How Would You Know if a Receiver Revolutionizes Audio?

[EdwardGein]

Don't know if this is even possible but how would one even know if a company put a new receiver in the market that actually made audio quality (for DVDs, Cds & TV) so much better that there would be a night & day difference in sound quality from existing systems? Is that even possible or have we reached the point of diminishing returns? If there was such a receiver, how many of you would jump to buy it even if you were happy with your receiver?

[evil__betty]

The beauty of this hobby, is that whatever sounds good to your own ears is the stuff that you should buy AND enjoy. And because there are so many different variables in everyone's system (including room design, speakers, nulls, cables, source, etc), there would be no possible way to judge how 'night and day' the system was. Plus, I could think that the system was incredible, while you may think that it is mediocre at best. And whose system would we be judging it against?

[Geoffcin]

Don't know if this is even possible but how would one even know if a company put a new receiver in the market that actually made audio quality (for DVDs, Cds & TV) so much better that there would be a night & day difference in sound quality from existing systems? Is that even possible or have we reached the point of diminishing returns? If there was such a receiver, how many of you would jump to buy it even if you were happy with your receiver?

Unless the technology would significantly improve human hearing.

[GMichael]

Unless the technology would significantly improve human hearing.

How about a receiver that doesn't need speakers? It electronicly ecites the air molecules to create discreet sound from every corner of the room. Just don't stand in front of it.
It's a work in progress. I'll let you know when it's finished.

[edtyct]

Don't know if this is even possible but how would one even know if a company put a new receiver in the market that actually made audio quality (for DVDs, Cds & TV) so much better that there would be a night & day difference in sound quality from existing systems? Is that even possible or have we reached the point of diminishing returns? If there was such a receiver, how many of you would jump to buy it even if you were happy with your receiver?

If that happened, the company involved would shout the revolution from the rooftops. Most likely, it would not be introduced in a receiver, since receivers are basically convenient boxes to place functions that exist separately. Presumably the new electronic topology would make a huge splash. Advance warning would certainly precede it, and the new product would be strategically demonstrated for the press and other interested parties before release. Pros and enthusiasts would do intensive physical and aural research on it. If the result of the change were remarkable, other companies would follow suit as quickly and as effectively as possible, given any patent restrictions or any shortcuts made necessary by expense. After a revolution, the world changes forever.

"Revolutionary," in the sense of something that "compels" a buying decision, is always subjective. "Revolutionary" in AV technology is easier to identify without hedging, though differences in performance still generally remain in a recognizable realm. None of this stuff happens in a vacuum, and audio- and videophiles are people whose appreciation for incremental differences usually exceeds the interests, let alone the discernment, of those who aren't so devoted.

Now, most companies make outrageous claims about their sound quality. We take them, and rightly so, as just part of the landscape. At the moment, apart from differences in part quality, attention to detail, recognizable design variations, and price points, there really is nothing completely new under the sun. Unless somebody actually does come up with a mousetrap that works on principles truly innovative, we go about our business evaluating components along well-known pathways.

In the video world, how many people want to give up their current HD sets for one boasting the "increased resolution" touted by HP's wobulation? How many people will scuttle their perfectly good LCoS or DLP sets for an expensive SED one at the end of the year? Depending on your definition of the term, all of these developments may qualify as technologically revolutionary in the small sense.