Ah yes.
Well, I've never been one to exactly follow the status quo. However, features like HDMI capabilities are something that I would gladly amass to.
Honestly, I find the older equipment to be better built in some respects, and have much better audio quality in general.
One case in point are older Fender amplifiers from the 50's-70's. Old tube amps, point to point circuitry, heavy construction. Equipment that was built to last.
Now, the newer models of some of the "reissues" are made in Mexico, the amp plates seem lighter, circuit boards that are supposed to handle 6V6 current and voltage (reference to the Deluxe Reverb which can have about 480VAC plate voltage
). Doesn't add up to me. I'll keep my original '69 thank you.
To me, it makes sense. The business trend today versus what was even ten years ago has vastly changed in the electronics market. Remember computers? They were starting to move to plastic cases, but a lot of the 386's I worked with were still metal, 10 lbs or more tanks. Televisions, like our old RCA Colortrack 2000, were still assembled or made in Japan (IIRC) (save for the picture tube which came out of good old Marion, IN) lasted for 17 or so years, and weighed quite a considerable amount. VHS players were still on the market that had build quality and performance that warranted (IMO) repair should something go wrong, as opposed to the VCR's that come out of China weighing less than a loaf of bread (oops, that's DVD players, but still applicable).
And, what of audio equipment you say?
In many ways, I view the midrange/upper end of audio equipment of the 90's to be very well thought out and excellent performing (obviously there will be exceptions in every category fathomable). Some would say the 70's were better in terms of audio equipment; in certain instances, I agree. But, it was really a year in which I look at and go "THD wars".
However, it was also a time in which audio reproduction became widely popular, and also brought about by advances in transistor technology. See: cheaper and better sounding with advancement.
I tend to avoid most 80's instances with logic control, as they didn't quite get the hang of it.
The 90's though. Transistor technology was pretty much stable, integration of logic control was pretty much sorted out, and DSP was starting to come out (but still useless to me). I forgot where I was going with this so fill in this sentence with an enlightening story about kittens saving the world, or making a Wendy's Premium Fish Sandwich.
But, even so, more nowadays, 90's equipment or even newer equipment can be had for cheap just because of the "throw it away" and upgrade schema.
But, to me, the price of performance, durability, quality, and performance can't be matched with newer equipment. I just wish my DSP-A1000 had HDMI, and I would probably be in bliss.
