1. How do you buy your high-end audio products today? Why?
On-line. I've been around audio for many years, so I do remember a time when you could go to a speciality outlet. For where I live at least that's no longer an option, so I have to purchase exclusively on-line. To a certain extent that suits my personality and style, but I do miss being able to walk into a store and actually see/hear something before I plunk down money on it.
2. What three consumer electronics products in the market today are you most excited about and why?
1) Home Theater - the capability of the components today, and the low relative cost of the vast majority of them, make me think we (the consumer) are in a very good position. You can now configure your audio in a manner that simply didn't exist just a few short years ago, so even marginal components can be made to sound good.
2) Hand Held Devices - while I'm not a fan of table computers I am a fan of the tremendous number of functions certain other hand held devices have been able to achieve. Specifically cell phones; they have so many capabilities that they've rendered other electronic devices virtually obsolete, and they've done so in just a couple of years. Truly remarkable pace of development.
3) Broadband - the level of network performance every person can receive at their home is staggering. I'm a computer engineer, so I know what it takes to build that level of capability. The advancements in broadband in just the last 10 years are completely astonishing, and have enabled us to access information at an almost unheard of level.
3. What is your most treasured audio component?
That's like asking me which of my kids is my favorite.
But if I were forced to choose I suspect it would have to be my classic Denon equipment. It consists of a PMA-700V integrated amp, a TU-600 tuner and the DCD-820 CD player, all of which have the optional rosewood side panels. They're as gorgeous today as they were when I bought them 25 years ago, and every single one still works 100% to this very day. It's only being used for 2 channel stereo now, but they're still going strong.
4. What areas of the consumer electronics industry (specifically audio/video) do you feel are untapped and offer the most potential from new technology?
OLED's. I'm completely enthralled by this technology, and it's almost limitless market potentials. I suspect this area will become very lucrative in the not too distant future, and will usher in a new wave of video devices.
