Your component list, as drool worthy as it certainly is, is really a Christmas wish list rather than a dream of an audiophile future that's in the mold of Space 1999 or Sea Lab 2020. (I would add the Jetson's flying saucer cars in to that list of future advancements that have yet to come, if ever.)
As far as audiophile future visions go, the holy grail, it seems to me, is for absolute audio verisimilitude. Imagine that you were blindfolded and taken to some other physical location and seated. While still blindfolded, you hear music begin to play. At that moment, you believe that you are in a concert hall or other public venue listening to a live performance. After enjoying the performance a long while you remove the blindfold to discover that you have been listening to a reproduction in a domestic sized room. An completely convincing auditory illusion that's perceptually indistinguishable from reality. Is that even possible in a future along established technology paths?
History shows that once some desirable objective has been imagined, humanity usually makes progress toward it. However, progress does not mean that an ultimate objective will necessarily be achieved along some initially established technology path. Sometimes, an entirely different path must be taken. Perhaps, a completely convincing audio illusion will require some entirely different approach as well. None of that is to suggest that musical enjoyment isn't provided by today's equipment, it often is. However, there's a special pleasure in hearing what sounds like live music. That music doesn't even have to be enjoyable in itself. The perception of reality is it's own special excitement for the nervous system. That seems true for animals as well. My pet cat is rarely roused by sounds produced either my home theater or my music system. He instantly knows, however, the difference in character made by live sounds and responds accordingly.
As of now, it feels to me like current audio technologies on are a path of diminishing returns that may never fully realize the desired objective of a totally convincing illusion of live. The cost of some home systems today could purchase all the instruments utilized by symphony orchestra. An indication to me that our current home component technology path may not be capable of delivering a fully convincing illusion. I admit to having heard excellent systems which made an instrument or two sound momentarily convincing, but, certainly not all instruments, nor all the time. Perhaps, some future home system based on the advancement of current technology will sound totally convincing, but at what cost? If pricing of today's best components is any indication it will be in the millions of dollars.
Last edited:
