Arny Krueger wrote:

I'd buy gear with *that* level of performance, but not
with the published specifications of the day. There's a
difference.

Please explain further... ;-)

Reliability, simplicity, ease of maintenance, just plain sounds good.
Hiss and pleasant forms of distortion are not considerd problems 'round
these parts. Others may prefer brittle but hissless sound out of
something that will be unsupportable in a few years. Take your pick.

The newest stuff that I own and actually use will probably last a long
time - mic preamps, recorders, mixers, compressors. I'm on my third
computer since I got my Mackie hard disk recorder, and the Otari MX-55,
Revox A-700, Ampex AG-440, and Soundcraft 600 are still working plenty
good enough. I could do with a little less hum, but that's fixable if I
bothered.