How long should components last?

Goodness, I can't say as I've ever had a major failure in any of my equipment and that goes back decades! Even the California Audio Labs Aria (1987) tube CD player my father gave me as a hand me down still works perfectly and that includes the remote.

Now that I think a bit more however, I did have an ARC SP3a1 lose it's power supply, which was easily repaired. But you need to take into account they were built in 1975!

I believe what you went though, as disappointing as it was, is not the norm with most electronics. Better luck going forward!

Happy listening.

Leaving out mechanical failure I don't see any electronics typically failing. Certainly not something costing thousands. 

I'd question why - possibly your electrical service could be suspect - spikes or brown outs of power can play havoc with electronics at no fault to the device. 

E.

I've had a lot of low to mid end gear over the years that has lasted far more than 5 or even 10 years. Very suspicious. In fact the only item I've had over the last 40+ years that failed was a Velodyne FSX12 subwoofer amplifier module after about 20 years of use. The 12" driver is still is fine and I bought a BASH unit and had a friend build a cabinet for it as it just didn't fit in the location in the SW cabinet. Fine now.

Should last much longer than that...

For the past two months, my beloved Esoteric SACD player has problems with the drawer opening.  The thought of sending it across the country to TAP Electronics for repair scares the heck out of me.  I know it’s probably just a belt but I really don’t think a local repair guy could fix it.  There is also the cost of shipping this 65 pound  player which comes triple boxed. I still have all the packaging.  I am willing to bet when all is said and done it will be at least 800 to a grand to fix.   I bought the player new in 2012 but the build date is 2008.  It uses the Burr Brown pcm 1704 or is it 1702 R-R ladder dac which absolutely love.   Not sure what to do at this point and I have no interest in streaming services.  If I buy another Esoteric player, the prices are almost out of reach.  If I go used Esoteric, who knows how long it will last?  I already own 2 Sony music servers but the sound of that player is pure magic and totally engages me.  If I do have it fixed, who knows how much longer the laser will last.