142 Years

Ashra, my guess is that your system is one of the more *experienced* in this forum. A 39-yr old amplifier? Whoa! What amp is that, is it updated, and which speakers are you using?

Most of my gear is from the current decade, but I do have an old reel-to-reel deck or three, an old AR turntable in a second system, Klipsch Chorus speakers from 1990, and an amp from the mid/late '80s that sounds quite impressive.

I'm also hanging on to some vintage Dynaco tube gear for sentimental reasons. It's nice stuff, but I don't think it compares that well with my more up-to-date gear.

That said, there are some speakers a few decades old that can still sing mighty sweetly when hooked up to decent components and wiring. Old Klipsch, Acoustats, and Infinity RS-1bs come to mind, and I'm sure there are many more.

Party on!

There was a thread somewhere about the oldest piece of gear in one's system, which, in my case, is a Thorens TT from around 1974/5. Anyway, if you like the sound of your gear, and it's working ok, why bother? One other thing: how more components in one's system, the older the total will look.....

If you like it then why waste the money on newer stuff. I would, however check out newer speakers, or at least take a close look at the cones to see if they are still capable of holding the magnets in place.

Many of the newest speakers will be a nice improvement.

My gear is still so young I have to spank the amps to make them breathe.

My dad, however, has a very venerable system. The Heil ESS AMT-1 speakers and the SAE amp and preamp all date from 1974. That's 90 years right there. A Heathkit tuner that's 25 years old. A Denon turntable that's about 20. Call it a total of 135 years in just five components. Compared to that, Ashra, your system still has all its own hair.

The nice thing is Dad still listens to music on that system every day, and gets immense pleasure from it. Whenever it broke, he fixed it. If it wasn't broken, he didn't. To him, it's all about the music.

The speakers (magnets etc) and the turntable(new springs, belt etc) have been checked out. When I change speakers I'm partial to the Vandersteen Signature 3As. The reel to reel has new belts and fresh lubrication. The amp has new Svetlana KT88s and imput tubes. As much as I enjoy the power and pre(lots of imputs) amps, I think they are my weakest links. I think I want to go the tube pre and SS power amp route. Any suggestions would be great.

My current system must be getting up there as well. Let's see: Here is my current setup:
Pioneer SX-1250=27
Thorens TD145=25 (approx.)
JBL L100's=30
Yamaha Cassette deck=20
Yamaha CD=17
Total of 119

Other stuff that I have laying around...
Marantz 2238b, 27
Kenwood KR-7600, ~26
JBL 4311's, 27
SAE A7 integrated, I think about 25 y.o.
Matching T7 tuner
Another set of L-100's, 30

Some day I'll have to break down and buy something new.