It's not just about long term viability of the company. It's also about who has a track record of orphaning older product. In that light most companies have issues. For example:
Wadia - try getting service on older gear, particularly transports.
Sony - transport parts for the SCD-1/ SCD-777 are becoming scarce
Krell - transport problems turned at least one of their SACD players (can't recall the model) into a boat anchor.
Esoteric - parts for older transport mechanisms (P2 and P2S in particular) no longer available.
Mobile Fidelity - see earlier posts
Economics will pressure even the larger companies to drop support for older gear as quickly as possible. As audiophiles are a niche market I believe we'll suffer most.
There is some good news. I have an older Pioneer PD-S95 transport that is still serviceable. Pioneer seems to support its older models. Any others?
On a whole electronics are supported much longer than mechanical items such as transport mechanisms. One could make an argument that the PC/MAC based music server with a good DAC might be the best bet over the long haul. It's easy to upgrade computers over time, and CDROM drives are easily replaced.
Interesting topic.
Wadia - try getting service on older gear, particularly transports.
Sony - transport parts for the SCD-1/ SCD-777 are becoming scarce
Krell - transport problems turned at least one of their SACD players (can't recall the model) into a boat anchor.
Esoteric - parts for older transport mechanisms (P2 and P2S in particular) no longer available.
Mobile Fidelity - see earlier posts
Economics will pressure even the larger companies to drop support for older gear as quickly as possible. As audiophiles are a niche market I believe we'll suffer most.
There is some good news. I have an older Pioneer PD-S95 transport that is still serviceable. Pioneer seems to support its older models. Any others?
On a whole electronics are supported much longer than mechanical items such as transport mechanisms. One could make an argument that the PC/MAC based music server with a good DAC might be the best bet over the long haul. It's easy to upgrade computers over time, and CDROM drives are easily replaced.
Interesting topic.