Your oldest gear?

Had the Koss PRO 4AAs and yes they were very uncomfortable. The AKG K240 was much more comfortable and better sounding IMHO. My oldest piece is a NAD 4150 Tuner, quite a disappointment after owning the superb NAD 3140 integrated amp.  Not sure why I kept the tuner all these years. I also kept my Kyocera A-710 integrated amp and still use it in a second system.  It sounds great to this day.

Stupid perfectionist that I was, I chose the Koss Pro4A back in the 70s instead of the lightweight Sennheiser foam model.  The Sennheiser floated comfortably on the ear but did not seal out external sounds so well, allowing for a less pure sonic experience.  I could not wear the Koss for long and did not use them much.  Years later, I paid up for a pair of Stax electrostatics and kept them until the foam rotted away.  Just walking around with Airpods these days.

I’m a big believer in FULL FEATURED Preamps, often all manual. I use a Chase Remote Line Controller for Remote Volume, directly or optionally thru a tape/processor loop. Mute is nice also. 

what do you do for remote volume? 

Happily, it has Remote BALANCE also, what a treat that is.

Was just listening to my late 60's Garrard Lab 80.   Amazing it still works.  

My ears will be 70 years old, come March.

. . .still all original parts. . .