Do you buy gear new, used, both?

Except for cartridge and a pair of RCA cables I have nothing new in my system. And a few pairs of NOS vintage tubes.

Used gear, much of the time in the last dozen years. I took a break from two channel between 1989 and 2012. It was at that point my oldest son was heading to college and I felt that he needed a system for the dorm. That got me into buying used pieces to catch up with the pastime, mostly as a tourist learning about gear.

I was completely new to the idea of streamers on my return to audio. So the CXN V2, the CXN100, and the Bluesound Icon are all new. I've given two Bluesound Nodes as gifts.

My only new power amp is the CJ 62SE. An Aric Audio Unlimited II, which has been a test bed for 12AU7 tubes was new at the time of purchase. The turntables were both new. The Omega Super 8 HO monitors were new.

The rest of the gear across each system is used. Some of that equipment was sent to the factory for full servicing. I see that as the occasional cost of doing business.

I'm going to go to AXPONA to get a perspective on what's possible in the world of new gear, but I do like scanning the lists for interesting stuff that's for sale as used items.

Everything in my system is pre-owned or demo except for my phono cartridge and a few cables.

-Von Schweikert Endeavor SE speakers

-Dan D’Agostino Progression integrated amp

-dCS Lina Network DAC

-Clearaudio Performance TT with Tracer arm and Hana ML cart

-Modwright Ph9.0xt phono stage

-Pachanko Labs Constellation Mini SE server with Stellar power supply

-MasterBuilt, M101, Hapa Audio, and Audioquest cables.

The total MSRP on everything was $92,920. My exact out-of-pocket was $52,200, or 56% of list. Nothing was more than three years old, everything was cosmetically a 9/10 at least, and everything has worked flawlessly (except for needing to replace a tube in the Modwright phono stage’s power supply after about six months).  Everyone I purchased from was prompt, courteous, and an absolute straight-shooter.

I have no qualms at all about buying used hifi gear from audio forums where the sellers are well known.