[BC] NO HD RADIO FOR CHRISTMAS -- Why not let it die?

[Jeff Loughridge]

I just bought one of those for WPGC. I put it in our large conference room, 
that I have been configuring as a media/presentation room. With 7.1 sound 
and THX Ultra certified capabilities, HD Radio through it sounds very good, 
actually. Although the MSRP is $1900, I got it for $1249 on E-Bay.

HD Radio is such a small part of what it does, Home Theater enthusiasts will 
buy it for the THX certification and features, and learn about HD Radio in 
the process. Since many of them are early adopters, word will begin to 
trickle out. I'm buying a second one for home.

HD Radio is no different that HDTV 6 years ago, when a basic HDTV monitor 
cost $10,000 and no one but early adopters knew what it was. I bought a 57" 
HDTV in 2001 for $2500 for a home theater I was building. Today I have an 
HDTV projector (720p native) and a 10' screen, and it was less then $1500.

In 1999 or 2000, if you went into a Best Buy, Tweeter, or Circuit City and 
asked about HDTV, you'd get the same blank stare you get today with HD 
Radio. Everyone complained it wasn't being marketed correctly and would 
fail. Within the last 4 years, people on this list have said HDTV was not 
worth the money, would never reach mass appeal, and would fail. HDTV is on 
track to be one of the biggest Christmas purchases this year. There hasn't 
been a massive, coordinated media campaign to advertise HDTV. They promoted 
it on their analog channels, there was some press, product began to trickle 
in to the mass retailers, and here we are today.

The naysayers always have their say early in the development of new 
technology, when it is easy to point out low numbers, lack of familiarity, 
and limited availability.

With most new technology, availability starts as a drip, becomes a trickle, 
then the tap is wide open.

I also just ordered 8 of the Boston Acoustics Recepter HD radios from 
Crutchfield. The guy told me he had 84 in stock. Drip, drip, drip.


Jeff Loughridge

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rich Wood" <richwood at pobox.com>
To: "Broadcast Radio Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 3:24 PM
Subject: Re: [BC] NO HD RADIO FOR CHRISTMAS -- Why not let it die?


> ------ At 12:54 AM 12/1/2005, Barry Mishkind wrote: -------
>
>>At 08:55 PM 11/30/05, Rich Wood wrote
>>
>>>If you can't afford a new McMansion an IBUZ receiver is the next best 
>>>thing.
>>
>>Like this?
>>         http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/receivers/RXV4600.htm
>
> That's going to be tough on the ears as well as the wallet. I don't run 
> the satellite services through my home theatre system because of the 
> artifacts. At $1900 the Yamaha should at least have a screech filter for 
> HD and, judging by the audio sample you posted, a hiss filter for AM..
>
> Rich
>