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Longevity

Darren L

Darren L

Egalitarian
I'm soon to be moving house and (fingers crossed) I'm hoping to convert an adjoining double garage into a dedicated music room.
Once the work on the room is finished I'm hopefully going to assemble a *new system.
My current system is all 20+ years old, with exception of the record player which has all been bought new over the past two years, the preamp has been recapped, the poweramps upgraded by the designer/builder. Everything is sounding good and looking fine.
Ideally I'd like a substantial 'upgrade' in sound quality but of equal importance to me is to buy equipment that's going to last another 20-25+ years. I don't want to appear morbid but really I'd like the next to be my last.
I know no one can predict the future but my question is what brands would the PFM massive have faith in lasting or have faith in the manufacturer standing over there product? I would have no problems picking various components to build analogue front ends, and probably will have a few different record players as that's where my passion or interest centres.
I have a few in mind, namely Rega for the digital front end in the Isis CD player.
My current amps are Copland CTA 301 valve pre & Michell Alecto mk2 monos upgraded by Trichord Research. Speakers are SF Concertos.

*New, doesn’t necessarily have to be new as I would consider restored, rebuilt or refurbished classic equipment, like Radford, Leak, Tannoy etc.
 
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The tech stuff like Dolby Atmos etc *will* go out of date before it stops working.

Classic hifi that is well made will work for decades with a little love. Main system here is Roksan Xerxes, Naim amp and speakers, sounds wonderful, all 20-30 years old.

Tim
 
Once the room is done I would definitely look at active ATC speakers, as big as possible which will work in the space. This will reduce the box count & give you all the power & insight required.

Interface between speakers, room & power amp makes the most marked improvement IME.
 
Do nowt until your current system is fully installed in your future auditorium as you simply won't know how it will interface with it. Likewise anything else, so best to take one step at a time. If your incoming is in that garage, it's a good opportunity to have dedicated supplies to your kit.

Wonder how garage music will come across....!
 
mega lord said:
Simple old fashioned engineering with no added bells and whistles is what you need.
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Agreed. Audio is IMHO mature technology. With the exception of the digital stuff not only is my kit fully documented with schematics etc, but I can in most respects service/restore it myself, and I have done. If anything goes wrong catastrophically I’d maybe need to ask for some diagnostic assistance, but a real strength of this and other sites is such knowledge is given freely. As ever Right To Repair.

Given the well documented proven reliable classic kit I own already I’m tempted to take the stance that anyone looking to sell me a new amp or whatever can stick it up their arse if there isn’t a full schematic in the box! My vintage Leaks, Quads, Passive preamps, Verdier etc are just so easy to keep running why would I want something locked-in and secretive support wise?

I’m confident I can keep my TD-124 running indefinitely. I know exactly what I’m doing service wise and have a good stash of spares. Likewise speakers; I have a spare pair of bass cones for the Tannoys and Lockwood have just started remanufacturing compression drivers, so these are looking nicely future proof. The JR149 and LS3/5As use currently available Falcon T27 and B110 drivers. If these ever look to be going out of production I’ll likely buy a spare set.

That done the only variable is CD/SACD replay. I have an Apollo-R as a transport as I trust Rega more than most to have spares and long-term support. My DPA DAC is lovely, but not essential. If it failed in a way I (or Martin Clark!) couldn’t fix I’d be perfectly happy with any number of second hand Chord DACs or whatever. This brings it down to SACD replay, and that does concern me long-term. It is the only area of my current systems I don’t view as acceptably future-proof.
 
Mike Reed said:
Do nowt until your current system is fully installed in your future auditorium as you simply won't know how it will interface with it. Likewise anything else, so best to take one step at a time. If your incoming is in that garage, it's a good opportunity to have dedicated supplies to your kit.

Wonder how garage music will come across....!
Click to expand...

Yes Mike, goes without saying that I'd set up my current equipment to establish the sound of the room and then change one item (or two if speakers and monoblocks) at a time. There is power and light in the garage but I'm sure I'd take the opportunity to add a dedicated circuit for the system.
 
I would add this to post no. 2 that defines a long lasting equipment :

-make sure it has a good quality volume pot such as an ALPS Blue Velvet or better
-no flimsy relays
-thick and robust boards
-and easy to service to allow for a full recap without hassle

Naim chrome bumper fits in this category but others will do as well.
 
Who says longevity is confined to legacy components?

Dynaudio's Core series of active speakers was developed with a 20 year projected professional usage life.

Dynaudio also state that the Core series has been designed with both longevity and consistency in mind, knowing that their professional clients expect equipment to remain in continual service for decades. They also want to be able to mix-and-match speakers from their equipment stores without worrying about stereo matching issues. So the Core loudspeakers have been designed for a minimum 20-year working life and the manufacturing tolerances guarantee matching within 0.2dB for every speaker. For that reason most outlets are selling the Core 7 as individual speakers, rather than in stereo pairs — simply because pair matching is unnecessary!

Got to say the Core 7 looks interesting for midfield, home usage. With a nice valve pre perhaps?
 
RoA said:
Who says longevity is confined to legacy components?

Dynaudio's Core series of active speakers was developed with a 20 year projected professional usage life.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but are they serviceable independently, i.e. should Dynaudio no longer exist in 20 years are there schematics and a supply-chain for any bespoke chips etc? There’s nothing in a vintage Quad or Naim amp that you can’t buy from RS or wherever. That is why they last. A modern active speaker, especially ones with digital EQ etc, are a rather different prospect. Nothing inherently wrong with digital technology as long as it is properly documented and parts are available, e.g. I recapped a 1980s Sinclair ZX Spectrum recently, replaced the keyboard membrane (third party ones are available), and it works exactly as it should again.
 
Accuphase, Bryston & Luxman come to mind. Naim as well, if to your taste.
 
The most vulnerable components in my system(s) are the 2 x Nakamichi cassette decks and the Naim CDS; everything else is serviceable.
 
Longevity is no longer a priority.
Most new hi-fi stuff that uses loads of CMS components, multilayered PCBs, an internet connection, LCD screens and microprocessors with switch mode PSUs probably won’t work in ten years.
It will be found at the tip with two year old mobiles and laptops.
My vintage hi-fi will. Even the old Philips CD300 and Sony CDP-101 CD players!
 
If I want kit that is well built and will last decades I'd look to the big Japanese brands. I'd doubt I'd buy British, though I might consider British-designed kit made over seas.
 
Be wary, even today’s big Japanese manufacturers use CMS, bad caps and software based components.
Go for simple, traditional manufacturing with linear power supplies and no exotic or bespoke components that won’t be available in 5 years…
I’m not sure that say Naim will be able to repair their fairly complex Unity products in 10 years. Do ask.
 
Reliability/serviceability/company history counts for me a great deal - I'd rather have a great sounding piece of gear from a well-established company than something that *might* be *slightly* better from a new company that might not be around in a few years (or less).

I think many of the companies that come to mind have been mentioned - Luxman, Accuphase, Rega, etc. I'd add Exposure and Naim (excluding the Uniti, etc., line) to that list for amplification, Linn for the LP12, etc. The only American company I can think of that has been around a long time, is still seen by some as being at the forefront, and can still service things back to their beginning is Vandersteen, which seem to be thin on the ground in Blighty.

Tough to offer concrete suggestions. It's been a long time since I've heard a Copland, but thought it very good even if was too expensive in the US market to compete well. And have never heard your amps. I will say I think you're wise to go the Rega Isis route, as they have stockpiled spares for each one, which is about as close to a guarantee it will last a long time as it's possible to get. And it's also been a long time since I've heard Concertos - in a much larger space I'd think you might want to consider floorstanders from SF to keep a similar family sound while being able to drive the space better. (I'm not one of those who like to simply add subwoofers; for whatever reason, they've rarely done it for me - the YG Acoustic Sonja with subs being a notable exception, but YMMV).
 
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