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High-end stereo prices will "deflate" the same same rate as the rest of the ecomomy. Gas prices, house prices have fallen—high-end stereo prices?
Will it be more of the same or is there a big development lurking around the corner? What are your audiophile predictions for 2009?
Active cross-overs and their benefits will receive more coverage in mainstream mags like Stereophile, and more manufacturers will actually start producing such systems. Audiophiles will wonder how they dealt with their passive systems for so long.
2009 is the 10th anniversary of Super Audio CD. I predict that Sony will finally introduce the format to the general public with SACD boom-boxes, SACD portables and more than just one model of SACD car players. Audiophiles have had SACD to themselves for long enough, it is time the masses get to hear what all the excitement is about! I also predict that by Christmas 2009 single-layer CDs will be no more and all CDs will have an SACD layer. I also predict that MP3 downloads will be a thing of the past. All downloads will be lossless and many will be 24 Bit 96kHz PCM. Possibly by Christmas 2009 we might have more hardware support for DSD downloads. Maybe not this year but perhaps 2010 we will have iPods that play 24 Bit 96kHz PCM and possibly even DSD. This of course may not actually happen but one can only hope.