This is how I look at it Rusty,
The used 1993 Fet Valve preamp price is $695, the used 1996 Fet Valve DAC is also $695.
Base on the 1996 new price list the preamp was $849 new, the DAC is $899 new. That means the 1993 preamp only decreased by 18% (if I dug up the 1993 price list, it probably would have had a lower %), and the 1996 DAC only decreases by 22% comparing to the new price.
Since this is 2007, using an inflation rate of 3% a year(it's probably higher)which is how much less our money is worth now as opposed to 1996, it's probably closer to half price for the preamp and a little less than half for the DAC.
Then the current market, both AVA prices and the market in general, what does $700 buy.
And how a product depreciates based on it's original quality and long term comparison to similar products.
Like a Camry's(built in America) depreciation compared to an Impala or Taurus.
What is the blue book value on these used equipment, I wonder.
You can go to Audiogon, they give you "blue book" values, but you have to pay to join to get them
It also works both ways, I just traded in a Super Pas 3i on a T8. I was really surprised how much Frank gave me, I thought he was being VERY generous, but then after checking it out on the bench, he resold it for more than I got on the trade. It made it easier for my purchase and someone else got a quality used piece of gear and Frank made a couple of bucks which is always good when your in business.
I've heard some people complain about his upgrades. I'm not sure what they expect. You send in a 10 year old piece of equipment, reuse the chassis and save $3-400 on what a new unit would cost. It's even good environmentally. It seems to me to be a rare win/win type of deal.
Probably the biggest piece of all of this is sonically what you get from a piece of AVA equipment for the money whether it's new or used.
That's my opinion, for what it's worth, not much.
