Not to say about the bad ears of the people 'designing' amps and speakers! There's definitely gold in some of that older stuff. During the summers, i'll take a drive past the various garage sales and see what's laying out on the lawns. Never know what someone's selling for fractions of pennies...
I quite agree Jack and I don't think maintenance would really amount to all that much...even a total tube replacement is pretty nominal...that is, unless you don't want it to be.