Only the pre/pro gets dated quickly. The rest of HT doesn't, as much. Many think of a pre/pro like they think of their personal computer or mobil phone if they have one. They get dated quickly. We all know that. So plan accordingly for their fast dated-ness if that's a word.


[This message has been edited by Will (edited December 05, 2002).]

HTC: check out the Jolida cd-100 tubed CD player... it makes almost all CDs sound better.

While I do understand your frustration, I have to disagree with you on some points.

Yes, HT can be readily changing, but we are at a time of transition in the HT world. VCR's were the standard for close to 20 years. Now DVD is becoming the standard, and hopefully WILL be the standard for the Next 15 years or so. Yes, we may be seeing blue laser technology come into play. But honestly, I doubt that it will be nearly as revolutionary as the movement we are seeing now. Higher quality needs to be pretty high in order to make a major dent in the consumer base (dont believe me...I work for a TV station. We aren't scheduled to switch over to a Digital HDTV format untill 2014. I guarantee you that if people demanded it we would switch over within two years. The quality...although superior to the NTSC signal that you recieve now...just isn't "revolutionary" enough to make people demand it. It's not like the jump from Black and white to color. (even that took a number of years to switch...but the demand was far higher then HDTV).

People have embraced DVD for a variety of reasons, mot of them have been features that VHS and other formats did not have. Quality is a rather minor issue to the greater public. Honestly the thing that made me a DVDphile was the directors commentary, the instant scene access, and the numerous features that DVD's had. Afer I purchased a player, the elivated quality made VHS viewing a huge let down. In short DVD forced me to become a connosuer of Home Theater. (It promply led to me spending a few years testing speakers before I finaly began my love affair with Paradigm.)

My point is this. While at this time in consumer history it may appear that things are changing at a rapid pace...that's just the way consumer electronics are during technological changes. Just imagine back in the early 80's if you purchased a Beta player (which my aunt did...) Five years later you would be bemoaning your decision not to buy a VHS deck. If you purchased a reciever in 1995 wich didn't hae digital inputs, or Dolby Digital and DTS decoders (which I'm not certain if they were around then...but I imagine that they probibaly were) you would be bemoaning the fact that you need to buy a new one today.

My point is that your compairing LP's to HT is rather a moot point. You are compairing a technology that became an industry standard for nearly 40 years to a newly developing technology. Yes, they can keep adding more and more speakers untill it's literaly wall to wall and floor to ceiling. But at some point (and I think it will be fairly soon due to the market penetration that DVD has) there will be some point that you can say "This is it" and realy expect it to stick for the next 15 years or so. Heck, for the most part you could just say this is it and be done with it with a 5.1 or 7.1 system. If you want the best and most new fangled system you'll never TRUELY be done with it. There's always some new spin to lure unsuspecting consumers in. Some people will be perfectly happy to say enough is enough. Joe Six-pack is fed up with having to buy a computer every time microsoft releases a new OS. I dont think that he's going to jump at having to buy a new HD-DVD player after just dropping good beer money on a DVD player and reciever (unless god forbid he saved up for a Bose system...and sees the light).

Just my uninformed opinion.

Jason

[This message has been edited by fmcorps (edited December 08, 2002).]

Howdy All:

One of my 'hobbies' is tracing the history of Hi-Fi, and collecting vintage gear. I have a collection of Hi-Fi magazines from the 50's, and one theme runs through them all: everyone is bemoaning the rapid pace of technological change and the rapidity of obsolescense of their gear. The change from 78 RPM to 33 1/3 rd, Mono to Stereo, new amplifiers and speakers, acoustic suspension speakers, tape recorders, and the fact that they had _several_ equalization standards for their mono LPs before the RIAA curve finally became the one standard (sound familiar?), triode vacuum tubes verses pentode vacuum tubes, FM, then FM stereo. It's really fun to read what the audiophiles of the day went through. It was just as messy as it is today in so many ways.

Food for thought....

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited December 08, 2002).]

The preferred recording medium was wax cylinders in Edison's day, 125 years ago. You can see a replica of the first phonograph at http://www.tinfoil.com/tinfoil.htm

Same experience, same regrets, also forgot about regrets when I went for an FP (got the Sanyo plv70).

I also already had a dedicated 2 ch preamp.

BB

It just seems that technology allows the changes to come much more frequently. In the past 10 years we have seen everything from cassette tape, MD, DAT, DCC, MP3, WMA, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, Pro Logic, DTS, DVD, SACD, DVD Audio, VHS, Betamax, Digital VCRs, Laserdisc, CD, NTSC, EDTV, HDTV, RPTV, DLP, LCD, CRT, plasma, Dipole, Bipole, direct radiating, PVR, Satellite TV, Cable, webtv, Composite, S-video, Component, RGB, DVI, Coax, Optical, Coaxial digital, etc., etc.

Many of these technologies have been around for longer, but they have all been players in the last 10 years. The convergence of technologies inundates us with formats and buzz words at such a fast pace it truly becomes a hobby just to keep up with them.

I'm not complaining... change is good! It's just a little overwhelming.

[This message has been edited by SayersWeb (edited December 10, 2002).]

Judging from how slowly DVD's are adopting even DTS, I think the formats already offered on the 950 are going to serve well for a good number of years.

The other revelation I've had, now that I have my new front projector, is that big sweet 12 foot picture takes alot of your attention away from the sound anyway. The sound becomes more like icing on the cake.

I think my original objectives worked out pretty well in that I wanted dependibly excellent sound (which the 950 delivers), with enough cash left over so I don't have the sensation of watching a 32" movie in the middle of Carnagie Hall.

Merc, I've heard good things about the Jolida but since I already have a good CD source I'm looking more for a passive pre (or active with unity gain). Have you found a good one yet?

Which projector did you buy?

The Outlaw forum may possibly be the best place to follow technology. The folks that post here are knowledgeable and civil. I think I have gotten more useable information from the postings here than the other places I/we frequent. No one has some agenda pushing their favorite equipment and even people who purchased equipment other than Outlaw still contribute.

I did want to comment on my experience with the evils of front projector viewing.

I got involved in a local home theater group in Atlanta. I visited several folks home theaters. (None compared to soundhounds though). Several are regular posters on AVS and swayed me to a CRT projector. When I finally got it set up and going, I have turned into a video junkie. One year ago I stumbled on this website looking for an inexpensive pre/pro because I thought I would enjoy watching movies in my “music room”. I assumed I would be listening to mostly music and now find myself a videoholic. A terrible disease I have yet to find a cure. I used to watch a video a month, now I have Netflix sending me movies at a shameful rate. Now I sometimes listen to music in the theater.

So HTcrazed, I certainly appreciate letting the sound immerse you in the movie. I would love to have more DTS offerings. I watched a JVC high def VHS on a digital projector in the local home theater store. The picture was awesome. Perhaps the HD format on DVD will be the next real revolution in home theater.