and he found it hard to cope with sometimes.

 

[plastic penguin]

Seem to remember Rega have had their fair share of issues going back years with humming on the Elicit-R amp and turntables in particular. This is one reason that's choked me off the brand.

Given they started making only turntables they now produce most two channel components - too many eggs in a tiny basket IMHO.

 

[matthewpianist]

Seem to remember Rega have had their fair share of issues going back years with humming on the Elicit-R amp and turntables in particular. This is one reason that's choked me off the brand.

Given they started making only turntables they now produce most two channel components - too many eggs in a tiny basket IMHO.

I've mostly found Rega kit OK, but I had two turntable PSU failures (quite common I believe), and hum issues on a Brio-R (corrected by the dealer re-routing some internal wiring). A long, long time ago I also experienced read error issues on one of the original full-width Apollo CD players. I had no such issues with the Apollo-R, and no hum on the Elex-R beyond what most similar amps (including the competing Naim Nait 5i) have. Having said that, my current Denon doesn't create any hum at all.

I agree they may be spreading themselves too thinly. They have now discontinued the Apollo CD player, and it's some time since they made a standalone DAC. They also haven't entered the streamer market.

 

[DCarmi]

They have now discontinued the Apollo CD player, and it's some time since they made a standalone DAC.

They started designing the Apollo when LP sales were in steep decline, so it would have been sensible for Rega to look at alternatives to keep them viable. Now that there is more demand for vinyl systems, it makes less sense for them to maintain a CD presence. CD sales in the US at the time Rega first made CD players were around 800 million and vinyl sales negligible. Now US sales of CDs are 33 million which is less than current vinyl sales. (I don't have UK sales figure to hand.)

The DAC allowed them to incorporate their learning into their amps, so that makes sense and you needed DAC technology in CD players (generally).

There is no point them moving into streaming, especially when you can buy decent streamers for under £100 and the market is swamped with plenty of all-in-one systems. You also generally, need software support for streamers which is a new skillset you'd have to buy in.

 

[plastic penguin]

I've mostly found Rega kit OK, but I had two turntable PSU failures (quite common I believe), and hum issues on a Brio-R (corrected by the dealer re-routing some internal wiring). A long, long time ago I also experienced read error issues on one of the original full-width Apollo CD players. I had no such issues with the Apollo-R, and no hum on the Elex-R beyond what most similar amps (including the competing Naim Nait 5i) have. Having said that, my current Denon doesn't create any hum at all.

I agree they may be spreading themselves too thinly. They have now discontinued the Apollo CD player, and it's some time since they made a standalone DAC. They also haven't entered the streamer market.

I seem to remember when a couple of people complained about humming amps and turntables Roy Gandy came on here to give advice. It's a shame as Rega generally produce good products.

Similar issues were happening to Roksan and Cyrus CD loading issues -- this was the early days of slot loading with the latter.

 

[nopiano]

I seem to remember when a couple of people complained about humming amps and turntables Roy Gandy came on here to give advice. It's a shame as Rega generally produce good products.

Similar issues were happening to Roksan and Cyrus CD loading issues -- this was the early days of slot loading with the latter.

It was somebody called Paul Darwin, not RG himself. Haven’t noticed PD here recently but maybe the mods will know.

 

[SteveH72]

It was somebody called Paul Darwin, not RG himself. Haven’t noticed PD here recently but maybe the mods will know.

Paul no longer works for Rega. I think he’s retired. He was active on other forums.

 

[matthewpianist]

It was somebody called Paul Darwin, not RG himself. Haven’t noticed PD here recently but maybe the mods will know.

I once met Paul at an Audio T vinyl evening when they launched the flagship aethos, RP8 etc. Lovely guy.

 

[plastic penguin]

It was somebody called Paul Darwin, not RG himself. Haven’t noticed PD here recently but maybe the mods will know.

Yeah, you are correct sir. It was years ago. I think Roy has now retired.

 

[Mark Dunlop]

Well, I bought a Rotel CD player in 2003 - it was 10/11 years old then. I replaced it 2022, having only replaced the rubber band in the opening mechanism, and it still worked fine. I've also had a Yamaha amp since 2005 which still works. I've also had a Sony amp (sub £500) that packed up after about 18 years. Basically, if I'm buying something in the "hundreds of pounds" bracket, I expect it to last until I want to replace it! I have never bought hifi equipment in the "thousand pounds plus" bracket 🙂

m.d.

 

[RobSys]

Previously I had an Audiolab 8000C pre amp that lasted some 25 years plus before it gave up the ghost.

Now I have a Cyrus One amp that's only about five and a half years old and both the power switch and the volume control are playing up!

So much for current gear longevity...!

 

[Gray]

...if I'm buying something in the "hundreds of pounds" bracket, I expect it to last until I want to replace it!

You speak for me with that statement Mark 👍

 

[JDL]

Interesting discussion on another thread.
How long do you expect hifi equipment to last?
Whilst items like solid state amplifiers should do well and certain manufacturers offer a very long warranty on their kit, although these are limited to the likes of Mark Levinson etc., how about other items like C D players, speakers etc.
Will be interested to see your thoughts on how long you expect items to remain fully fun particularly those with some mechanical elements.
And by that I mean without having to do anything to it.

I have a few 90s CD players. Only models that were and are very highly regarded. One of them I had rebuilt for peace of mind.
I don't own or watch TV at all. I'm a musician since early childhood and am a classical music enthusiast. Many times I might be listening to music for 16 hours a day for several days consecutively.
All my CD players (4 of them)were selected very carefully and they all work flawlessly for hours and hours at a time.
I know this sounds crazy, but I enjoy having a collection of old high quality CD players purchased cheaply.
My speakers are early 90s B&W 805s They're fantastic in my opinion. They sound far better than any of the very modern speakers I tried in the last couple of years.
My amp is a current model that had 10 months guarantee left on it when I bought it secondhand.
With the excellent quality but old source component(s) and old speakers there's definitely no mismatch.
I believe my system sounds wonderful and would gladly let anyone come and listen to it and give me their honest opinion on the sound quality.

 

[jetblack9090]

You speak for me with that statement Mark 👍

 

[jetblack9090]

I don't know I guess it kind of depends, I have two systems in my home. Firstly I have a modern system consisting of a mixture of audio research components and emotiva, secondly I have a vintage system in a bedroom. The vintage system consists of a mixture of Yamaha, Marantz, Fisher, Akai and Sony components.

Now the majority of my vintage system has been restored, but even still after anywhere between 30 years of age and 60 years of age in the case of some of my vintage components they're still going strong.

Now my newer system is all effectively new or I should say components are no older than about 10 or 15 years. The audio research equipment is exceptionally well made and I envision that gear to last for quite a good number of years before it needs any sort of servicing or work, if audio research product history and general customer consensus is anything to go by. The emotiva amplifier I use is US made and generally the reputation of the company is such that I envision the amp last just as long as my partnering audio research gear. Plus the amplifier itself is of a modular design so if something were to go wrong with the left channel for example I could simply get a replacement output module from emotiva and slide out the broken one and slide in a new one, and I've been informed by emotiva that they have spares for years.

You know the general consensus seems to be that" they don't make it like they used to" but I don't necessarily agree. I think it's all price driven and I think of you pay good money and purchase quality products then those products will last for decades to come. Obviously if you buy junk well you know what you're going to get.

 

[Oxfordian]

When talking about the length of time that products should last one should also take into account how the item is used and stored.

I try to look after my gear but sadly I didn't look after it that well when I stored it in my loft which unfortunately had a leak and soaked the kit, not much lasts in those circumstances.

Of my new gear I expect all of it to last at least 10 years, the TT and speakers maybe 20 years.

My issue isn't really over the length of time that items last, it is about the ability to get it serviced/repaired at some point in the future, parts within an item can fail and being able to get this is rectified can improve the longevity of the item.

From my meagre knowledge of the HiFi world I am unsure how many companies could service one of their products now even if it was a relatively young 5 years of age. I believe that Linn, Naim, Rega and probably a few others can look after products from yesteryear and beyond but if you look at the kit you have how confident are you that each manufacturer could facilitate a service or repair on those products?

 

[JDL]

When talking about the length of time that products should last one should also take into account how the item is used and stored.

I try to look after my gear but sadly I didn't look after it that well when I stored it in my loft which unfortunately had a leak and soaked the kit, not much lasts in those circumstances.

Of my new gear I expect all of it to last at least 10 years, the TT and speakers maybe 20 years.

My issue isn't really over the length of time that items last, it is about the ability to get it serviced/repaired at some point in the future, parts within an item can fail and being able to get this is rectified can improve the longevity of the item.

From my meagre knowledge of the HiFi world I am unsure how many companies could service one of their products now even if it was a relatively young 5 years of age. I believe that Linn, Naim, Rega and probably a few others can look after products from yesteryear and beyond but if you look at the kit you have how confident are you that each manufacturer could facilitate a service or repair on those products?

I believe when things are over five years old you can take them to independent Hi-Fi repair specialists. They'll get hold of the parts they can. If you look at some of the adverts these guys run, they tell you that they might well be able to get hold of the parts that the manufacturer says aren't available.
There's always hope anyway that maybe you'll be able to keep a unit running if you want to.