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High-end Universal...Why? ?

I don't understand why we're still talking about the "age of uncertainty" and the need for a universal player. After the death of DVD-A, those with high-end universals are going to look upon the vestigal circuitry in their machines with the same obsessive disdain as they would a reptilian tail sticking out of their own rear ends. You know who you are. : ) I humbly suggest using your $4 to $12K and buy an SACD player.

Sure, many people's favorite music isn't out on SACD, but that's a ubiquitous problem whenever formats change. There are many Lp's that never made it to CD. Why will SACD win over DVD-A? Let's take the surround camp: even if 50% bought DVD-A and 50% bought SACD, (it's actually 3 to 1 SACD over DVD-A), you also have 2-channel high-rez camp buying SACD also, swinging the vote even further in latter's favor.

A disclosure: I own an SACD player.
jdaniel18ee

Showing 2 responses by rlwainwright

rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Ignorance is bliss for you guys, I guess. So be it. But remember, the audiophile tail does NOT wag the industry dog. DVD-Audio *may* succeed despite the poor roll-out of the product. And SACD *may* succeed if "regular" folks see real value in a high-res recording. However, most people I know don't care a bit about it - they don't listen as closely as we do, and they *never* will.

Frankly, based upon what I've heard on the various formats, I'd place my money on DTS as the eventual winner - sound good enough for the masses, multi-channel impresses most everryone, *every* DVD player supports it, and you can have full-motion video as a bonus. I'm bettin' both DVD-Audio and SACD dry up and die within 3-5 years...

-RW-
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
>> I believe there *are* many people who care about sound. To say otherwise is specious; otherwise why would anyone every buy a stereo system over $100? <<

Believe all you want, but the fact remains that SACD and DVD-Audio have almost 0 representation in the home of the average Joe. Yet that same Joe probably already has a DVD player capable of decoding DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound.

As for why anyone would have a > $100 sound system - c'mon, America is all about image - and nothing looks nicer (and impresses friends more) than a big home theater system kicking out the jams. Audiophiles are curious oddities to most folks, get used to it.

Game, set, match to DTS, I'm afraid...

-RW-
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