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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!
The Consumer Electronics Show begins this week in Las Vegas, and hundreds of new audio products have already been announced. Is there anything you're hoping to see from manufacturers?
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!
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.
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....
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.
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.