| Editorial January 2005
The 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show
and You
If you’re reading this on January 1, 2005, we’re
just a few days away from the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), to be
held January 6-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. By hopping over to SoundStageAV.com, the
SoundStage! Network’s newest website, you’ll be able to see many of the new
products and technologies introduced at CES via our on-the-spot show coverage. We’ll
have a team of eager writers, all armed with laptops and digital cameras, ready to search
out and report on the hottest new gear. Yours truly is skipping CES this year after five
consecutive trips, as my wife, Andrea, and I are caring for the newest sound-producing
addition to the Fritz household: Abigail Ann, just days old as you read this.
On a typical year, I go to Vegas with much anticipation.
There’s always the chance that I’ll find my next system upgrade among the
multitude of components displayed. I know that most of you read our show coverage looking
for products that might interest you in the coming year. In fact, it’s been reported
to us that home-theater dealers the world over receive avalanches of phone calls during
and in the days immediately following CES, from customers asking about this or that
company’s newest product, spied for the first time at the show. Quite often -- by
early to mid-January -- word has not yet filtered back to dealers about all the new models
they’ll soon be carrying; sometimes, our show coverage gives the customer advance
notice of a product that not even his or her dealer knows about yet. Readers often mention
a new model to their dealer, only to get a response like, "They don’t make one
of those." You, having been informed by our show coverage, are quick to point out,
"Yes they do make one of those. I just saw it on the Internet." It can be
embarrassing for a dealer. (Perhaps that moment, when the dealer is still in the throes of
confusion, would be a good time to negotiate the price. Heh-heh. Be kind.)
Although I’ve written in the past about the
inevitability of the upgrade process and how you should jump right in ("Sitting on the Sidelines,"
September 2001), this year I thought I’d propose an alternative course of action.
Instead of anticipating the purchase of the newest gizmo that you can put into your
system, first consider more closely what you already own. Most important, ponder carefully
what you read and see in our CES coverage. Might the new X-1000 be a genuine improvement
over what you currently own, or is it simply the Emperor’s New Suit?
Lest I be considered hypocritical, I’m quick to shell
out dough for a trick new component. But experience -- sometimes gained the hard,
expensive way -- has taught me that newer is not always better. And promises of
superiority made in bold print in glamorous marketing propaganda don’t necessarily
make it so. How many times have you purchased a product, only to be disappointed with it
in the long or even the short term? I have, more than once. Take a look at eBay’s
electronics auctions to see a staggering number of components that, for whatever reason,
did not last long in their owners’ systems.
The key to happy upgrading is to avoid making rash
decisions. Part with your hard-earned cash only when you’re as sure as you can
reasonably be that what you’re buying is what you really want or need. How do
you do this? By personally comparing whatever it is to what you currently own, discussing
the issue with a trusted dealer and/or experienced friends, reading the fine print in the
product’s specifications and the information presented by the manufacturer, and, of
course, reading professional reviews by the folks you know to be worthy sources.
Your home-theater assignment for January is this: Do
get excited about the CES coverage coming this month. Do pore over the newly
available models from your favorite companies. Do keep an eye out for the hottest
new manufacturer on the block. But don’t have that check ready for the mail
until you’re certain that you’re truly "upgrading" your system. If you
spend your home-theater budget only after careful consideration, you’ll enjoy the
fruits of your journey immensely over the long haul.
...Jeff Fritz
editor@hometheatersound.com |
