Buying top brands's older CD players: Pros& Con

Yea, think we've identified the major pros and cons. I run a Meridian 508.24. It's really old. But it consistently sounds as good or better than all manner of fancy, expensive, and "new" iterations of turning bits into music. Its a damn fine CDP, will give anything a run for its money, and can be had these days for relatively cheap. Full stop. Yet, the transport on that sucker has been unavailable for almost a decade. So, when it goes -- and some day it is sure to -- it's gone. (And no digital in, so when the transport kicks it, the DAC's paper-weighted as well). So there you have it: you can get truly world-class performance from a used, last-gen CDP these days for a real bargain, but for how long can be a real crap shoot and, not unlikely, a genuine zero sum game....

Not for nothin', but this reasoning (assuming it makes sense to you, which is certainly a matter of preference rather than objective truth or anything similarly fanciful) is precisely why I opted for the stand-alone DAC + separate (computer in my case) transport route instead. Mileage guaranteed to vary.

Thank you all for your responses; I am throughly forewarned and decided to wait until I can afford something much better than the Apollo; A player that is a relatively new model and will have parts for possible future repair. Jim

The problem with that plan Jim is that by the time you would require the repair the parts probably won't be availible anymore. Manufacturers usually design CDP's around current drives of the day, they buy some to use as spares for repairs, but almost every manufacturer eventually runs out of spares and a new drive design is needed. Unlike a computer, you can't just put any drive into a CDP. So a new model will have a new drive, but if the drive dies in 8-10 years, there probbably still won't be a drive sitting around for a drop in replacement.

Designed obsolescence, they do it because it works. See, you are now looking for a relatively new model. Hence manufacturers will continue to make parts become obsolete to encourage buying new(er). That is not just in audio, we are in general becoming a disposable society.

I use a Resolution Audio CD-50, it's more than ten years old but I haven't heard a cdp I like better and I have heard many. I purchased an extra laser to ensure the machine's longevity.

The cd-1 is no longer supported by ARC, just like the CD-2. The pickups are no longer available, so if it breaks (and break it will) you will end up with an expensive paperweight. If anything, look for ARC CD-3 or later - those are based on the cd-pro2 drive, which is still beeing made.