On 15 Apr 2012, at 02:14, JEFF SILBERMAN <ambis...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> Are things really that bad? I need to get out more often! I'm thinking that > the 99% own flatscreens by now. If a homebuilder is going to place an > electrical outlet on the wall suitable for mounting a flatscreen, he might as > well put in suitable-located outlets for in-wall loudspeakers as determined > by the location of the flatscreen. As rooms shrink in size and skrink in > number, I foresee the "media room" as the hub of all internet, entertainment > and telecommunications of the future. Since living space will be at a > premium, a wall-mounted flatscreen and in-wall loudspeakers will become all > the more advantageous. Lots of people do own flatscreen TVs, largely because they have become dirt cheap at the peril of the display manufacturers running huge losses. However, hardly anyone will have special outlets for these TVs, that's custom home stuff, i.e. 1% material. Most people have the flatscreen on top of a dresser, TV table, whatever. People combining their TV with some BOSE mini-cube speakers think they are high-end. A big factor in getting people to buy TVs these days are games. Even rather poor people with kids will get a Wii, PS, or XBox Kinect because it allows them to entertain their kids and their friends at home, which is still cheaper than trying to pay for all sorts of other activities. The issue is, anything that's solid state keeps getting cheaper. But speakers are electro-mechanical, and their price really hasn't come down much over the years. Today, good, relatively powerful and clean class-D amps could easily power at an affordable price a surround sound system, but getting a set of decent speakers unless you're a champ at bargain shopping is not easy. And if people have to choose between a bigger screen and better speakers, I think the screen will win most of the time... Ronald _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
