indeed I was trying to point at a lower price for the used product, and also how often would a DAC require repairing or service?
It depends on who is making the DAC. I think you're overlooking the importance of upgrades, for example, software, firmware, and or hardware upgrades. For example, the upgrade from Pavane L1 to L3, which Metrum offered, is one which many buyers welcomed and took advantage of.
Take certain products of Schiit Audio, for example. I got my Yggy A1, used, in July 2016. Since then, I can think of at least 4 productions that have been very consequential for the life of my Yggy : 1. the Schiit Eitr release; 2. The release of the USB 5 module; 3. The Analog 2 upgrade, 4. The USB Unison module release.
My Yggy has benefitted from all these productions, many of which have had transformative effects on the, now Yggy A2's quality and performance. The Yggy I got in July 2016, is now undergoing what I consider to be its 3rd important transformative makeover, in the form of the Unison USB module, which I already have in hand and shall self-install one of these days
Also, my Yggy has gone back to Schiit Audio on 2 upgrade trips, and each time, it has returned "re-baptized," so to speak, with a new, and freshly reset 3-year warranty, and dare, I say, a new lease on life.
The point I am making is that none of these important transformative upgrades would have been possible had Schiit Audio simply closed shop, and vanished into thin Air in August 2016, the same way Metrum Acoustics has allegedly done now...
In the case of Metrum Acoustics, I bet those who got the Pavane L3 upgrade were very happy with it, and would have welcomed even more such renovative enhancements, had Metrum Acoustics remained in business, and alive to offer such upgrades to them...
I think with any DAC that sells for more than $2K, the modularity that enables such substantial upgrades and enhancements to take place, is a very desirable cost-effective way of prolonging the youth, freshness, not to mention the resale value, of the product. To eliminate such advantages with the disappearance of the parent company, along with other forms of customer and technical support, is quite devastating in my view, even if the DAC itself does not develop technical problems that would require fixing for a long time.
Accordingly, my Onyx is currently feeling like an orphan deserted and abandoned foreven by his parents, and I am sure he is not pleased at all