Good reading and many intuitive conclusions. It seems to me the price of gear has remained constant as have the price/savings ratio of used equipment inclusive of CDP's. Much study would be required to test jim's hypothesis. The only constant here is that the industry does have real concerns over the aging population of $$ bearing enthusiasts.
One cannot argue over the convenience and security (redundancy) of having built a computer audio system. I agree that both CDP's (Reference Quality & otherwise) will still co-exist for some time to come - 'lowrider".
That said, it is perplexing when one begins the process of evaluating the choices available (Music Server, MS/DAC, USB Convertor/PC or Mac based, etc... I am laughing at this point.
I think it was all just a matter of advances in digital that both formats benefited from and the new kid on the block (PC audio) simply stole the limelight from the oldboy, CDPs, until some folk took notice of just how good they can still sound. - Spot on Nonoise!
Personally, having owned Esoteric gear in the past, I was thrilled they were bold enough to offer, I believe the first, swiss army knife of sorts solution; offering reference quality in one unit for both CDP playback and CA capability. I would venture to say this is the direction the market is likely headed moving forward.
It will certainly be interesting to see if the "x"/"y" and Millennial's adopt a taste for quality over content in the next few years.
One cannot argue over the convenience and security (redundancy) of having built a computer audio system. I agree that both CDP's (Reference Quality & otherwise) will still co-exist for some time to come - 'lowrider".
That said, it is perplexing when one begins the process of evaluating the choices available (Music Server, MS/DAC, USB Convertor/PC or Mac based, etc... I am laughing at this point.
I think it was all just a matter of advances in digital that both formats benefited from and the new kid on the block (PC audio) simply stole the limelight from the oldboy, CDPs, until some folk took notice of just how good they can still sound. - Spot on Nonoise!
Personally, having owned Esoteric gear in the past, I was thrilled they were bold enough to offer, I believe the first, swiss army knife of sorts solution; offering reference quality in one unit for both CDP playback and CA capability. I would venture to say this is the direction the market is likely headed moving forward.
It will certainly be interesting to see if the "x"/"y" and Millennial's adopt a taste for quality over content in the next few years.