How future proof are your home entertainment systems?

[tron3]

Your immediate knee jerk reaction may be to quip that no piece of home electronics is future proof. More thoughtful responses will point out that many of us are enjoying prolonged "like new" status with the advent of firmware updates. Oh, how we love a good firmware upgrade. Then there some audiophiles who are fond to point out their BOSE super stereo speakers, and wot not, are still going strong after 20 or 30 years. Face it, everything gets old even if it isn't worn out.

We all go through the "my stuff is better than yours" phase. Some of us may recall laughing at LP record and 8-track tape owners because we had cassette which was the future. Still others were CD affectionados and simply chirp laughter under our breath for people with anything less. "Boy, glad I never bought into that." Then there is the MP3 generation who only think of CD's as a backup and don't wish to own them, just borrow them to make their MP3's or d/l them from your favorite web site.

I was too young to adopt records, or 8-track tapes. Cassette was barely used except for sheer personal use. And I never bought into CD's though the storage capacity is what impressed me. I was "lucky" enough to buy a VHS player and have it become the winning format over BetaMax. But, my VHS video collection couldn't be more than about 20 various tapes with dozens more used for personal recording of TV shows.

I finally bought into DVD when my brother bought me TRON on DVD in liue of paying back the 20 bucks he borrowed. Being a favorite movie of mine for obvious reaons, it finally prompted the purchase of DVD players. I thought I was smart because I KNEW that one day all tv's would be widescreen. So, I only bought widescreen DVD. Today I hold DVD with nearly as much disdain as I have for VHS. Thank you Lord for blu-ray.

The younger folk are lucky for not having to bear the burden of owning obsolete technology. After all, this is the piracy age. Get almost anything you want off the internet for free. Or copy it from a friend. You are the "throw it away" generation who rather just buy new when that two year old unit breaks but could be repaired. Yet remember, that iphone and great ipod one day becomes a relic of the past - like Sony's AM/FM Walkman with cassette!

Yep, the "medialess" digital age certainly is fool proof, isn't it? That is until your hard drive crashes and you lose everything.

[Beta Man]

I'm sticking with my immediate knee jerk reaction that no piece of home electronics is future proof.


honestly though.... My speakers, which were recently acquired, will probably provide me with many years of enjoyment (maybe not my "Main" system the whole time.... but they'll be around. My last speakers were no where near the quality, and I kept them for 10+ years, so I'd guess my new setup will be good for 15+ years, except for the receiver, BD player, etc.

I love CDs, SACDs, and Blu-Ray, but I'm still actively hunting down Vinyl (the Best media, as you all know ) Hopefully I won't feel the need to upgrade my speakers anytime soon, because I honestly don't see speaker advancements really moving too fast, and there are still 15+ year old speakers out there that blow mine away (at a price though!)

I lost track of all the questions.... but nonetheless, I like to type "nonetheless" so there you have it (another favorite) as I venture off into some strange tangent..... or is it tangeant..... arghh... the humanity!!!

[BStecke]

Sorry to be OT, but Beta, I've seen you post about your new speakers all the time, but I just realized I never found out what you got. Wha' choo got, mang?

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by BStecke

Sorry to be OT, but Beta, I've seen you post about your new speakers all the time, but I just realized I never found out what you got. Wha' choo got, mang?

Since Thanksgiving, I upgraded twice....

Started with some B&W 705's and HTM7 for the center.... and got the 686's for surrounds.... They were great.... well... about a month later I decided I HAD TO HAVE some 703's (I had listened to them for HOURS in the the showroom, and they told me to take them home and try them with the rest of my stuff.... so of course... I returned with no speakers, but with my credit card ) At the same time, I decided to get some DS6's for surrounds (so now the 686s are sitting idle)

At one point I lost three tweeters in two weeks time due to the Nanny's 3-year-old daughter... so I've corrected that situation......... I had a whole thread about it.... (very sad, believe me!!!)

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=42172


And ultimately my sub (a Cerwin Vega, Sub-150) began to die (it needed upgraded anyways) so I picked up a Definitive Technology 14" reference Series (it POUNDS, but I'm still thinking about downgrading to a ML Abyss, or even a Dynamo.... I've listened to both, and actually prefer them to my Def Tech, they're far more musical for my tastes)


I don't take good pictures, but there were pictures of my 705s and HTM7 (not a good placement for a center channel..... it's gonna get placed on the B&W stand that I already have, as soon as we get into our new house) in the Home-theater Pics Thread.... but I'm not "search Savvy" enough to find them!!!!

Here are a couple pics though.... You can see the home-made "Plant-Stand" speaker stands I used for the 686's for surrounds..... worked out really well actually!!!! Tappered legs (special table-saw attachment etc.... all credit goes to my father) The Xbox 360 (which is now gone) was bought for my Wife's brother..... I told him to take it home, and we got him a t.v. for his birthday

speakers.jpg

Surround.jpg

About a month ago (maybe 3 weeks... who knows... time flies) I got a set of B&W M-1's for the bedroom... no subwoofer though..... just wanted a little more sound when watching movies at night in bed.




EDIT: That was a NYG game, I think it was a MNF game... can't remember what one though.... so that may help date the picture, but it was probably soon after Thanksgiving, as I purchased those speakers the day-after thanksgiving.


EDIT #2.... the room was obviously a mess!!!! the 686's don't look too impressive with the grills on eh? The white thing in the corner was a humidifier, because our son, at this time, was probably a month old or so......

[BStecke]

Very nice! When I no longer get a disount off of Magnolia's stuff, I think B&W will be my next stop. For what I got my Reference's for I couldn't justify buying anything else. Good setup

[Crème Blu-ray]

I got all new stuff back in February, so I'm probably good for 10 years ... or until OLEDs reach today's plasma price points, which ever comes first. If I move to a bigger place before then, I'll put my current system in the new bedroom.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Crème Blu-ray

I got all new stuff back in February, so I'm probably good for 10 years ... or until OLEDs reach today's plasma price points, which ever comes first. If I move to a bigger place before then, I'll put my current system in the new bedroom.

Yeah... I should have mentioned I'm still rocking the 37" Aquos ..... 720p .... that's "O.G" right there

I want a new t.v. and I'm pricing some stuff out..... it might not be in the cards though. For what it's worth, I'm very happy with the PQ etc. I get from my 720p set.

[Intamin]

Well, I have a 7.1 receiver now, so I figure that should last a while, and with the PS3 firmware updates, I hope that keeps me up to date for a long time to come. I also chose my receiver for the 1.3 hdmi on the off chance it ever gets utilized. So while I know I'm not super future proof, I'd like to think I'm set for 5 years, I hope

[musicman1999]

Good speakers, power amps and cd players can last for a very long time but processors and receivers are only current for a couple of years if all the fancy features are important to you.

bill

[tron3]

After some thinking it over, I'm recognizing there are more essoteric things which keep technology future proof.

Obviously the Sony BDP-S300, and even the mighty PS3, will soon be replaced with better renditions of themselves. However, as long as these items continue to play blu-ray, they are never completely outdated.

Obviously BetaMax and VHS are dead and buried because they are not supported. DVD is quickly growing long in tooth. It has plenty of bite left because DVD still out paces BD, but the day comes DVD players are completely obsolete. Now that blu-ray is the new sheriff in town, DVD has lost all "future proof" allure.

Things like speaker systems age gracefully because, well, how much better can speaker technology become? They are already under utilized with CD bit rates, and minimal HD audio in general. Play a record on those babies and the improvement may shock you.

[masob98]

Im pretty sure my system is a little outdated, except for my ps3. I have an older 1080i projector tv. My receiver is a 5.1 system that doesn't support the new high def formats. Im not complaining I still have a good time watching and hearing bluray on my system. It will do for a little while. I wish I was loaded like you all, but oh well I'll just have to save up. But we'll see X-mas aint really that far.