Vote

This is fantasy right? Mine would be a "player" to "play" discs like RR's HRx at a budget price. Wish I could afford a Boulder 1021!

I would like to see Magnepan demo products that they will actually make available for purchase. For years now, they have been demoing speakers that sound terrific, like the ribbon center channel and the mini-Maggies. Now there's the 1.7, which supposedly has the kind of frame that Maggies have always needed. Just try to buy any of these products. If you figure out how, let me know.

More competition and choice in FireWire DACs for our Macs, from low-cost units such as the Apogee Duetta to top-end gear such as the Weiss Minerva, preferably, all with Amarra support. Also, a FireWire cable from Locus please, Lee. FireWire is the industry standard and is good enough for production and studios, so why not for us humble folk who finance it all with our hard-earned, music-buying bucks? Failing that, how about an affordable version of Sooloos & Meridian DSP loudspeakers?

I want to see Matan Arazi's finalized server (the prototype I heard this summer was already fantastic) driving the new Magico Q5! I'd also like to see the new Ayre D-5xeMP. Finally, I'd like to see an external hard-drive with passive cooling and a linear power supply (does anyone make this?) Passive cooling for quiet and linear power to keep RF nasties away from my audio system (the battery on my MacBook Pro keeps my system's power pure on the computer side). Cheers!

1) 24-bit audio (distribution formats, general proliferation...), 2) More network media players (audio & video).

Want a free business idea? SACD done with the Netflix business-model. We all want instant SACD-quality everything, but that is not here yet, so, for now, why buy? Seriously, why buy software?

A basic valve two-channel preamplifier with a balance control and subwoofer output. Is that too much to expect? Tone controls would be an extra, but don't tell the purists.

More audio streamers—for example, by Krell.

HDMI DACs with room-correction in the digital domain.

An affordable music streamer capable of wirelessly streaming both standard and high-definition files to my DAC.

More universal disc players providing SACD and Blu-ray playback, although we do have several choices now from Oppo, Denon, Marantz, and Cambridge Audio. I don't see a unit with built-in WiFi and SACD capability yet.

Music-only Blu-ray discs from major labels with major artist albums in high-resolution stereo and 5.1 audio.

Network audio made simple and attainable.

A DAC available for PC installation. How cool would that be?

A fast and accurate way to copy all of my CDs onto a home server (no PC please).

High-rez (24/192) downloads of popular and back-titles like HDTracks is doing for a niche market.

I'd like a high-end integrated amp, 7.5% lower price on Harbeth 40.1 loudspeakers, a high-end tuner, and a turntable which fits into this setup, amen.

Better pricing? Balanced perspective?

A recording format that sounds like real live music.

More turntables.

Cheaper and better digital music servers. I've finally accepted that digital is the future, as long as you make mine lossless.

Real-world pricing that reflects build costs and a reasonable profit. Let's face it, none of these companies are inventing the wheel all over again. Let's get the mainstream back onside with a value proposition they can relate to.

I would like that people would think about music files like virtual sex—a loser's job. Let's get physical!

Computer file playback from servers.

How about a receiver or integrated amp with good performance, a volume control knob, a tuning knob (receiver), a tuning scale or readable display, tone controls adjustable by hand without punching through several menus and modes and defeatable with a prominent switch (not all material is perfectly recorded, and not all listening is done at full volume, so some adjustment ability is necessary), and a real power switch? Eg, something with modern performance-levels but otherwise like what we had before the time of remote controls with a bazillion buttons too small for 4-year-old hands, energy-vampire standby instead of off, and a blank front panel with perhaps a tiny display that can barely be seen from 3' away, and an unlabeled (at least visibly) collection of buttons and rocker switches. Oh yes, and at a price that's affordable by somebody with a family who makes less than $250,000 a year. I know, dream on....

Like most people, I'm interested in power cords in the price range from $50,000 to $100,000.

A box that streams high-definition audio content from my music library from a generic, standard server and renders that content in a way which is easily integrated into my home theater system. This box should also allow me to use its superior D/A conversion for at least the two front channels when viewing a Blu-ray concert. Once again, the interface into the home theater system should be simple and seamless.

A Blu-ray player that plays CDs and never locks up.

Green high-end products that sound better than anything else.

I'm hoping to see more audio and home theater components assembled in places other than China. There are so many anecdotal reports on the Internet of unreliable, under-performing, or unsafe Chinese A/V components that I prefer to avoid the lot of them and buy gear made in North America, Europe, or Asian countries other than China.