But there's definitely the old, buy it used and, if you don't like it, sell it even or at a profit. Lots of good equipment to be had in that @5 year old range that used to be rated class "A" and is now a stone cold bargain and won't depreciate much below the current going price for many more years.
There was a thread on Audiogon about someone looking for a good, used 5 year old speaker in the $20K range. He figured he could get a $30-40K speaker for that and live the dream. The reason he had $20K to spend is because he'd been doing this every year for thje last 15 and reaping a profit at each turnover, buying a deal, giving it a go, and flipping it to someone else who really wanted the piece.
With that kind of time and used equipment psyche he'd been through sets and horns, and solid state and planers, and tubes and cones. Been there and done that was what he said. A real hobbiest, but I couldn't help feeling bad that he never felt satisfied enought to say "I'm done", even with all that good stuff. His answer probably would have been that it's all compromized in one way or another, and it's all amazing in one way or another, so when he gets bored with one thing he just moves to something different.
Sounds a bit like Topround, methinks.
