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that puts new stuff to shame.
AKAI AT-2600 FM Tuner
And others that are still going strong and sound as good as the day it was made.
Phase Linear 400 Series I Power Amplifier
The "Honeyman-North" thesis.
While not about audio, it applies.
Wow. Do they require maintenance or service?
Lots of decent equipment from the 80s and 90s are still working and sounding good. Dynaco amps and preamps from the 60s are commonly rebuilt and sold for good prices and sound great. As does older highend equipment like McIntosh, Harmon-Kardon and such. Speakers seem to be the first to expire but these can also be rebuilt. My son uses a Denon receiver that I bought in the 80s sometime and still sounds pretty good. I have an Audio-Research Preamp that is 25 years old and sounds wonderful. Yes there are service requirments sometimes and the highend equipment is usually built in such a way that makes it possible to service. Lots of the newer equipment cannot be serviced and when it quits its all over. You need to find a local electronics tech who can help you pick well built equipment with good reputation.
The stuff you mentioned like the NAD models stick around for a few years and then get replaced with models very similar. So don't sweat it.
Stuff from more mainstream names typically gets replaced each year, but the similarities to last year's models are often indistinguishable. Still trying to find out if for example there's ANY difference between say, a Marantz PM 5003 and a PM 5004.
Even used stuff can be great because unless it incorporates some latest tech like the latest HDMI connectors (surround receivers ...) it's pretty much the same technology as yesteryear.
Look at it this way: computers only become obsolete because software does. Run 15 year old software on a 15 year old computer and that 15 year old computer is just as fantastic as when it was new, assuming your workflow/task expectations are still limited by what the software offers.
1) Do a modicum of research into your needs and wants. See what's out there.
2) Pick something and if you like it, keep it.
3) Very important---stop looking at equipment for several months/years and enjoy the music.
Your perception of how "fast" the industry moves will, in the short run, be influenced by your knowledge of it. So if a year from now you learn of stuff that seems wildly new, it probably isn't, overall. Again, unclench and let the music flow!