Heck there is a recession going on in the US. And major consoles are dead. You'll see them for a few more years in major studios. But eventually analog console will be a thing of the past, and we will be running strictly digital boards in all studios. Especially when you start eq'ing ********ly high frequencies, like you can with DSD and DXD. I might be worth getting a good digital board at this time like the SSL Matrix or the Neve Gensis, or even better a Euphonix board. Besides those boards I might actually consider paying 20 k for a nice large format console like a G board, but I won't pay anymore then that since they aren't warrentied, they kill your electric bill, if anything breaks down they will be insanely expensive to replace, and they don't control your software, and eventually being able to get anything will be difficult since they use lead for specific parts. (And I love that board trust me). Oh and yeah....try finding someone qualified to service them. There is another headache.
For a lot of us (including myself) chanage will be difficult and slow since a lot of us are set in our ways and like the feel of analog. But if I were you I might invest in a really cool digital board and save your money for outboard gear, unless you are thinking about getting something like an AWS. By the way this is just an opinion and not ment to be fact. I wish you the very best on your search.
