Do you buy new, used or new or used gear?

My system is based on a refurb amplifier from the manufacturer, new speakers bought at a discount on ebay and a purchased new 26 year old sub, I tend to buy used source equipment but am not willing to buy used amplification or speakers older than 10 years.

I would buy new, used, even demonstrators as long as they worked correctly, and cosmetically they dont' have scratches.

Electronics don't wear out like a car.

@cey 

this can be time consuming. asking prices are often nowhere close to value, so it requires a lot of patience or a lot of acquaintances who actually want to sell something

Yes, absolutely.  Stereo gear is like a car... it loses a lot of it's value when you open the box.  If you bought an amp for $10K, use it a year, to me, that's worth about $4K as long as everything is in order and it comes with the original box (primarily because I won't have a warranty).  But when I look online, guys want 80% of the original cost, for something that's still being made, which is unserious.

I prefer to buy equipment new or used based on how fast the technology is changing. Amps and dynamic speakers tend to be pretty mature tech so buying used works for me. Digital, power conditioners and cables are all evolving pretty rapidly and I am too impatient to wait for used gear. It is in these areas where I lose money (have to add new money to the hobby).

Pretty much exclusively preowned. I don't get the impulse to own the latest & greatest. Usually purchase well taken care of electronics 8-10yo and speakers, well my oldest set is 60 this year lol.