I gave my post some considerable thought last night. I have been pretty grumpy the past 2 or 3 months due to the finance mess, but I have to say I stand by what I said.
I was reading through a couple of the newer issues of the HT mags I get that I just haven't had the chance to read. There's nothing that really excites me. They review a $4K receiver that has limited upconversion abilities... or a $3K unit that has less then steller scaling... I mean what is that? For that kind of money, it should do it all. Then there's companies who still can't seem to get their stuff out there even after a year of being pushed back. I joined here about year ago and was already waiting patiently for the new Emotiva processor to arrive already past it's promised arrival date... it's been a year now and I still don't think it's coming.
HTPC's... the lossless audio is still not really here... or at best it's a mystical kind of thing that requires too much time to really even consider. There's still not a single comprehensive software solution for HTPC... you still need add-ins for this and that and have to have this run in the background, blah, blah, blah.
TV's... sure the price has come down... I bought to 40" displays for $1800 out the door with extended warranty, but who cares? They should be even cheaper. To me it's like the last 10 years of tubes... it was basically a homogeneous product and you based your decision pretty much on price and which cabinet looked best.
Here's some things in the HT world that would excite me:
1) An RF version of the Haromony One or something similar that provides a slick looking remote, easy PC based programming, that simply does what it should for about $250.
2) For HTPC, I'd like to have single program based setup that does everything I need. Maybe the new Media Center will do that. I don't want to load or use 5+ programs to what I want. I shouldn't have to use Media Monkey to archive my discs, PowerDVD to play a movie, etc. One program should do all of these things well enough to work. I should be able to use CableCard to get rid of my box, I should be able to record what I want, when I want, how I want, and I should be able to do it easily... enough so that even my wife should be able to look at the menu screen and do it.
3) HTPC based remote. This has been on my mind for some time. Why can't I have my laptop or my HTPC be my remote. Why can't Logitch, URC, whomever, make a program and USB box that will allow my computer to be my remote and send the signals?
4) HTPC cases. They still don't get it. They're either stupid expensive, or stupid to put together. You shouln't have to go online to find the list of work arounds to get the things to power up and down correctly or make this display work and that function happen.
5) For LCD's and Plasma's... there's more than enough really nice 40 to 50" displays. Concentrate on bringing the price down on those to where a 50" is in the $1k range for a solid everday tv and then a "higher end" model in the $1,500 range that actually offers something to warrant the extra $500 beyond just a nicer glossy bezel. From there, come out with 60, 65, and 70"+ models that people can afford. We don't need 50, 51, 54, 60, 61, and 63" tv's. Standardize the sizing and get on with it.
6) Speaker bore me. I've come to the conculsion that the reason I like B&W 801's so much is because they have some style. Where's the innovation? I was talking about this last night with my neighbor and his wife overheard and made kind of a funny point. She said, maybe the speaker people need to hire some gays. She's got a point. Where's the flair? Where's the asthetics. I love my def techs, but everytime I look at them I can't help but think of 2001 a Space Odyssey. Make them into a piece of furniture that can actually increase the visual value of a room. I think B&W's do that, some other do as well, but a lot more should.
7) I'm bored with technology of half measures. The blu-ray thing went a long way to killing my motivation. Putting out high end and very expensive players that didn't even meet the current spec was just insulting. I know the early adopter crowd is fine with that, but it was very different than when DVD came out. They were expensive at first because they were new and came down in price. BD came out expensive, stayed expensive, and didn't do all that it was supposed to. How do you justify a $1K+ bd player equiped with less than profile 2.0 when there's $400 players with the very latest in specs putting out similar quality PQ? Or how do you justify the same high dollar player not being able to decode DTS-MA while others can for hundreds less?
8) Digital Music. I"m torn about this one because while I love being able to go to ITunes or where to grab some crazy *** song I used to love in high school I hate the idea of paying more than cost/per song of a cd and getting substandard quality. I'll pay .99, but I should get CD quality. I still want to buy CD's though, and it's just stupid that they still cost so much. They should be $5 at this point.
