And I admit I don't know everything in audio, but who does? The audio industry is constantly changing and new knowledge is always showing up, so there will never be a point at which a singular individual will know everything about anything audio.I would answer that with...
Some of us older dogs have seen many "new" and changing trends in audio over the last 30 or so years. But basically it all boils down to quality of source signal (low distortion), the quality of processing of that signal and minimal distortion at the point where the electrons meet the air (in the form of sound waves emanating from a speaker).
I had a pair of EPI 100's that were all the rage back in the late 70's/early 80's when a "bookshelf speaker" had a cabinet the size of a small cow. They sounded great then and they still do, but they were not "digital ready" when CD's first hit the market.
You see, the audio industry tried to convince everyone that they would need new equipment to play CD's correctly and "experience" the "digital difference". (That was when a CD player cost $3000.00). It turned out that no one really needed new speakers, or equipment. A good amplifier, was still a good amplifier and good speakers will always be good speakers, and only you can say for sure what sounds good to you! All you really had to do was attach a CD player and buy thousands of dollars of CD's and you would be fine... LOL
By the way, I still have those EPI 100's, they still have a warm place in my heart, but not in my HT system. I bought 7 timbre matched 95db Cerwin Vega's from they're LS line. (Now outdated as well). You can never stay in vogue!
Now it is way past the 80's, even beyond the 90's and Lo and behold, we do need digital processing for our new DVD DTS players and our HGTV signals and other sources of digital programming like satellite TV or Digital Cable. But our best amplifiers are still analog, at least this year...
Sony will be introducing they’re new all digital amplifier receivers soon in the US (already released in Europe). And I have two Clarion Digitally amplified subwoofers in my pickup truck. (Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks).
So, you are right, new stuff is always coming down the pike, but sometimes it pays to have a historical perspective to weed out the hype from the truth. You can only get historical perspective one of two ways. Reading history, or living it.
Geeze Whiz, I wish I could have been reading a forum like this in the 70's!
