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VTL deLUXE preamp. Had it for almost 20 years and counting...
Sometimes we get lucky and find a product that turns out to stay with us forever. Which audio product has spent the most amount of time in your system?
Bryston BP 25 preamp—everything else has been updated since I bought this, but there's been no reason to change. I've never had the feeling that anything happens that distorts the signal in the preamp. Electrons go in, a few more come out, but the bigger signal is a copy of the little one, and it sounds good.
The Magnepan SMGc speakers.I don't even remember how long ago they were purchased...sometime in the mid nineties,I think.These little guys still amaze me and others every time the music goes round.I really think you'd have to spend a good deal more to seriously better the sound,at least in my listening room.
My Systemdek IV Electronic turntable with Manticore arm has been in my system since I bought it in '89. It originally was fitted with Ortofon x5 mc cartridge and then several Sumiko BPSes and finally an Ortofon Kontrapunkt a. I'm now looking to replace it, but as of now it still sings everyday!
Not long after I bought four "The New" Advent Loudspeakers in 1977, I got married and had kids. I didn't buy any more main speakers or much else serious big boy toys until my kids got most of the way through college. I detoured briefly through a pair of Bose 901s (I didn't know any better!!), but held onto the Advents. Sold the 901s on eBay only a year after I got them, and I finally gave the Advents to my oldest daughter in April this year, so they're still in the family 30 years on. Oh, and I love the Vandersteens I bought to replace the Advents.
Yamaha NS-1000M speakers. B&W 802 Nautilus came close. Wilson Watt/Puppy fell on its face. running all Audio Research Corporation head-end equipment with satisfaction, but the speakers I feel will never go. I'll still listen to new speakers, but in the 22 years or so I've run them, their berylium mids and tweets are still magic!
Velodyne ULD-15. I bought it in 1989. Once I replaced the existing crossover resistors and amp caps with better quality ones, the noise went away and the sub now mates very well with my M-L Ascent i's. It surprises even my most critical audiophile friends.
A Primare D30.2 cd player. A real world beater, it sounds fantastic. I recently bought a very expenseive Marantz "Reference" SACD player (SA-7S1), which has given me some problems from the outset. The Primare I've had for years - works like a dream, and kills my much more expensive Marantz. Oh well, I guess I learned that expensive really isn't always better.