I bought a 1050 since I was tired of waiting to upgrade to a preamp/processor that would do all the things I wanted. A couple of years ago I thought the IEEE1394 or Firewire was the ticket to solve the HD audio and video problems, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

My understanding of Firewire is that it would work fine for such things as SACD or DVD-A, but is not capable of handling HD video or HD-DVD.

The latest I've heard is that yet another technology might be used: HDMI. HDMI is like a DVI connector, but can handle the higher throughput requirement that HDTV needs without compression.

There is more information at http://www.hdmi.org/.

Then again, who the heck knows what will happen. I want the issues regarding a standardized connector to be resolved before I purchase my universal player, new preamp, and a TV.

I also want a winning lotto ticket.