| Editorial April 2002
Market Diversification
There’s a definite trend in home-theater electronics.
I’ve noticed it gaining momentum over the last couple of years, though just recently
I’d say it has hit its stride. I’m talking about market diversification. It has
nothing to do with your portfolio, but it is a healthy phenomenon in my estimation. And it
may just affect your finances.
Over the past year I’ve seen a number of
groundbreaking products hit the home-theater market. They’re exciting because they
accomplish two goals at once, and both are important for today’s consumer. I’m
speaking of high value and high performance. On one end of the scale they go
together, and it is that end that is most relevant to today’s home-theater
enthusiasts. You will find a surprising answer today when you ask: How much does it cost
to get great home theater?
Starting with the bread-and-butter product, the A/V
receiver, there is more value and performance packed into the entry-level products than at
any time in the past. Just a few years ago, it was expensive to get five high-power
channels of amplification and both Dolby Digital and DTS processing. Not anymore. Today
you can buy a product like the Denon AVR-3802 with seven channels of amplification, Dolby
Digital, DTS, DTS ES, and Dolby Pro Logic II, with a programmable remote and video
switching all for under $800 -- and like-kind products are available from a number of
manufacturers. Heck, if you shop around, you can get a darned complete A/V receiver like
the Marantz SR4200 with Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic II for under $400! How much
would this have cost just a couple years ago? Well, you couldn’t even get DPL II a
couple years ago!
Lest you think it’s only the receiver market that has
expanded, look at multichannel amplifiers. Aluminum faceplates and heatsinks, large
toroidal transformers and banks of capacitors, and sturdy five-way binding posts in
five-to-seven-channel configurations are available for under $2000. The Anthem PVA 7 will
cost you about $200 per channel, and I’ll bet if you buy a processor too, the
retailer will cut you a deal that even breaks the two-bill-per-channel barrier. Want
higher power? The Outlaw Model 770 will supply 1400W (200W to seven channels driven
simultaneously) for $1800, which is just over a buck and a quarter a watt. You can barely
buy a soft drink for $1.25.
Diversification doesn’t just mean things are getting
busier on one end of the scale though. The other extreme is getting more crowded too.
There are home-theater processors from Balanced Audio Technology, Lexicon, and Theta that
break $10k. Heck, if you want to spend in excess of $4000 on a receiver, you now have multiple
choices to consider. And you can spend more than it would cost to buy a new Mercedes
on monoblocks that are "package-priced" for the home-theater enthusiast.
What all this generally means is that the market is
expanding on both fronts simultaneously to meet a growing demand. The home-theater
business is thriving, and the consumers that populate it are demanding higher value and
higher performance. And most importantly, the industry is answering the call with a
multitude of offerings that will satisfy the thriftiest buyer -- and the deepest of
pockets. I’m excited about both because it means the guys at Home Theater &
Sound have a lot to write about.
We like our home theaters around here, almost as much as we
like telling you how to improve yours. In the upcoming months, we have a lot to tell you
about.
...Jeff Fritz
editor@hometheatersound.com |
