The idea of interchangeable cards is not new and many manufactures use them. If used correctly they could save the manufacture money and provide the end user with more configuration options that would fit their needs better. It may also be possible to do that within a reasonable cost.

The replaceable cards would be more for offering custom configuration options then upgradeability.

Rather then create a Hugh box and back pannel (See 990) that will support every connection that anyone would every need or more to the point, every connection that they wll never use, you could order the Pre/Pro with only the connections you need now. That would save HT real estate and the manufacturing costs would be off set by not having to include 18 S-video and composite connections on every Pre/Pro they sell.


See the link below of a receiver that has some removable components.

Onkyo back panel