High end audio predictions and wish lists for 2021

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mdp632

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What a year it has been.

That being said, 2021 is upon us.

What are some of your predictions and or wish list items for 2021?

- More accessible line of gear from various high-end brands to expand (aka Magico A Series, Metiner MA-3, Soulution 3 etc..)

- More powered and accessible speakers to make their debut

- Network Streaming Dacs (More of them )

- Roon to offer some kind of "Cloud" product

- Physical Media (LP and CD) to remain strong.

- MQA (Much to many audiophile hate :-) to expand their catalog even further on Tidal.

- Shunyata and AQ to continue to lead and innovate in terms of cable technology.
 
We are going to see more affordable gear from Boulder, Audio Research, Meitner and others.

I’m certain Magico will have a surprise or two in store for us. They never rest on their laurels. I’m certain other world class brands like Wilson will be right there with them.

When network streaming DAC’s were starting out, we had Linn, then along came Lumin. Today, the field is completely packed with network streaming products from Ayre, Esoteric, MSB, Aurender, Meitner, Naim, dCS and dozens and dozens and dozens of others. We are even seeing network streaming DAC’s being incorporated into many integrated amps like NAIM Uniti, Boulder, SimAudio (Moon), etc.

AQwill launch a new line of IC’s and digital cables to compliment the existing power cable/speaker cable line up.

I have a hunch (just a crazy hunch) we might actually see a floor stander speaker from Harbeth??? Maybe?? Alan Shaw keeps hinting at something big coming on FB.

Probably a new product or two from VAC to fill out the middle section of their lineup.

We’ve already seen the existing new N30 from Aurender (pics posted online), so hopefully that comes out soon.

I would love to see Esoteric K-05XD and K-07XD!

Streaming and digital will continue to dominate 95% of my calls and conversations with customers!

Powered speakers are a tough tough sell, so not sure about that one.

We will continue to see companies like Taiko push the limits on digital with new upgrades for the Extreme and the rumored network switch.

I’m wondering when we will see the replacement for the current B&W 8 series D3? A D4 perhaps in 2021?

Shunyata I bet will continue to dig deeper into what is possible in the world of power and cabling. Maybe some Omega IC’s and Speaker Cables perhaps?

Trade shows will start to come back LATER in 2021 or may even wait until 2022.

Joe will continue to be the amp man, Coo Coo Ka Choo!
 
I’d like to see more moderately priced intergrated amps that aren’t detuned, so the separates have a sound advantage.
More streamers with better sounding internal dacs.
 
My hope is that the hi end manufacturer's recognize that their current pricing scheme is unsustainable (wealthy old white dudes only live so long) and will provide product that will address this issue (allowing more market saturation to budget minded music lovers) without substantially sacrificing sonic performance.
 
thedudeabides said:
My hope is that the hi end manufacturer's recognize that their current pricing scheme is unsustainable (wealthy old white dudes only live so long) and will provide product that will address this issue (allowing more market saturation to budget minded music lovers) without substantially sacrificing sonic performance.
Click to expand...

Dare to dream!

Ken
 
thedudeabides said:
My hope is that the hi end manufacturer's recognize that their current pricing scheme is unsustainable (wealthy old white dudes only live so long) and will provide product that will address this issue (allowing more market saturation to budget minded music lovers) without substantially sacrificing sonic performance.
Click to expand...

May not be from established high-end manufacturers because they can't bring their pricing down due to loss of face value. But I do think there will lots of new comers with gears sounding as good but in a more reasonable and rational price point, especially in the digital arena. Watch it out....
 
Maybe the Magico Q1 successor will finally arrive in 2021? The M1? Will it be a floor stander or a stand mount?

If Shunyata debuts a flagship line of Omega Speaker cables and Interconnects in 2021. We can guess that the major difference will be the QRBB module over the Sigma line.

If so, very interesting to read how that would affect sound quality. Almost like a "Networked" or MIT speaker interface. But, instead of using capacitors to store and release energy, it would use the QRBB device.

Does anyone predict that we will see more audio brands go direct in 2021? Ala PS Audio
 
thedudeabides said:
My hope is that the hi end manufacturer's recognize that their current pricing scheme is unsustainable (wealthy old white dudes only live so long) and will provide product that will address this issue (allowing more market saturation to budget minded music lovers) without substantially sacrificing sonic performance.
Click to expand...

Luxman?
 
mdp632 said:
Maybe the Magico Q1 successor will finally arrive in 2021? The M1? Will it be a floor stander or a stand mount?

If Shunyata debuts a flagship line of Omega Speaker cables and Interconnects in 2021. We can guess that the major difference will be the QRBB module over the Sigma line.

If so, very interesting to read how that would affect sound quality. Almost like a "Networked" or MIT speaker interface. But, instead of using capacitors to store and release energy, it would use the QRBB device.

Does anyone predict that we will see more audio brands go direct in 2021? Ala PS Audio
Click to expand...

PS who? No, in fact, I think PS Audio will be forced to reintroduce a dealer network. It was a terrible idea and I think they know it. Sub-$1000 audio gizmos can be sold direct. Sure. But if the only selling direct model was a “thing”, why isn’t Sony, LG, JVC and others doing it now? What about McIntosh too? PSA’s decision was a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face. They had some bad actors, they knew who they were, but they chose not to do anything about it at any time for any reason. In fact, they often made it worse by offering those bad actors better pricing if they bought 5 products instead of 1. Things spiraled out of control and they only have themselves to blame. Perhaps their only option was to pull the plug and let the dirty water drain out with the clean water.
 
thedudeabides said:
My hope is that the hi end manufacturer's recognize that their current pricing scheme is unsustainable (wealthy old white dudes only live so long) and will provide product that will address this issue (allowing more market saturation to budget minded music lovers) without substantially sacrificing sonic performance.
Click to expand...

People have been saying this for over 50 years. And you are totally wrong with your statement that the current pricing scheme is for "wealthy old white dudes." Last I knew, wealthy Asian people are driving the market for the very high end. As for "budget minded music lovers," there are already a plethora of products available in every price range.
 
There are large numbers of (now) 40-50 somethings with money still to burn from the first dot.com boom. As they age and spend more time at home and with families I suspect at least some of them will turn to home theater and from there to high-end audio. Even today, despite the pandemic, there are successful start-ups and even established companies now going public (AirBnB?) with many employees paid in part with stock and stock options who are going to have lots more disposable income.
 
My personal audio wish list for 2021 is likely to be (starting to) sort out the future of my digital listening pathway. Although I won't be embracing streaming in any significant way, current trends suggest that I should allow for it. Even without that, working on a server/DAC solution could be a bit of a challenge with regard to digital dingleberries (to use Mark P's favorite pejorative). Happily hardware is pretty well set for awhile :)
 
rbbert said:
My personal audio wish list for 2021 is likely to be (starting to) sort out the future of my digital listening pathway. Although I won't be embracing streaming in any significant way, current trends suggest that I should allow for it. Even without that, working on a server/DAC solution could be a bit of a challenge with regard to digital dingleberries (to use Mark P's favorite pejorative). Happily hardware is pretty well set for awhile :)
Click to expand...

More ""digital dingleberries " , but with them come real measurements that support the claims :D
 
mep said:
People have been saying this for over 50 years. And you are totally wrong with your statement that the current pricing scheme is for "wealthy old white dudes." Last I knew, wealthy Asian people are driving the market for the very high end. As for "budget minded music lovers," there are already a plethora of products available in every price range.
Click to expand...

Certainly some of the market is for the wealthy old white dudes and / or wealthy old asian dudes. Thank you for your rude, pretentious response. Appears you have an anger issue.
 
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